Rodrigo Tavarez

2017-0392 (Erasmus)
Assignment #25:
Electronic DC and AC voltmeter (EVMS)

Objective:
To strengthen students’ capacity of understanding and practical realization of electronic
voltmeters, their principles and basic parameter.

Equipment:
Feedback kits EEC470&CK342B 400μA DArsonval, DVM, Function Generator
Oscilloscope.

Theorical Introduction:

D’Arsonval meter movement:

Whenever electrons flow through a conductor, a
magnetic field proportional to the current is
created. This effect is useful for measuring
current and is employed in many practical
meters. Since most of the meters in use have
D'Arsonval movements, which operate because
of the magnetic effect, only this type will be
discussed in detail. The basic dc meter movement is known as the D'Arsonval meter movement
because it was first employed by the French scientist, D'Arsonval, in making electrical
measurement. This type of meter movement is a current measuring device which is used in the
ammeter, voltmeter, and ohmmeter. Basically, both the ammeter and the voltmeter are current
measuring instruments, the principal difference being the method in which they are connected in
a circuit. While an ohmmeter is also basically a current measuring instrument, it differs from the
ammeter and voltmeter in that it provides its own source of power and contains other auxiliary
circuits.
Principle: When an electric current is passed through a coil placed in a magnetic field, it
experiences a force. This force causes a torque in the coil that is fixed to a spindle. The spindle
can rotate in fixed bearings. The rotation of the spindle is proportional to the electric current
passed through the coil. This torque that is produced is balanced after a movement against the
restoring torques of springs. The torque that is produced that tends to rotate the spindle is termed
as D’Arsonval Movement.
 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)

Operational Amplifiers
An Operational Amplifier or op-amp
is a voltage amplifying device
designed to be used with external
feedback components such as
resistors and capacitors between its
output and input terminals. It is a
high-gain electronic voltage amplifier
with a differential input and usually a
single-ended output. Op-amps are among the most widely used electronic devices today, being
used in a vast array of consumer, industrial, and scientific devices.
The amplifier’s differential inputs consist of a non-inverting input with voltage (V+) and an
inverting input with voltage (V−). Ideally, an op-amp amplifies only the difference in voltage
between the two, also called differential input voltage. The output voltage of the op-amp Vout is
given by the equation,
Vout = AOL (V+ – V–)

Electronic Voltmeter

A  voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electrical

potential difference between two points in an electric circuit.
Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in proportion
to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters give a numerical
display of voltage by use of an analog to digital converter.
Voltmeters are made in a wide range of styles. Instruments
permanently mounted in a panel are used to monitor
generators or other fixed apparatus. Portable instruments,
usually equipped to also measure current and resistance in the form of a multimeter, are standard
test instruments used in electrical and electronics work. Any measurement that can be converted
to a voltage can be displayed on a meter that is suitably calibrated; for example, pressure,
temperature, flow or level in a chemical process plant.
General purpose analog voltmeters may have an accuracy of a few percent of full scale, and are
used with voltages from a fraction of a volt to several thousand volts. Digital meters can be made
with high accuracy, typically better than 1%. Specially calibrated test instruments have higher
accuracies, with laboratory instruments capable of measuring to accuracies of a few parts per
million. Meters using amplifiers can measure tiny voltages of microvolts or less.
 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)

 Relation between voltage and frequency:

Voltage is an electrical quantity designating the potential difference between two points,
frequency is the quantity designating the number of direction changes of a wavy quantity (like the
number of zero crossings of an AC current, or the number bukles of an ocean wave, etc.).In
electricity there can be numerous relationships between the frequency of a voltage or a current
and the AC frequency.
The most common ones we encounter in linear systems, between reactances (X), frequency (f),
currents (I) and voltages (U). In those systems we can say:
Reactive voltage component of at an Impedance Ur = I •X:
X being X = L • 2π•f , L being inductance;
or X = - 1 / (C • 2π•f), C being capacitance.
On most motors voltage is proportional to the rotation frequency of the motor, and it is often
proportional or approx. proportional to the AC frequency (synchronous motors, induction motors,
..).

Experiment:
25.1

Circuit #1

What is your comment about the value of the resistance R=10K ohms as shown in the above
figure? That resistance in this circuit is used to drain the current that the OPAM generate at its
 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)
output, because of the gain of the OPAM. If remove this resistance or decrease its value the some
current will flow to the OPAM. We also have to take in mind that the amperemeter could have- a
big resistance that generates the high current that we don’t to have.

Experimental data (table 25.1):

VDVM V 0.1 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
VEVM V 0.05 0.4 0.95 1.4 1.9 2.45 3.0
ᵝr % 1.25 2.5 0,25 0,5 0,5 2,25 0
Where
VDVM is the reading of the DVM
VEVM is the reading of the EVM

Vevm−Vdvm
ᵝr= 4
* 100 is the reduced error

25.2

Table 25.2
 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)
VDVM V 0.1 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
VEVM V 0.15 0.51 1.02 1.56 2.02 2.56 3.1
ᵝr % 0,25 0 0,25 0,5 0,5 2,25 2,25

What is your comment about the results obtained in table 25.2?

The voltmeter that we make is accuracy enough to be used, as we see in in the above table his
error is that low that can be depreciable.

Table 25.3
f Hz 10 20 30 50 100 1k 20k 40k 50k 60k
Vop V Fixed 3V peak constant
V0rms V Vp
VRMS= =2.13 v ¿ constant
√2
VEVM V 2.12 2.19 2.19 2.19 2.19 1 0.45 0.2 0.15 0.12
ᵝ % 0.47 2.82 2.82 2.82 2.82 53.05 78.87 -90.61 92.96 94.37

Where
f is the frequency of the input signal
Vop= 3v is the peak value of the input voltage shown by the scope

Vop 3
V0RMS= is the calculated RMS value of the input voltage (The scope is the
√ 2 = √ 2 =2.13V
master)
VEVM is the RMS voltaje indicated by your AC EVM at different frequencies

ᵝ=[(VEVM- VORMS)/VORMS }]*100 is the frequency error (response) of your EVM

 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)
Relationship VEVM=φ(lg.f)

2.50
Relationship VEVM
2.12 2.192.19 2.19 2.19
2.00
1.75
1.54 1.541.54 1.54 1.54 1.5 1.54 1.54 1.54
1.54
1.54
1.50
Voltage (v)

Vems
Vorms
1 0.99
1.00 F
0.7
0.5 0.45
0.50
0.2 0.15
0.150.12
0.00
10 100 1000 10000 100000
Frequency (Hz)

Graphic 1
 Rodrigo Tavarez
2017-0392 (Erasmus)
CONCLUSION
The VEVM that we have built will be used with no problem with DC sources, because as we saw in
the table 25.1 and 25.2 it still very accuracy, with an error less than the 5%. But with the AC we
can not use it with the confidence, because at we notice in the table 25.3 as we increase the
frequency error becomes more and more bigger, this is increasement of the frequency have an
effect in the voltage measurement as we notice in the graphic #1, that approximately after the
380Hz the DC voltage of the wave cannot be measured properly.

References:
https://www.electronicsforu.com/resources/learn-electronics/operational-amplifier-basics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltmeter