CHAPTER 2

MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
LEARNING OUTCOME

• At the end of this topic, students should:

• can define basic concept of Permanent Magnet Moving Coil
(PMMC)
• can apply in-depth knowledge in the loading effects and
ammeter insertion effects
• can apply the concept of PMMC used in DC ammeter,
voltmeter, ohmmeter, half wave and full wave rectification
 • DC Voltmeter

Ammeter

Voltmeter and Multi-meter

PMMC

• Basic meter • Dc ammeter • Multirange

movement • Ayrton DC Voltmeter
• Principle ammeter • Loading Effect
operation • Ammeter • AC Voltmeter
• Advantage and insertion • Ohm meter
Disadvantage Effect
 Analog
Digital
Meter
Meter
 Introduction
Measuring Instrument : instrument that shows the extent or amount or
quantity or degree of something.
Example of measuring instrument in Electrical Measurements are AC
meter, DC meter , Oscilloscope and etc.

Moving Coil Instrument

❑ Generally referred to D’Arsonval meter or Permanent Magnet Moving Coil
(PMMC) meter.
❑ A PMMC instrument is essentially a low-level DC ammeter. However ,with the
use of parallel connected resistor, it can be employed to measure a wide
range of direct current level.
❑ A PMMC may also be made to function as a DC voltmeter by connecting
appropriate value of resistor in series with coil
❑ AC voltmeter and ammeter can be constructed by using rectifier circuits with
the PMMC instrument.
❑ Millimeters are combinations of multirange ammeter, voltmeter and
ohmmeter functions in one instrument.
Rectifier Circuits
Basic Construction of Meter
Basic Construction of Meter(cont.)

❑ It is a horseshoe permanent magnet

with soft iron pole pieces

attached to it.

❑ Between a pole piece is a cylindrical

shaped soft iron core about

which a coil of fine wire is wound.

❑ The wire is wound on a very light metal

frame and mounted in such a setting so

that it can rotate freely.

❑ A pointer attached to the moving coil

deflects up the scale as the moving coil

rotates.
 Basic Movement Meter
❑ The action of the most commonly
analog meter is based on the
fundamental principle of motor.
❑ The motor action is produced by the
flow of a small current through a
moving coil which is positioned in the
field of a permanent magnet.
The basic moving coil system is called
d’Arsonval meter or Permanent
Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC).
❑ The coil (rotor) moves in a rotary
fashion. The amount of rotation is
proportional to the amount of
current flowing through the coil.
❑ A pointer attached to the coil
indicates the position of the coil on a
scale calibrated in terms of current
or voltage.
 Principle Operation of a PMMC
❑ A coil is suspended in the magnetic field of a
permanent magnet in the shape of a horse-
shoe.
❑ A spring is attached to the coil. The functions
of the spring are:
▪ To make electrical connections to the coil.
▪ To return the coil to its original position when there is
no current through the coil.
▪ To resist the movement of when there is current
through the coil.
❑ When a current flows through the coil, the
resulting magnetic field of the permanent
generating an electromagnetic (EM) torque,
causing the coil to rotate.
❑ The torque is counter-balanced by a
mechanical torque of spring.
❑ The amount of balance torque is indicated by
a pointer against a fixed reference called a
scale.
 Advantage and Disadvantages of
PMMC Meter
Advantages Disadvantages

Can be modified using shunt to Can measure dc current/voltage

cover a wide range of currents /
voltage
No hysteresis loss Friction due to jewel-pivot
suspension
Cheap and robust Some error due to ageing of
control springs and the
permanent
Low power consumption

Scales are uniform

Basic D’Arsonval meter movement

 Faculty of Electrical Engineering 

 DC Ammeter
❑ Low resistance resistor is placed in parallel with moving coil
(D’arsonval meter @ PMMC) whose resistance is Rm.
❑ This low resistance is called shunt resistor (Rsh)
❑ Rsh functions to provide an alternative path for the total metered
current I around the meter movement.
From figure : Vm = I m Rm
Vm = Vsh
Im = I – I sh

The purpose of Ish is to allow us to measure a current

I that is n times larger than Im.
 Exercise 1

Example 1:

A 2mA meter with an internal resistance of 100Ω is to be converted to 0-150mA

ammeter. Calculate the value of the shunt resistance required.
 Solution

I m Rm
Rsh =
I − Im
(2mA) 100
=
150 mA − 2mA
= 1.35 

 Faculty of Electrical Engineering 

 Exercise 2

Calculate the value of shunt resistance required to convert 1

mA moving coil meter with a 100 Ω internal resistance into a
0-10 mA ammeter using Equation (1) and Equation (3)

 Faculty of Electrical Engineering 

 Solution

Using equation 1:

I m Rm 1 m  100
Rsh = = = 11.11 
I − I m 10 m − 1 m

Using equation 3:

Rm I 10 m
Rsh = ; where n = = = 10
n −1 Im 1m
100
= = 11.11 
10 − 1

 Faculty of Electrical Engineering 

 Aryton Shunt (Multi range ammeter)

❑ Ayrton shunt is a design for

multi- range ammeter (is more
suitable rather than multi-range
ammeter)
❑ Advantage: It eliminates the
possibility of current overloading of
the moving coil(they protect the
deflection instrument of an
ammeter from an excessive current
flow.
❑ When using a multi-range
ammeter, first use the highest
range, then decrease the range
until good scale reading is
obtained.
Ayrton Shunt (cntd.)
Ayrton Shunt (cntd.)
Ammeter Insertion Effects
 DC Voltmeter
❑ A PMMC meter can be converted to a voltmeter by
connecting a multiplier, Rs in series with the meter.

