INDUCTANCE METER ADAPTER Measure inductance with this add-on circuit and an ordinary DMM.

An inductance meter could be a valuable test instrument for a hobbyist to own. However few people own them because of the high price tags found on such instruments. That's about to change. The Inductance Meter Adapter described in this article is a circuit that when connected to a digital multimeter !DMM" lets you measure lowvalued inductances. The pro#ect can be built for a couple dollars or less depending on what parts are in your #un$ bo%. &r you can buy a $it of parts including a '( board from the source mentioned in the 'arts )ist. The range of the Adapter is actually *uite impressive. It allows your DMM to measure inductance from + microHenries to , milliHenries in two ranges. -asically when the Adapter has an inductance connected at its input terminals it develops a D( voltage at its output terminals that your DMM can measure and display as a calibrated inductance measurement. An analog multimeter cannot do the #ob because it's input resistance is below the minimum .-Megohm re*uired for the adapter's proper operation. The Adapter certainly can't replace a fine piece of test gear but it's a handy little instrument for sorting unlabeled parts and matching inductors to one another. Another great feature of the Adapter is that you can have it wor$ing in less than an hour with or without the $it. CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION The schematic diagram for the Adapter is shown in /ig. ..

The circuit is powered from a 0-1olt battery -. and an )M,234 regulator I(5 provides a regulated 4-1olt source for the rest of ther circuit. 6witch 65 turns the power on and off. The heart of the circuit is a single ,7H(.+5 *uad 6cmitt 8A8D-gate I(.. The first gate in the pac$age I(.-a is configured as an oscillator whose fre*uency is determined by the 9( components !including trimmers 9: and 9," in its feedbac$ loop; I(.-b is a buffer<inverter. &ne input of both I(.-c and I(.-d is tied to =4 1olts with both sections configured as inverters. The s*uare-wave output from I(.-b is fed to the pin-0 input of I(.-c and pin-0 also connects to >. one of the test-inductor input terminals. ?hen the inductor is connected across >. and >5 the voltage input to I(. pin 0 stays higher for a longer period depending on the value of the inductor. ?ith the output of I(.-c feeding the I(.-d the resulting average D( voltage across the output terminals !>+ and >7" is directly proportional to the un$nown resistance. 'otentiometers 9: and 9, calibrate the circuit for High and )ow ranges respectively and potentiometer 9. sets the @ero point on the DMM. ?hen the circuit is calibrated with a $nown inductance and properly @eroed out the output voltage can represent inductance. 6witch 6. selects the Adapter's range; the circuit will measure from +uH to 433mH in the )ow range and from .33uH to 4 mH in the High range. CONSTRUCTION The Adapter circuit is simple enough to build using point-to-point wiring. However if you prefer to use a '( board you can etch your own from the foil pattern shown in /ig. 5.

PARTS LIST FOR THEINDUCTANCE METER ADAPTER 6AMI(&8DB(T&96 I(. - ,7H(.+5 Cuad 6chmitt trigger 8A8D gate integrated circuit I(5 - )M+73T-4 !)M,234" positive 4-1olt regulator integrated circuit D. - I87.72 diode 9A6I6T&96 All fi%ed resistors are .<7? 4D 9. - .333 ohm trimmer potentiometer 95 - ++ 333 ohm 9+ - 553 ohm 97 - .3 333 ohm 94 - .33 333 ohm 9: 9, - .3 333 ohm trimmer potentiometers 92 90 - 55 333 ohm (A'A(IT&96 (. - 3.3. u/ monolithic (5 - 3.. u/ monolithic (+ - 3.33. u/ monolithic ADDITI&8A) 'A9T6 A8D MATA9IA)6 6. - D'DT switch '(-mount 65 - 6'DT switch '(-mount >. >5 - 6pring-loaded terminal '). ')5 - -anana 'lug red and blac$. -. - 01 al$aline battery
If you're using a '( board refer to the parts-placement diagram shown in /ig. +

?hen building the circuit. -egin by mounting a soc$et for I(.; be sure to match the orientation shown. Install the resistors and capacitors. 6older the switches to the board. Then go on to mount the diode and potentiometers ma$ing sure they are oriented properly. Install wire#umper >B. and a battery-snap connector for -.. Then solder insulated wire leads for the connections to >. >5 '). and ')5. Eeep the leads to >. and >5 as short as possible as they could affect the readings given by the unit. The leads for '). and ')5 on the other hand should be somewhat long; that will ma$e it easier to connect the Adapter to a DMM. 6older banana-plugs '). and ')5 to the leads. To complete onboard assembly mount I(5 and insert I(. into its soc$et being sure to chec$ the polarity of both. The ne%t step is to prepare the enclosure for the Adapter. Any enclosure of a suitable si@e can be used. Mount #ac$s for >. and >5 to the case first. To ma$e it easier to temporarily connect un$nown conductors to the circuit use spring-loaded terminals for >. and >5 !they come with the $it". Drill holes in the case to accomodate the switches and the '). and ')5 wires. Mount the '( board.

