5.
0 MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MULTIMETER
A multimeter or a multitester, also known as a volt/ohm meter or VOM, is an
electronicmeasuring instrument that combines several measurement functions in one
unit. A typical multimeter may include features such as the ability to measure voltage,
current and resistance.
There are two categories of multimeters, analog multimeters and digital
multimeters.
A multimeter can be a hand-held device useful for basic fault finding and field
service work or a bench instrument which can measure to a very high degree of
accuracy. They can be used to troubleshoot electrical problems in a wide array of
industrial and household devices such as batteries, motor controls, appliances, power
supplies, and wiring systems.
Digital
The resolution of a multimeter is often specified in the number of
decimal digits resolved and displayed. If the most significant digit cannot take all values
from 0 to 9 is often termed a fractional digit. For example, a multimeter which can read
up to 19999 (plus an embedded decimal point) is said to read 4½ digits.
By convention, a half digit can display either a zero or a one. A 5½ digit
multimeter would have five full digits that display values from 0 to 9 and one half digit
that could only display 0 or 1. Such a meter could show positive or negative values from
0 to 199,999. A 3¾ digit meter can display a quantity from 0 to 3,999 or 5,999,
depending on the manufacturer.
Analog
Resolution of analog multimeters is limited by the width of the scale pointer,
vibration of the pointer, the accuracy of printing of scales, zero calibration, number of
ranges, and errors due to non-horizontal use of the mechanical display.
Resistance measurements, in particular, are of low precision due to the typical
resistance measurement circuit which compresses the scale heavily at the higher
resistance values.
Accuracy
Digital multimeters generally take measurements with accuracy superior to their
analog counterparts. Analog multimeters typically measure with about three percent
accuracy. Standard portable digital multimeters claim to be capable of taking
measurements with an accuracy of 0.5% on the DC voltage ranges. Laboratory grade
instruments can have accuracies in the parts per million.
A multimeter's quoted accuracy is specified as being that of the lower (mV) DC
range, and is known as the "basic DC volts accuracy" figure. Higher DC voltage ranges,
current, resistance, AC and other ranges will usually have a lower accuracy than the
basic DC volts figure.
USES
Contemporary multimeters can measure many quantities. The common ones are:
Voltage in volts.
Current in amperes.
Resistance in ohms.
Additionally, multimeters may also measure:
Capacitance in farads.
Conductance in siemens.
Decibels.
Duty cycle as a percentage.
Frequency in hertz
Inductance in henrys
Temperature in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Digital multimeters may also include circuits for:
Continuity that beeps when a circuit conducts.
Diodes and Transistors
Various sensors can be attached to multimeters to take measurements such as:
Light level
Acidity/Alkalinity(pH)
Wind speed
Relative humidity
