U21EC101

Introduction to Electrical and Electronics Engineering

UNIT-4

14 February 2022 KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 1
 Syllabus:

UNIT IV MEASURING INSTRUMENTS 6

Voltmeter – Ammeter – Digital multi meter – Megger – C.R.O -

Storage oscilloscope - Energy meter - Spectrum Analyzer.

14 February 2022 KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 2
We Need to Measure Many Different Things
Length Temperature

Weight

Speed
 Measurements

• Measurement: Comparison between a standard and what we want

to measure (the measurand).
• Two quantities are compared the result is expressed in numerical
values.

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Basic requirements for a meaningful measurement

• The standard used for comparison purposes must

be accurately defined and should be commonly
accepted.
• The apparatus used and the method adopted must
be provable (verifiable).

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Two major functions of all branch of engineering

• Design of equipment and processes

• Proper Operation and maintenance of
equipment and processes.

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Methods of Measurement
• Direct Methods

• Indirect Methods

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• DIRECT METHODS: In these methods, the unknown
quantity (called the measurand ) is directly
compared against a standard.

• INDIRECT METHOD: Measurements by direct

methods are not always possible, feasible and
practicable. In engineering applications
measurement systems are used which require need
of indirect method for measurement purposes.

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 Instruments and Measurement
Systems.
• Measurement involve the use of instruments as
a physical means of determining quantities or
variables.

• Because of modular nature of the elements

within it, it is common to refer the measuring
instrument as a MEASUREMENT SYSTEM.

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 Evolution of Instruments.
a) Mechanical
b) Electrical
c) Electronic Instruments.

• MECHANICAL: These instruments are very

reliable for static and stable conditions. But their
disadvantage is that they are unable to respond
rapidly to measurements of dynamic and
transient conditions.

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 Contd
• ELECTRICAL: It is faster than mechanical,
indicating the output are rapid than mechanical
methods. But it depends on the mechanical
movement of the meters. The response is 0.5 to
24 seconds.

• ELECTRONIC: It is more reliable than other

system. It uses semiconductor devices and weak
signal can also be detected.

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• Functions of instrument and measuring system
can be classified into three. They are:
i) Indicating function.
ii) Recording function.
iii) Controlling function.
• Application of measurement systems are:
i) Monitoring of process and operation.
ii) Control of processes and operation.
iii) Experimental engineering analysis.

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 Types Of Instrumentation System

• Intelligent Instrumentation (data has been refined

for the purpose of presentation )
• Dumb Instrumentation (data must be processed
by the observer)

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 Elements of Generalized
Measurement System
• Primary sensing element.
• Variable conversion element.
• Data presentation element.
• PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENT: The quantity under
measurement makes its first contact with the
primary sensing element of a measurement system.
• VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENT: It converts the
output of the primary sensing element into suitable
form to preserve the information content of the
original signal.

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 Contd..
• DATA PRESENTATION ELEMENT: The information
about the quantity under measurement has to be
conveyed to the personnel handling the
instrument or the system for monitoring, control
or analysis purpose.

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 Functional Elements of an
Instrumentation System

PRIMARY VARIABLE VARIABLE DATA DATA

QUANTITY CONVER MANIPULATI- TRANSMISSIO PRESENTA
TO BE SENSING
-SION ON ELEMENT -N ELEMENT TION
MEASURED ELEMENT ELEMENT ELEMENT

DATA CONDITIONING ELEMENT

TERMINATING
DETECTOR INTERMEDIATE STAGE STAGE
TRANSDUCER
STAGE

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AMMETERS &
VOLTMETERS
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14 February 2022 KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 19
 TYPES OF AMMETERS & VOLTMETERS

1) Moving Iron Type Meters (AC & DC);

a) Attraction type,
b) Repulsion type.

2) Moving Coil Type Meters (AC & DC);

a) Permanent Magnet type,
b) Electrodynamic or Dynamometer.

3) Hot Wire Type (AC & DC);

4) Induction Type (AC & DC);

a) Split phase,
b) Shaded Pole type.

5) Electrostatic Type for Voltmeters Only;

 Moving-iron instrument

• An attraction type of moving-iron instrument is shown

diagrammatically in Figure. When current flows in the
solenoid, a pivoted soft- iron disc is attracted towards the
solenoid and the movement causes a pointer to move across a
scale.

