Basic Electrical Measuring
Instruments
Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO)
• The Cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO) is an electronic device
capable of giving a visual indication of a signal waveform.
• Widely used for trouble shooting radio and television receivers
as well as laboratory work involving research and design.
• With CRO, the wave shape of a signal can be studied with
respect to amplitude distortion and deviation from the normal.
• CRO is also used for measuring voltage, frequency and phase
shift.
Basic Principle
Torch focussed on a cardboard
• Consider a piece of cardboard (held perpendicular to the torch).
The light beam will make a bright spot where it strikes the
cardboard or screen. Hold the torch still, the spot remains still,
move the torch, the spot also moves. If the movement is slow,
the eye can follow the movement but if it is too fast for eye to
follow, the persistence of the vision causes the eye to see the
pattern traced by the spot. Hence by moving or waving the torch
from side to side a horizontal line is traced and from up and
down, a vertical line is traced.
• A similar action takes place in the CRT of an oscilloscope. Torch is
replaced by “electron gun” which emits electrons accelerated to
a high velocity and brought to focus on a fluorescent screen
Principle: The electron gun emits electrons accelerated to a
high velocity and brought to focus on a fluorescent screen. The
screen produces a visible spot where the electron beam
strikes. By deflecting the electron beam over the screen in
response to the electrical signal, the electrons can be made to
act as an electrical pencil of light which produces a spot of
light wherever it strikes.
As electrons have negligible mass, they respond almost
simultaneously when acted upon by an electrical signal and
can trace almost any electrical variation however rapid.
Block diagram of Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
(CRO)
CRO consists of following major sub systems
1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) – it displays the quantity being
measured.
2. Vertical amplifier – it amplifies the signal waveform to be
viewed.
3. Horizontal amplifier – it is fed with a sawtooth voltage
which is then applied to the X – plates
4. Sweep generator – produces saw tooth voltage waveform
used for horizontal deflection of the electron beam.
5. Trigger circuit – produces trigger pulses to start horizontal
sweep.
6. High and low voltage power supply – the operating
controls of a basic oscilloscope
The different terminals provide
1. Horizontal amplifier input
2. Vertical amplifier input
3. Sync. Input
4. Z – axis input
5. External sweep input
Different controls permit adjustment of
6. Intensity – for correct brightness of the trace on the screen
7. Focus – for sharp focus of the trace
8. Horizontal centring – used to move the pattern right and left on the
screen .
9. Vertical centring – for moving the pattern up and down on the screen.
10. Horizontal gain (Time/div or Time/cm) –adjusting pattern width
11. Vertical gain (volt/div or volt/cm) – for adjusting pattern height.
12. Sweep frequency – for selecting number of cycles in the pattern.
13. Sync. Voltage amplitude – for locking the pattern
A CRO can operate upto 50 MHz, can allow viewing of signals within a
time span of a few nanoseconds and provide a number of waveform
displays simultaneously on the screen. It can hold the displays for a short
or long time so that the original signal may be compared with one coming
on later.
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
CRT or Cathode ray tube is the main part or heart of an oscilloscope. It is
similar to the picture tube in a television set. A cross –sectional view of a
CRT is shown. It is a vacuum tube of special geometrical shape and
converts an electrical signal into visual form. A cathode ray tube produces
plenty of electrons. These electrons are accelerated to high velocity and
are focused on a fluorescent screen as a spot of light. The electron beam
is deflected on moving in response to the electrical signal under study.
This results in an electrical signal waveform displayed visually.
(i) Glass Envelope – It is conical highly evacuated glass housing and maintains
vacuum inside and supports the various electrodes. The inner walls of CRT
between neck and screen are usually coated with a conducting material called
aquadag (a dispersion of the purest and finest colloidal graphite in water). This
coating is electrically connected to the accelerating anode so that electrons
which accidently strike the wall are returned to the anode. This prevents the
walls of the tube from charging to a high negative potential.
(ii) Electron gun assembly – It is an arrangement of electrodes which produce a
focussed beam of electrons called electron gun. It essentially consists of an
indirectly heated cathode, a control grid, a focusing anode and an accelerating
anode. The control grid is held at negative potential with respect to cathode
whereas the two anodes are maintained at high positive potential w.r.t cathode.
The cathode consists of a nickel cylinder coated with oxide coating and
provides plenty of electrons. The control grid encloses the cathode and consists
of a metal cylinder with a tiny circular opening to keep the electron beam small
in size. The focussing anode focusses the electron beam into a sharp pin point
by controlling the positive potential on it.
The positive potential of about 10000V on the accelerating anode is much
higher than on the focusing anode. Due to this, the anode accelerates the
narrow beam to a high velocity. Therefore, the electron gun assembly
forms a narrow accelerated beam of electrons which produces a spot of
light when it strikes the screen.