❑ The purpose of the multiplier Rs is to extend the range

of meter and to limit the current through the meter to the
maximum full-scale deflection current.
 Multirange DC Voltmeter
❑ A dc voltmeter can be converted into a multirange voltmeter by
connecting a number of multipliers to provide a number of ranges as
shown in Figure below.
For Figure 8, only one of the three resistor is connected in series with
the meter at any time. The range of the meter:
V=Im (Rm + R)
where R can be Rs1,Rs2,Rs3

For Figure 9, multiplier resistors are connected in series. The range of

this meter is :
V=Im (Rm + R)
where R can beR1 , (R1+R2 ) or (R1+R2 +R3)

Figure 9 is the least expensive to construct compare to figure 8.

Example 1 :

Example 2 :
 Voltmeter Loading Effect
❑ Sensitivity of dc voltmeter is an important factor in selecting a
meter for a certain voltage measurement.

❑ When a voltmeter is connected across two point in a highly

resistive circuit, it will act as shunt and reduce the resistance (since
meter resistance is parallel with load resistance)

❑ The meter will then give a lower indication of the voltage drop than
actually existed

❑ This effect is called voltmeter loading effect of an instrument

 AC Voltmeter

❑ A PMMC meter can be used to measure ac current and voltage.

❑ In order to measure ac current/voltage, we may first rectify the

alternating current by using diode rectifier to produce unidirectional
current flow.

❑ There are 2 types of ac voltmeter:

❑ AC voltmeter using half-rectifier
❑ AC voltmeter using full-rectifier
 AC voltmeter using Half-wave rectifier
❑ If a diode is added to the dc voltmeter, we have an ac voltmeter using
half-wave rectifier.
❑ Figure below shows an ac voltmeter using half-wave rectifier.

❑ Positive cycle : D1 conducts and cause the meter to deflect according

to the average value of this half cycle.
❑ The meter movement is shunted by resistor Rsh in order to draw more
current from through the diode D1.
❑ Negative cycle : D2 conducts and the current flows in an opposite
direction and bypasses the PMMC meter.
AC voltmeter using Half-wave rectifier
(cntd.)
❑ Refer to figure, the sensitivity of dc voltmeter is defined as:

❑ Since the meter will only responds to the average value / dc value of
the ac sine

❑ This means that the ac voltmeter is less sensitive than a dc voltmeter :

❑To find Rs :

▪
 AC voltmeter using Full-wave rectifier
❑ If a bridge is added to the dc voltmeter, we have an ac voltmeter using
full- wave rectifier as shown in Figure below.

❑ Positive cycle , D2 and D3 conduct and cause the meter to deflect

according to the average value of this half cycle.
❑ Negative cycle , D1 and D4 conduct. The current flows in an opposite
direction cause the meter to deflect according to the average value of
this second half cycle.
❑ A full wave rectification is used to improve the sensitivity of an an
voltmeter.
AC voltmeter using Full-wave rectifier(cntd)

❑ The average value/dc value of a full- wave ac voltmeter is given by:

❑ The sensitivity of a full- wave ac voltmeter is given by :

Where

❑To find value of Rs :

▪
 Ohmmeter
❑ A series type ohmmeter is a D’arsanvol meter connected in series with
a resistance Rz and a battery E. An unknown resistor Rx is then
connected across point A-B.
❑ Rz is the current limiting resistance used to adjust the meter
movement to indicates full scale deflection.

❑ The current through the meter depends on the magnitude of the

unknown resistor Rx.
 Ohmmeter (cntd.)
❑ First consider the maximum current through the meter Ifsd
(without Rx)

❑ To determine the value of the unknown resistor, we connect the

unknown Rx between terminal A-B. The current through the circuit is
expressed as :

❑ Let where P is the ratio of the current I to the full scale

current Ifsd.
 Ohmmeter (cntd.)
Calibration of Series Type Ohmmeter
Disadvantages of the series Ohmmeter:
I. Decrease of the voltage if internal battery, hence the full scale
deflection current drops and the meter does not read ‘0’ when
terminal A- B is shorted.
To overcome this problem , a zero adjust resistor can be added in
parallel to the meter to counteract the drop in the voltage and
bring back the pointer to ‘0’.