• In the repulsion type moving-iron instrument shown

diagrammatically in Figure, two pieces of iron are placed
inside the solenoid, one being fixed, and the other attached to
the spindle carrying the pointer.
Moving-iron instrument
Moving-Coil instrument
• There are two types of moving coil instruments
namely, permanent magnet moving coil type
which can only be used for direct current,
voltage measurements.
• The dynamometer type which can be used on
either direct or alternating current, voltage
measurements.
PERMANENT MAGNET MOVING COIL
“The principle operation
of PMMC is based
upon the principle
of current carrying
conductor is placed
in a magnetic field it
is acted upon by force
which tends to move
it.”
DYNAMOMETER
• This instrument is suitable for the measurement of direct
and alternating current, voltage and power.
• The deflecting torque in dynamometer is relies by the
interaction of magnetic field produced by a pair of fixed
air cored coils and a third air cored coil capable of
angular movement and suspended within the fixed coil.
DYNAMOMETER
HOT WIRE TYPE
• It is based on the heating effect of current.
• It consist of platinum-iridium (it can withstand
oxidation at high temperatures) wire.
• When current is through wire, it expands
according to I2R formula.
• This produces sag in the wire and pointer is
attached with this wire which in result deflects.
INDUCTION TYPE INSTRUMENT
• Such instruments are suitable for AC measurements only in these instruments
the deflecting torque is produced by the eddy currents induced in an aluminum
or copper disc or drum by the flux created by an electro-magnet.

• The main advantages of such instruments are that

(i) a full scale deflection can be obtained giving long and open scale
(ii) the effect of stray magnetic field is small;
(iii) damping is easier and effective.
INDUCTION TYPE INSTRUMENT
• These instruments have got some serious disadvantages
(i)The greater deflection causes more stresses in the control springs.
(ii)Variation in supply frequency and temperature may cause serious errors
unless compensating device is employed.
(iii) These instruments are costlier and consume more power

• Such instruments are mostly used as watt-meters or energy meters.

INDUCTION TYPE INSTRUMENT
INDUCTION TYPE INSTRUMENT
• Induction type wattmeter consists of two laminate electromagnets known
as shunt electromagnet and series electromagnet respectively.
• Shunt magnet is excited by the current proportional to the voltage across
load flowing through the pressure coil and series magnet is excited by the
load current flowing through the current coil.
• A thin disc made of Cu or Al, pivoted at its centre, is placed between the
shunt and series magnets so that it cuts the flux from both of the magnets.
INDUCTION TYPE INSTRUMENT
• The deflection torque is produced by interaction of eddy current induced in
the disc and the inducing flux in order to cause the resultant flux in shunt
magnet to lag in phase by exactly 90° behind the applied voltage.
• One or more copper rings, known as copper shading bond are provided on
one limb at the shunt magnet.
• Correct disappointed between shunt and series magnet fluxes may be
attained by adjusting the position of copper shading bonds. The
pressure coil circuit of induction type instrument is made as inductive as
possible so that the flux of the shunt magnet may lag by 90° behind the
applied voltage.
Digital Multimeter
 Introduction
 Digital multimeter is an instrument used to measure
voltage, current and resistance and display the
measured voltage using LCD or LED to display the
results in floating point format
 Special characters
 DMM has a variety of special features that are designed
for a wide number of applications
 Frequency
 Temperature
 Capacitance
 Continuity check
 Diode check
Typical block diagram of a digital multimeter
 Parts of a DMM
Integrator:

The integrator stabilizes the voltage as a first step in measuring it. It takes a brief time sample, integrates it and
outputs a proportional voltage. Integrating a time sample makes the voltmeter more immune to noise in the signal.

A/D converter:

The analog/digital converter is a clocked circuit that takes the sampled input voltage and outputs a number
representing the voltage value. Since it is clocked, we get a steady stream of numbers that change when the input
voltage changes.

Zeroing & Sampling:

A digital voltmeter needs to know where zero is in order to give a true reading. This is done with a precision zero
reference voltage provided either internal to the ADC chip or externally.