(iii) Deflection plate assembly – the deflection of the beam is
accomplished by two sets of deflecting plates placed within the tube
beyond the accelerating anode.
a. Vertical deflection plates: The vertical deflection plates are mounted
horizontally in the tube. By applying proper potential to these plates,
the electron beam can be made to move up and down vertically on
the fluorescent screen.
b. Horizontal deflection plates: The horizontal deflection plates are
mounted in the vertical plane. A potential on these plates can cause
(iv) Screen – The screen is the inside face of the tube and is coated
with some fluorescent material such as zinc orthosilicate, zinc oxide etc.
When high velocity electron beam strikes the screen, a spot of light is
produced at the point of impact. The colour of the spot depends upon
the nature of fluorescent material. If zinc orthosilicate is used as
fluorescent material, green light spot is produced.
Action of CRT
When the cathode is heated, it emits plenty of electrons. These electrons
pass through control grid on their way to screen.
If the negative potential on the control grid is high, fewer electrons will
pass through it and the electron beam on striking the screen produces a
dim spot of light. If negative potential is reduced more electrons will pass
and produces a bright spot. Thus the intensity of light spot on the screen
can be changed by changing the negative potential on the control grid.
As the electron beam leaves the control grid it comes under the influence
of focussing and accelerating anodes. As the two anodes are maintained
at high positive potential, they produce a field which acts as an
electrostatic lens to converge the electron beam at a point on the screen.
As the electron beam leaves the accelerating anode it is influenced by
vertical and horizontal deflection plates.
If no voltage is applied to the deflection plates, the electron beam will
produce spot of light at the centre on the screen.
If the voltage is applied to vertical plates only, the electron beam and
hence the spot of light will be deflected upwards (O1) and downwards (O2)
if the potential is reversed. Similarly it can be moved horizontally by
applying the voltage across the horizontal plates.
+ + O1
- - O2
Signal Display
Applying signal across vertical plates:
If a sinusoidal voltage is applied to the vertical deflection plates, it will
make the plates alternately positive and negative. Thus, in the positive
half of the signal, upper plate will be positive and lower plate negative
while in the negative half cycle, the plate polarities will be reversed.
Due to this the spot moves up and down at the same rate as the
frequency of the applied voltage. As the frequency of applied voltage is
50 Hz, therefore due to persistence of vision, we will see a continuous
vertical line 2 – 1 – 4 on the screen. The line doesnot indicate the manner
in which the voltage is alternating since it doesnot reveal the waveform.
2 2
1 1, 3, 5
3 5
4
4
Signal Waveform on CRO
An interesting application of CRO is that it presents the wave shape of the
signal on the screen. A sinusoidal signal applied to vertical plates results in a
vertical line. But it is required to see the signal voltage variations with time on
the screen. This is possible only if the beam moves horizontally from left to
right at a uniform speed while it is moving up and down. Further, as soon as a
full cycle of the signal is traced, the beam should return quickly to the left
hand side of the screen so that it can start tracing the second cycle.
In order that the beam moves from left to right at a uniform rate, a voltage
varying linearly with time should be applied to the horizontal plates. This
condition is exactly net in the saw tooth wave as in fig.
When t = 0 the negative voltage on the horizontal plates keep the beam to the
extreme left on the screen. As the time progresses, the negative voltage
decreases linearly with time and the beam moves towards right forming a
horizontal line. Like this, the saw-tooth wave applied to horizontal plates
moves the beam from left to right at a uniform rate.
VH
+
5
4
1 2 3 4 5
0 t
3
-
1
Signal Pattern on Screen
If the signal voltage is applied to the vertical plates and saw-tooth wave to
the horizontal plates, we get the exact pattern of the signal as in fig.
When the signal at instant 1 its amplitude is zero. But at this instant,
maximum negative is applied to horizontal plates. As a result the beam is at
the extreme left on the screen.
When the signal is at the instant 2, the amplitude is maximum. However,
the negative voltage on the horizontal plates is decreased. Therefore, the
beam is deflected upwards by the signal and towards the right by the saw –
tooth wave.
The result is that the beam now strikes the screen at point 2.
on similar reasoning, the beam strikes the screen at points 3, 4 and 5. like
this, we have the exact signal pattern on the screen.
2
1 3 5
2
4
1
3 5
- +
1
2
3
4
5
Measurements
There are three ways of making precise measurements
1. Mechanical means: like measuring gas pressure by Bourdon pressure
gauge.
2. Electrical means: like measuring potential difference with an electrical
voltmeter.
3. Electronic means: a sensitive way of detecting the measured quantity
because of amplification provided by the active electron device.
Analog instruments: the deflection type instruments with a scale and
movable pointer are called analog instruments. The deflection of the pointer
is a function of the value of the electrical quantity being measured.
Digital instruments: Digital instruments use logic circuits and techniques
to obtain a measurement and then display it in numerical – reading (digital)
form. The digital displays employ either LED displays or liquid crystal
Basic meter movement
It is also called D’Arsonval meter movement or a permanent
magnet moving coil (PMMC) meter movement. It is widely used in
electronic instruments.
The meter movement works on the motor principle and is a current
responding device. The deflection of the pointer is directly proportional to
the amount of current passing through the coil.
