An Introduction to

Electrical Instrumentation
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An Introduction to
Electrical Instrumentation
A guide to the use, selection, and limitations of electrical instruments
and measuring systems

B. A. Gregory
Senior Lecturer Specialising in Electrical Instrumentation, Department of
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Brighton Polytechnic

riY0
C!/\1J
Macmillan Education
©B. A. Gregory 1973

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or

transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission.

First edition 1973

Reprinted 1975 (with corrections), 1977

ELBS edition first published 1977

Published by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in Delhi Dublin
Hong Kong Johannesburg Lagos Melbourne
New York Singapore and Tokyo

ISBN 978-1-349-01882-6 ISBN 978-1-349-01880-2 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-01880-2

The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it
shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or
otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without
a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the
subsequent purchaser.
 Contents

ix
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION 1

1. ANALOG (POINTER) INSTRUMENTS 4

SECTION A. ELECTROMECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS 4
1.1 Moving coil instruments 6
1.2 Moving iron instruments 13
1.3 Electrodynamic instruments 15
1.4 Rectifier instruments 20
1.5 Thermocouple instruments 21
1.6 Electrostatic instruments 24
1. 7 Energy meters 26

SECTION B. ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS 27

1.8 D.C. voltmeters 27
1.9 A.C. voltmeters 30
1.10 Null detectors 32
1.11 The 'Q' meter 34
1.12 Hall effect devices 39
1.13 Instrument comparisons 41

2. ANALOG (GRAPHICAL) INSTRUMENTS 43

2.1 Moving coil recorders 43
2.2 Potentiometric recorders 45
2.3 Event recorders 47
2.4 X-Y plotters 47
2.5 U.V. recorders 49
2.6 C.R.O. 62
2. 7 Recorder Comparisons 75
vi CONTENTS
3. COMPARISON METHODS 77
3.1 D.C. potentiometer 77
3.2 A.C. potentiometer 83
3.3 D.C. bridges 88
3.4 A.C. bridges 90
3.5 Simple transformer ratio bridges 94
3.6 Transformer double ratio bridges 100
3. 7 Twin 'T' networks 107
3.8 Self balancing bridges 110
3.9 The unbalanced bridge 112
3.10 Comparisons 116
4. INTERFERENCE AND SCREENING 118
4.1 Component impurities 118
4.2 Component impurity effects on signals 128
4.3 Probes 135
4.4 Electrostatic interference 137
4.5 Electromagnetic interference 145
4.6 Multiple earths and earth loops 146
4. 7 Drift and noise 148
5. SIGNAL CONDITIONING ISO
5.1 Impedance effects 150
5.2 Voltage scaling 153
5.3 Current scaling 161
5.4 Attenuators 167
5.5 Operational amplifiers 171
5.6 Modulators 178
5.7 A-D Conversion 181
5 .8 Comparisons 183

6. DIGITAL INSTRUMENTS 185

6.1 Display methods 185
6.2 Differential voltmeters 188
6.3 Counters 190
6.4 Digital clocks 196
6.5 Digital voltmeters 197
6.6 Comparisons 206

7. ERRORS IN MEASUREMENT 208

7.1 Standards 208
7.2 Error analysis 214
7.3 Calibration procedures 221
 CONTENTS vii
8.TRANSDUCERS 230
8.1 Resistance change transducers 234
8.2 Electromagnetic transducers 252
8.3 Reactance change transducers 254
8.4 Semiconductors 261
8.5 Piezoelectric transducers 264
8.6 Digital transducers 265
8.7 Thermoelectric transducers 267
8.8 Comparisons 273

9. DATA RECORDING AND ANALYSIS 275

9.1 Digital recording systems 275
9.2 Instrumentation tape recorders 279
9.3 Data analysers 290
9.4 Comparisons 294

10. INSTRUMENT SELECTION AND SPECIFICATIONS 297

10.1 Instrument selection 297
10.2 Specification analysis 300
10.3 Instrument comparisons 310

11. INSTRUMENTATION SYSTEMS 311

11.1 Open and closed loop systems 311
11.2 Bench instrumentation 312
11.3 Permanent installation (example) 313

APPENDIX I, UNITS, SYMBOLS AND CONVERSION FACTORS 317

(a) Multiples 317
(b) Units 318

APPENDIX II, DYNAMIC BEHAVIOUR OF MOVING COIL SYSTEMS 322

(a) Equation of motion; damping magnitude 322
(b) Deflection amplitude for a vibration galvanometer 325
(c) Amplitude and phase distortion of the trace from a u.v. recorder 326
galvanometer

APPENDIX III, EQUATIONS TO DETERMINE THE COMPONENTS OF A 329

RESISTIVE 'T' ATTENUATOR PAD

INDEX 331
 ix

Preface

Our ability to measure a quantity determines our knowledge of that quantity,

and since the measuring of electrical quantities - or other parameters in terms
of electrical quantities - is involved in an ever expanding circle of occupations
of contemporary life, it is essential for the practising engineer to have a thorough
knowledge of electrical instrumentation and measurement systems. This is
especially so since in addition to his own requirements, he may be called upon
to advise others who have no electrical knowledge at all.
This book is primarily intended to assist the student following an electrical or
electronic engineering degree course to adopt a practical approach to his measure-
ment problems. It will also be of use to the engineer or technician, who now
finds himself involved with measurements in terms of volts, amperes, ohms, watts,
etc., and faced with an ever increasing variety of instruments from a simple
pointer instrument to a complex data logging and processing system. Thus, the
object of this book is to help the engineer, or instrument user, to select the
right form of instrument for an application, and then analyse the performance
of the competitive instruments from the various manufacturers in order to obtain
the optimum instrument performance for each measurement situation.
During that period of my career when I was employed in the research depart-
ment of an industrial organisation I was, at times, appalled by the lack of ability
exhibited by some graduates in selecting a suitable, let alone the best, instrument
to perform quite basic measurements. Since entering the field of higher educa-
tion to lecture in electrical measurements and instrumentation, my philosophy
has been to instruct students to consider each measurement situation on its
merits and then select the best instrument for that particular set of circumstances.
Such an approach must of course include descriptions of types of instruments,
and be presented so that the student understands the functioning and limitations
of each instrument in order to be able to make the optimum selection. Hence the
general theme of this book is to describe various types of instrument and then compare
their characteristics. Unfortunately there is a limit to the number of instruments
that can be described in a book of realistic size, and I have therefore omitted
X PREFACE
specialised topics such as medical instrumentation, gas chromatography, radio
frequency measurements, power system measurements, acoustic measurements,
and high voltage instruments such as discharge detectors. Further, since some of
the established methods are extensively covered elsewhere they are only ·
summarised in this book; there is a list of references for further reading at the
end of each chapter.
I would like to thank all the instrument manufacturers who have willingly
assisted me in producing this volume by providing application notes, specifications,
reproductions of articles, and also their obliging field engineers. I have endeavoured
to acknowledge all sources of diagrams and other material, but I hope that any
oversights will be excused. I should also like to thank my colleagues in the
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engin~ering at Brighton Polytechnic for
their assistance and encouragement; in particular my thanks are due to Dr B. H.
Venning and Dr E. M. Freeman. Finally may I record my thanks and appreciation
to my wife for her perseverance and courage in typing the manuscript.

B. A. Gregory