Display:

The digital display requires a river circuitry to handle the drive current. An ADC chip converts the generated analog
signal to digital data and is displayed in the LCD.
 Advantages
 Easy to handle
 Very accurate
 Noise signals absent
 Portable
 Has very good resolution
 Digital Multimeter- Principle of Operation
All types of digital meters are basically modified forms of the digital voltmeter
(DVM) irrespective of the quantity that they are designed to measure. Digital
meters designed to measure quantities other than voltage are in fact digital

voltmeters that contain appropriate electrical convert circuits to

current or resistance measurement signals into
voltage signals. Digital multimeters are also essentially digital voltmeters that
contain several conversion circuits, thus allowing the measurement of voltage,
current and resistance within one instrument
A/D converter
 Auto zero (AZ), Integrate (INTEG) and
READ.
• Both auto zero and integrate are fixed time periods. A counter
determines the length of both time periods by providing an overflow at
the end of every 1,000 clock pulses.

• The read period is a variable time, which is proportional to the unknown

input voltage. The value of the voltage is determined by counting the
number of clock pulses that occur during the read period.
 Measurement Cycle and Periods
• Auto zero (AZ),

• Integrate (INTEG)

• and READ.
• Both auto zero and integrate are fixed time periods. A counter determines the length of
both time periods by providing an overflow at the end of every 1,000 clock pulses.

• The read period is a variable time, which is proportional to the unknown input voltage.
The value of the voltage is determined by counting the number of clock pulses that
occur during the read period.
VOLTAGE MEASUREMENT
Current Measurement Diagram
Resistance Measurement Diagram
Current to Voltage converter
Conversion of Ohmic Value to DC voltage
Typical Specifications of DMM
 DMM accuracy
Question A 3½-digit display DMM measures an output of a precision 1.2-
V reference. Presume that the true voltage is 1.200 V. The DMM manual shows
the dc volts accuracy specification as ±(0.5% + 3). How should you measure
the voltage and interpret the reading?

Accuracy specifications:
ERROR = ±(% of Reading + number of LSD)

Reading = the true value of the signal that the DMM measures
LSD = least significant digit
.

Solution
Range 200V range 20 V range 2 V range

LSD XX.X X.XX X.XXX

Place Value X 3 .1X3=.3 .01 X3=.03 .001 x3=.003

Calculation as ± (1.200)(0.5)/100 = as ± (1.200)(0.5)/100 as ± (1.200)(0.5)/100

0.006 V which cannot even +0.03) = ± 0.036 V. +0.003) = ± 0.009 V
be seen on the display
because only one digit after
the decimal point is shown.*

Display 1.200 ±0.3 V 1.200 ± 0.036V 1.200 ± 0.009V

Range 0.9 V to 1.5 V. 1.16 V and 1.23 V 1.191 V to 1.209 V

Accuracy accuracy = accuracy = accuracy =

± 25% potential error ± 3% of reading, which ± 0.75% of reading,
and is not acceptable is better, which is sufficient for the
measurement
 Automation of Digital Instruments

• AUTO POLARITY INDICATION

• AUTO RANGING
• AUTO ZEROING
INSULATION TESTER
INSULATION RESISTANCE MEASUREMENT
The purpose to check insulation resistance of underground cables: The insulation is used to
separate the conductors bunched in a unit to prevent short circuit between two conductors in a pair
or between conductors of one pair with the conductor any other pair in the unit or core in the cable.

The insulation is used as SHEATH to separate the insulated conductors

from being corroded or eroded in soil.
The insulation is being used for marking / identifying the pair or conductor in the unit and in the cable
as a whole for that matter.

The insulating material is used for preventing the grounding or earthing of

the conductors and also used for preventing the corrosion of armoring .
 MEGGER
• The megger is a portable instrument used to measure insulation resistance
of cables and/or overhead lines. Meggers are available in 100V dc, 500Vdc
ranges

• The megger is basically an ohm meter used to measure a high resistance.