The basic moving coil system can be converted into an instrument
to measure dc as well as ac quantities like current, voltage and resistance
etc. without any modification, it can carry a maximum current I m and can
withstand a maximum dc voltage v = Im Rm
DC instruments
a. It can be made into a dc ammeter, milliammeter or microammeter by
adding a shunt resistor Rsh in parallel with it as in fig.
AC measuring instruments
It can be changed into an ac audio-frequency ammeter or voltmeter by adding an
extra rectifier.
It can be converted into a radio – frequency ammeter or voltmeter by adding a
thermocouple.
Basic Dc ammeter
The basic meter movement can carry a maximum current of I m i.e., the full scale
deflection current. Its current range can be increased to any value by connecting a
low resistance called shunt resistance R sh in parallel with it as in fig.
The shunted meter works as an ammeter with an extended range. To measure a line
current of I with the help of this meter movement, the value of R sh should be such as
to shunt or bypass a current of (I – I m). It can be seen the range extension is from I m
to I.
The ratio is known as the multiplying power or multiplying factor of the shunt. It
means that a shunt allows the meter to measure current I which is n times larger
than I .
Value of Rsh
Voltage across the meter and the shunt is the same because they are
joined in parallel.
Here, n is the multiplying factor of the shunt.
Larger the value of n, greater the range extension required, smaller the
shunt resistance needed. Incidentally, it may be noted that the resistance
of the shunted meter is
It is much less than either Rm or Rsh.
Extending of ammeter ranges / Multirange meter
The shunt resistance gives only a single range ammeter. By using
universal shunt (also called Ayrton shunt) a multirange ammeter can be
obtained i.e., ammeter ranges can be extended.
In the circuit below, by changing the switch position from A to B to C and
to D, the current range can be extended as desired.
1. Switch at A
Here, the meter is unshunted and so can read upto its full scale deflection
current of 1mA only.
2. Switch at B
Here, R1 shunts the meter and extends its range to 10mA i.e., increases it
ten times.
Since, n = 10
3. Switch at C
Here, R2 shunts Rm and extends meter range from 1mA to 0.1 A i.e.,
100mA
Obviously,
4. Switch at D
Here, R3 shunts Rm and extends the current range of the meter from 1mA
to 1.0A i.e., 1000mA
Hence, greater the range extension, smaller the shunt resistance.
Current Measurement
While measuring current flowing in a circuit, following two points
are to be kept in mind.
1. The current meter must be connected in series with the
circuit where current is to be measured. The full circuit
current cannot flow through the meter unless it is made of a
series component.
2. The dc meter must be connected with the correct polarity for
the pointer to read up – scale to the right. Reversed polarity
deflects the pointer down – scale to the left forcing it against
the stop which can sometime bend the pointer.
Basic DC voltmeter for measuring potential difference
The basic meter movement can measure a maximum voltage of
ImRm which is very small. Its voltage range can be extended to any value by
connecting a large resistance in series with it as in the circuit shown. The
series resistance is also called multiplier resistance because it multiplies
the voltage reading capability of the meter many times. It is usually
connected inside the voltmeter case. Voltmeter is connected in parallel
with the load across which the voltage is to be measured.
Value of Rse
Suppose, the voltage range of the meter is required to be extended from
v to V. Then V/v is known as the voltage multiplication.
In circuit shown, drop across Rse is (V - v) and current through it is the
same as meter current i.e., Im.
(1)
The voltage multiplication (m) can be found from equn (1)
Dividing both sides by v, we get
(2)
For a given meter, higher the series resistance, greater is the voltage range
extension.
Multirange DC voltmeter
A multirange voltmeter with ranges of 0-5 V, 0-25 V and 0 – 50 V is shown
below. Different values of resistors R1, R2, and R3 can be found by .
For below circuit, R1 = 99 K, R2 = 499 K and R3 = 999 K. Higher the
voltage range, greater is the multiplier resistance required.
AC voltmeters using Rectifiers
The basic meter or D’ Arsonval meter movement can be used for measuring
alternating quantities provided a rectifier is added to the measuring circuit. A similar
rectifier arrangement is found as part of AC volts function in multimeters. Such ac
meters are more widely used than either dynamometer type or more delicate
thermal and hotwire type.
a. With Half – Wave Rectifier
The circuit of an ac voltmeter using half wave diode rectifier is shown below.
Here, a half wave rectifier has been combined in series with a dc meter movement.
When used as a dc voltmeter (without rectifier) it would have
a range of 10 V (say). However, if an ac voltage of rms value
10 V is applied across input terminals AB, it would read 4.5 V.
Because, an ac voltage of rms value 10V has a peak value of
10 x = 14 V and an average value of 0.636 x 14 = 9 V. since,
in the half wave rectified output, one half cycle is absent, the
average for the full cycle is 9/2 = 4.5 V. therefore meter
movement will read 4.5 V i.e., 45 % of the dc value. Also, ac
sensitivity of a half wave ac meter is only 45 % of the dc
sensitivity.
b. With Full Wave Rectifier
The circuit is shown below. In this case, the meter reading
would be 90 % of rms input voltage i.e., 90 % of the dc value.