EMI Course Lecture 6

Electrical Measurements & Instrumentation
Course Code: EEE 374
Lecture 06
Course Instructor: Dr. Hammad Omer (Tenured Associate Professor)
(PhD, MS, MCS, PGD (IT) B.Eng.)
Commonwealth Scholar (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
Group Lead: Medical Image Processing Research Group
(www.miprg.com)
Department of Electrical Engineering
COMSATS University, Islamabad
Dated: 01 & 02/10/2024
1
Multirange Ammeters
• A rotary switch is employed to select any one of the several shunts
having different resistance values
• A make-before-break switch must be used so that the instrument

is not left without a shunt in parallel with it even for a brief instant;
if this occurred, the high resistance of the instrument would affect
the current flowing in the circuit
• In this case, the current large enough to destroy the instrument

might flow through its moving coil
• When switching between shunts, the wide-ended moving contact

of the make-before-break switch makes contact with the next
terminal before breaking the contact with the previous terminal
• Thus during switching, there are actually two shunts in parallel

with the instrument 2
Multirange Ammeters
3
Multirange Ammeters
• Figure 3.13 shows another method of protecting the deflection
instrument of an ammeter from excessive current flow when
switching between shunts
• Resistors R1, R2 and R3 constitute an Ayrton shunt
• When the switch is at contact B; the total resistance in parallel with

the instrument is R1+R2+R3; the meter resistance remains Rm
• When the switch is at contact C, the resistance R3 is in series with

the meter, and R1+R2 is in parallel with Rm+R3
• When the switch is at contact D, R1 is in parallel with Rm+R2+R3
• Since the shunts are permanently connected, and the switch

makes contact with the shunt junctions, the deflection instrument
is never left without a parallel connect shunt (or shunts) 4
Multirange Ammeters
5
Multirange Ammeters (Question)
6
7
8
9
Quiz # 2 1 October 2024
10
DC Voltmeter
• The deflection of a PMMC instrument is proportional to the
current flowing through the moving coil
• The coil current is directly proportional to the voltage across
the coil
• The scale of the PMMC meter could be calibrated to indicate
voltage
• The coil resistance is normally very small; and thus the coil
voltage is also very small
• Without any additional series resistance, the PMMC instrument
would only be able to measure very low voltage levels
• The voltmeter range can be easily increased by connecting a
resistance in series with the instrument
• The series resistance is termed as ‘multiplier resistance’
• A multiplier resistance that is nine times the coil resistance will
increase the voltmeter range by a factor of 10
11
DC Voltmeter
12
DC Voltmeter
13
DC Voltmeter
14
DC Voltmeter
15
DC Voltmeter
• Swamping Resistance:
• The change in coil resistance (Rm) with temperature change

can introduce errors in a PMMC voltmeter
• The presence of the voltmeter multiplier resistor (Rs) tends to

swamp coil resistance changes, except for low voltage ranges
where Rs is not much larger than Rm
• Rs will also be temperature sensitive to some degree (not as

much as the copper wire coil)
• The multiplier resistor may be made of manganin or

constantan
16
DC Voltmeter
• Voltmeter Sensitivity:
• In the previous example, the voltmeter has a total resistance of:
𝑅𝑣 = 𝑅𝑠 + 𝑅𝑚 = 500𝑘Ω
• Since the instrument measures 50V at full scale, its resistance per
500𝑘Ω
volt is: = 10𝑘Ω/𝑉
50𝑉
• This quantity is also termed as the sensitivity of the voltmeter
• The sensitivity of a voltmeter is always specified by the manufacturer,
and it is printed on the scale of the instrument
• If the sensitivity is known, the total voltmeter resistance is easily
calculated as: 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑥 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
• If the full scale meter current is known, the sensitivity can be
determined as the reciprocal of the full scale current
• Ideally, a voltmeter should have an extremely high resistance
• A voltmeter is always connected across, or in parallel with the points
in a circuit at which the voltage is to be measured; if this resistance is
too low, it can alter the circuit voltage. This is known as ‘Voltmeter
Loading Effect’ 17
Multirange Voltmeter
• A multirange voltmeter consists of a deflection instrument, several
multiplier resistors, and a rotary switch
• Two possible circuits are shown on the next slide:
• In Figure 3.16(a) only one of the three multiplier resistors are
connected in series with the meter at any time. The range of this
voltmeter is: 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑚 (𝑅𝑚 + 𝑅); where R can be R1, R2 or R3
• In Figure 3.16(b), the multiplier resistors are connected in series,
and each junction is connected to one of the switch terminals.
The range of this voltmeter can also be calculated from the
equation: 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑚 𝑅𝑚 + 𝑅 , where R can now be R1, R1+R2, or
R1+R2+R3
• Of the two circuits, Figure 3.16(b) is the least expensive to construct.
This is because all of the multiplier resistors in Figure 3.16(a) must
be special (nonstandard) values, while in Figure 3.16(b) only R1 is a
special resistor and all other multipliers are standard-value (precise)
resistors
18
Multirange Voltmeter
19
Multirange Voltmeter (Question)
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21
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23
DC Voltmeter (Questions)
Answers:
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25

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Electrical Measurements & Instrumentation

Course Code: EEE 374

• A make-before-break switch must be used so that the instrument

• In this case, the current large enough to destroy the instrument

• When switching between shunts, the wide-ended moving contact

• Thus during switching, there are actually two shunts in parallel

• Resistors R1, R2 and R3 constitute an Ayrton shunt

• When the switch is at contact B; the total resistance in parallel with

• When the switch is at contact C, the resistance R3 is in series with

• When the switch is at contact D, R1 is in parallel with Rm+R2+R3

• Since the shunts are permanently connected, and the switch

• The change in coil resistance (Rm) with temperature change

• The presence of the voltmeter multiplier resistor (Rs) tends to

• Rs will also be temperature sensitive to some degree (not as

• The multiplier resistor may be made of manganin or

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