The megger consists of a hand-driven DC generator and a direct reading
ohm meter.
 EARTH INF.
R
C

G SCALE

LINE R’

HAND
GENERATOR

ZERO

GUARD OHMMETER

Megger schematic diagram

 Working Principle of Megger
• The power source of the Megger can be a hand driven DC
generator or a DC-DC converter . The meter has two coils – One
is the CONTROL coil C and the other one is the DEFLECTING
coil D.
• The 100 Volt Megger is used for insulation testing of paper
insulated balanced quad cable where capacitors of 400volt are
used for balancing the quad cable . 500 volt Megger is used
for polythene insulated and twisted pair cables .
 MEGGER- TYPES
• BRIDGE MEGGER IS A MEGGER WITH A
WHEATSTONE BRIDGE TO FACITILATE OTHER
LINE TESTINGS
i.e LOOP TESTINGS & FAULT LOCATIONS BY
VARLEY METHOD.
• EARTH TESTER MEGGER ARE OF TWO TYPES
i.e UNIVERSAL TYPE & NULL-BALANCE TYPE
MEANT FOR EARTH TESTING.
 Insulation test

• Aim: The aim of this test is to find out the insulation resistance (strength of
insulation) of the LINE
• Introduction: Every line has two limbs i.e.L1 & L2 to transmit the signal from the
source to the destination. If the insulation resistance of the conductors is not within
the permissible limit either with earth or between them, there will be loss of signal and
the transmitted signal will be very weak when it reaches the destination resulting in
improper communication
INSULATION TESTER or MEGGER

139
Apparatus required: insulation tester or Megger of 100 Voltsor
500 Volts.
1) Limb 1 to earth: L1 E
2) Limb 2 to earth: L2 E
3) Between limb 1 and limb 2: L1 L2
L1 Insulation Conductor

Megger

E L1

L2

140
 L1

Megger

L2

L1

Megger

L2

141
CONDUCTION TEST
Aim: The aim of this test is to measure the resistance value of the
conductors of the line
Introduction: By carrying out the test we can find out the resistance of
the individual limbs and also the loop resistance of the line.

Usually the resistance value of both the limbs should be equal and if
there is any difference, it should be within the prescribed permissible
limit OR the loop resistance of the line should be equal to sum of the
individual resistances
1
4
 In case, the difference between the resistances of the
individual limbs is more, there is every possibility of
induction of voltages from the neighboring circuits due to
capacitive unbalance which appears as cross talk on the line
Apparatus required:
Null balance bridge Megger or Digital Multimeter

143
Bridge Megger
Bridge Megger contd….
PROCEDURE
1.Measure the resistance of L1 2.Measure the

resistance of L2 3.Measure the resistance of L1+L2

conductor
Insulation
Al.screening

P2
c1 P1 G c2

x1
X0.1

X.01
x10 L1 R
1 2 5
Loop tests for finding cable Faults
Murray Loop Test
CATHODE RAY
OSCILLOSCOPE
DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
 DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE
• The analog to digital converter (ADC)in the acquisition system samples the signal at discrete
points in time and converts the signals voltage at these points to digital value called sample
points .

• The sample points from the ADC are stored in the memory as
waveform points .

• Together ,the waveform points make up one waveform record. The number of waveform
points used to make a waveform record is called a record length . The trigger system
determines the start and stop points of the record . The display receives these record
points after being stored in memory .

• Depending upon the capability of Oscilloscope, additional processing

of sample points may take place, enhancing the display .
Analog CRO Vs DSO
DIGITAL OSCILLOSCOPE contd…..
 PROBES
• The ordinary coaxial cable of 1 meter length
increases the input capacitance value of the oscilloscope to
about 100 pF when it is connected to the test signal . To keep
the input capacitance of the meter to minimum , passive
voltage probes of types – x1 , x10 and x100 are used to
study the signal .

• x10 and x100 probes give attenuation to the signal voltage by

10 and 100 times respectively more than the original signal
level .
 ANALYZERS
Analyzers are broadly classified as Spectrum analyzers and Network analyzers.

A spectrum analyzer or spectral analyzer is a device used to

examine the spectral composition of some electrical,

acoustic or optical waveform. It may also measure the power spectrum.

displays signal amplitude (strength) as it varies by signal frequency . The frequency

appears on the horizontal axis, and the amplitude is displayed on the vertical axis.
Determine whether or not a wireless transmitter is working according to defined
standards for purity of emissions.
Determine, by direct observation, the bandwidth of a digital or analog signal,
because its analysis is frequency domain based.
To the casual observer, a spectrum analyzer looks like an oscilloscope and, in
fact, some lab instruments can function either as oscilloscopes or spectrum
analyzers.
 What is the Difference between Network and
Spectrum Analyzers?
Network analyzers are used to measure components, devices, circuits and sub-assemblies. They
contain both a source and multiple receivers, and generally display ratioed amplitude and phase
information (frequency or power sweeps).

