Simple inductance meter

Introduction:Thismetercanmeasuretheinductanceofthecoilsinawiderangeof10uH2H.Itactsasacomplementtoadigitalvoltmeterora
multimeter.DigitalMultimeterisnowpossibletogetbelowCZK100,butistheinductancemetermultimetersarerare.
Description:Thebasisofthissimplemeterisasixfold74HCT14SchmitttriggerIC.Inductanceofthecoilisderivedfromthetimeperiodfor
whichtheoscillatorkeepthevoltageonthecoilabovethespecifiedlimit(thelowerthresholdofSchmitt).Rangechangeisdonesimplybychanging
thefrequencyofoscillator.IO2aconsistsofanoscillatorwithaswitchablefrequencies.SwitchtobothC5adandP1ad.P1atoP1dtrimmersareused
tocalibratetheranges.IO2bservesasaninverter,andIO2candIO2dasacurrentamplifier.Thesethreeinvertersseparatetheoscillatorfrom
measuringcircuit.Thedutycycleofoscillatorisabout25%.WhentheoutputofIO2c+dgoeslog.1,thecoilinducesthefullvoltage5V.Thisvoltage
thendecreasesexponentiallyandapproacheszero.IO2einvertersensesthevoltage.Outputisinverted,sothecircuitIO2fhasthecorrectthepolarity.
TheoutputofIO2fstayslog.1fromthemomentwhentheoscillatorfliptothelog.1,tillthevoltageacrossthecoildropsbelowthelowerSchmitt's
threshold.PulsewidthatIO2foutputisproportionaltothemeasuredinductancecoil.OutputfilterR4,C6,R6,C7convertsthePWMtotheDC
voltage.Itisthenmeasuredbyadigitalvoltmeter(multimeter)setto200mVrange.Supplyvoltageisstabilizedby7805ir78L05to5V,becauseithas
amajorimpactonaccuracy.CapacitorC4istobeplacedascloseaspossibletoIO2.Inductancemeter'sconsumptionisonlyabout48mAandcanbe
easilypoweredfrom9Vbattery.
Improvements:Thecircuitisinspiredbythe74HC132meters,whichoccursinalmostidenticalforminabouttendifferentsites:)...seeliterature.
Thismindlesslycopiedcircuit,however,sufferfrompooraccuracyandotherproblems.SoIdecidedtomakeanimprovement.IhaveincludedtheRD
cell(D1andR3),whichallowsrecoveryoftheinductance.Withoutit,theinductanceisblockedbytheprotectivediodeontheinputoftheSchmitt
(anodeontheground,thecathodetotheinput),anddoesnotallowtheinductortorecoverbetweeneachcycle.Residualcurrentremainsinthecircuit
onthenextcycleandthemeasurementisgreatlyaffected.ItturnedoutthatitisbettertousethecircuitofaseriesofHCTthanHC.Itsthresholdsare
locatedlower.Oscillatordutycyclechangesfrom50%to25%,whichismoreappropriate(Coilisnotconnectertocurrenttoolongandhasmoretime
torecover).Thelowerthresholdisalsosuitableformeasuringsmallinductances.Lowerthresholdandlowerdutycyclealsoeliminatestheproblemof
originalcircuit:Iftoohighinductancewasconnected,paradoxically,themetershowedzeroinsteadof"1___".Thiswascausedbythatlarge
inductanceinthe50%dutycyclecreatesanearlyrectangularwaveformwithpeakat2.5V,whichisnotenoughtofliptheHCseriesinputs.Withthe
HCTcircuits,thisproblemdoesnotoccur.Thecoilsisconnectedtotwoinvertersinparallel,whichwillincreasethecurrentabilities,reduceinternal
lossesandtherebycontributetotheaccuracy.HCTcircuitsandlowerdutycyclealsoensureslesspowerconsumption.Thediagramsintheliterature
mostlymissingblockingcapacitorsbeforeandafter7805(!!!).HereitisC1toC4.Ifoundthatusingthe200mVrangeprovidesmuchbetteraccuracy
than2Vrange,becausethemeasurementrangeof2Vrequiresworkingwithlongpulses(upto40%)andtheRLcircuit(R2andLX)couldnotmanage
tostabilizebeforethenextcycle.IncombinationwiththelackofD1andR3,thismaymeananerrorofuptotensof%.ThedividerR4,R5circuit
operateswithdutycycleoutputpulsesupto20%.Ifindthatthezerotrimmer(seeliterature)doesnotmakesense,becausetheoutputvoltageof

schmittsinthelog.0isnegligible.Initialinvolvementwasonly12ranges.Iused4ranges,tomeasurethelargerinductance.Higherrangesuselower
frequencieshencethetwostagefilterisused.

Callibration:Eachrangeisnecessarytocalibrateaccordingtoknowninductance.Thisshouldpreferablybeavalueof5090%ofthescale,or
displayofthe"1000""1800".CalibrationofeachscaleismadebysettingtheP1aP1dtrimmersothatthemetershowedthecorrectvalue.Ifyou
failtocalibratethemeter,changethevalueofR1,thevalueoftheP1adorC5ad.Individualrangesarelistedinthetablebelow.Ifyoudonotmeasure
theinductanceofsuchalargerange,somerangesmaybeomitted.

References:

pandatron.cz/?99&meric_civek

freecircuitdiagram.com/2009/05/12/inductancemetercircuit

xtronic.org/circuit/digitalinductimeterformultimeter

electro2.webs.com/Inductance%20Meter.GIF
elektroarea.blogspot.com/2010/03/rangkaianpengukurinduktansi.html

qsl.net/va3iul/Homebrew_RF_Circuit_Design_Ideas/Inductance_meter_using_DVM.gif

cqham.ru/projects/inductance_meter.jpg

geocities.ws/k7hkl_arv/K7HKL_Inductance_Meter.png

Pic.1Theschematicofthesimpleinductancemeter.

Pic.2Modificationforasingleswitch.Youdon'thavetousedoubleswitchinthisversion.

Pic.3Simplifiedcallibration.Youcallibreonlyonerangeandthecallibrationtheofothedrangesisderivedfromit.Thedisadvantageofthisversion
islowaccuracy.Theinternalcapacities,capacitordeviations,etc.affectthemeasurement.

Thewaveformsinthecircuit
Range
I.
II.
III.
IV.

Max.value Conversion Operatingfrequency

Developmentoftheinductancemeterinthebreadboard.


Theoscillatorwaveformonscopewith74HC14(left)andwith74HCT14(right)

BoardunderIO2(74HCT14).

thePCBboardoftheinductancemeter

RangeswitchPr1(C1addirectlyonit).

CompletedgutsoftheLmeter

Simpleinductancemeterbuildintoabox.

Inductancemeasurement.Toconnectthemultimeterissuitablefemaleconnector,whichwasusedforconnectionofthemainstotheboardofATX
powersupply.

Testovn mie induknost - Inductance meter test

Testingtherangesoftheinductancemeterusingthespeaker.Youcanhearthefrequency300Hzand3kHz,30Hzisheardfaintlyand30kHznotatall.

TQCGlossMeters
Foryachtandboatbuilders.Fast,simpleandaccurate.

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