A network analyzer is always looking at a known signal (in terms of frequency), since it is a
stimulus response system.

 With network analyzers, it is harder to get an accurate trace on

the display, but very easy to interpret the results.
 With vector-error correction, network analyzers provide much higher measurement
accuracy than spectrum analyzers.
Spectrum analyzers are most often used to
measure signal characteristics such as carrier level, sidebands, harmonics,

phase noise etc. on unknown signals.

They are most commonly configured as a single channel receiver, without a source.
Because of the flexibility needed to analyze signals, spectrum analyzers generally have
a much wider range of IF bandwidths available than most network analyzers.

 Spectrum analyzers are often used with external sources for

nonlinear stimulus/response testing.
A network analyzer (RF) is an instrument used to analyze the properties of electrical
networks, especially those properties associated with the reflection and transmission of
electrical signals known as scattering parameters (S-parameters).
A network analyzer (data communications) also called a protocol analyzer or
packet analyzer is a combination of hardware and programming, or in some cases a
stand-alone hardware device, that can be installed in a computer or network to enhance
protection against malicious activity.
Network analyzers can supplement firewalls, anti-virus programs and spyware detection
programs.
 A network analyzer is a combination of hardware and
programming, or in some cases hardware a stand-alone a
device, that can be installed in computer or
network to enhance its utilization and protection against malicious
activity.
NETWORK ANALYZER
(Data communication)
Network analyzer (also known as a packet analyzer, protocol analyzer or
sniffer) is a computer program or a piece of computer hardware that can intercept
and log traffic passing over a digital net work or part of a network.
As data streams flow across the network, the sniffer captures each packet and,
if needed, decodes and analyzes its content according to the appropriate
specifications.
Applications

In data communication, there is often need to observe and

analyze, or even to simulate, the interactions between
network devices interconnected by wide area networks
(WANs)or local area networks(LANs)

• Monitor LAN/WAN bandwidth utilization as a function of time.

• Monitor network usage (including internal and external users and
systems).
• Serve as primary data source for day-to-day network monitoring
and management.
• Debug network protocol implementations..
•Verify internal control system effectiveness. (firewalls, access control,Web
filter, Spam filter, proxy)

• Provide detailed statistics for current and recent

activity on the network.
•Configure alarms for defined threats and search for specific data
strings in packets.
Create application-specific plug-ins and display all statistics on a user-friendly
control panel
14 February 2022 KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 87
 Energy meters are the basic part to measure the power
consumption. It is used everywhere, no matter how big or small
consumption it is. It is also known as watt-hour meter. Here we
discuss the construction and working principle of induction type
energy meter.

To understand the structure of watt-hour meter, we must

understand the four essential components of the meter. These
components are as follows:
Driving system
Moving system
Braking system
Registering system
14 February 2022 KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India 88
 Driving System
The components of this system are two silicon steel laminated electromagnets.

The upper electromagnet is called

shunt magnet and it carries a voltage
coil consisting of many turns of thin
wire.
The lower electromagnet is called
series magnet and it carries the two
current coils consisting of a few turns
of thick wire.
Current coils are connected in series
with the circuit and load current
passes through it.

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 Working Principle of Energy Meter

The rotation of metallic disk is operated by two coils.

Both the coils are arranged in such way that one coil produces a magnetic field in
proportion to voltage and the other coil creates a magnetic field proportion to
current.

The field produced by voltage coil is delayed by 90o so that eddy current is induced in
the disk. The force exerted on the disk by the two fields is proportional to the
product of the immediate current and voltage in the coils.

As a result of it, a lite weight aluminum disk rotates in an air gap. But there is a need
to stop a disk when there is no power supply.

A permanent magnet works as a brake which opposes the rotation of the disk and
balances the speed of rotation with respect to power consumption.
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