CALIBRATION AND USE After chec$ing your wor$ connect a 01 battery to the battery clip and set the switch 65 to &8. To calibrate the circuit you'll need a couple of inductors with $nown values preferably values e*ual to or near 733uH and 4mH. If possible measure the values of the inductors you use with an accurate meter to determine their e%act values. (onnect output leads '). and ')5 to a voltmeter set to the 533-milli1olt scale and place a short piece of wire directly across terminals >. and >5. 6et range switch 6. to )ow and ad#ust 9. for a reading of @ero on the meter. 8ow set the DMM to the 5-1olt range. 9emove the wire from >. and >5 and connect the 733-uH inductor !or whatever value you have that is closest". Ad#ust 9, so that the voltage displayed on the DMM is the absolute value of the inductance. /or e%ample a 733-uH inductor will give a reading of 3.733 1olt. 8ow connect the 4-mH inductor and set the range switch to High. Ad#ust 9: so that the voltage displayed on the meter is the same as the inductance value. A 4-mH inductor should read between 3.33+ and 3.334. 9emember to disregard the decimal point. In the High range measure from .33uH to 4 mH and the display will read from 3.33. to 3.433. httpF<<www.armory.com<Grstevew<'ublic<TestA*uip<IndMeterAdapter.htm
This inductance meter is an adapter to your digital voltmeter (DVM). Using this circuit, your voltmeter is capable of measuring inductor value. Here is the schematic diagram of the inductance meter adapter circuit !p"#mp is$%H&'(). This circuit is designed to provide t*o measurement ranges. The lo* range *ill measure inductors *ith inductance value bet*een (uH to +,,uH, and the high range *ill measure inductance values bet*een ',,uH and +mH. To calibrate this inductance meter adapter, connect a digital voltmeter, s*itch the voltmeter to ),, mV range, short the test probe and ad-ust the .ero (/') to give a .ero millivolts reading on your digital voltmeter. To calibrate the lo* range of this inductance meter adapter, s*itch the voltmeter to lo* range position, and select ) V range for the digital voltmeter. Test a 0no*n inductor that has a value around %,,uH1 ad-ust the lo* calibration pot to give correct reading of 'mV2uH. 3f you use a %,,uH inductor then you must ad-ust the calibration to give e4actly a %,,mV reading. 5or high range calibration, s*itch the range selector to high position and use a 0no*n inductor around + mH, ad-ust the high calibration pot to give ',,mV per mH. # + mH inductor should give a +,,mV reading on your DVM.

The inductance meter comprises an oscillator and pulse shaper. The s*uare wave from the oscillator is differentiated and the differentiator output is shaped and read on a D1M. This will be proportional to inductance. 9.A - ( set calibration and 9: is an offset control. httpF<<,7hc.+5.chinaicmart.com<

The figure shows the schematic for the capacitance meter adapter. ?hen power switch 6. is in the &8 position an )M ,234 regulator !I(5" provides a 4-1 source to the circuit. 6witch 65 is used to select between the high- and low-capacitance ranges. The circuit measures from 3 to 5533 p/ in its low range and from 3 to 5.5 H/ in its high range. The adapter outputs . m1<pf in the lower range and . 1<p/ in the higher range. Those voltages would be displayed on a DMM and would have to be read as capacitance values. Iate I(.-d is configured as a free-running oscillator whose fre*uency is determined by the setting of potentiometer 9.. The output of I(.-d pin .. is a s*uare-wave voltage that is fed to the other two gates configured as inverters !I(.-a and I(.-c". A capacitor with an un$nown value !( J" is connected across input terminals >. and >5. 8ote that the positive lead of a polari@ed capacitor must be connected to >.. The capacitor under test charges through diode Dl on positive half cycles and discharges through 94 on negative half cycles in the low range or through 9+ 97 and 94 in the high range. In the high range the s*uare-wave output from I(.-d is fed directly to the inputs of the other two gates. ?ith no capacitor connected to >. and >5 the outputs of I(.-a and I(.-c are identical inverted versions of the input signal. The average voltage across the outputs of the gates at pins + and 2 In this case is @ero .?ith (J in place and depending on its value the input voltage to I(.-c pin 0 stays higher longer than the input to I(.a pin 5.The output pulses from I(.-a and I(.-c are filtered and smoothed by 92 90 (5 and (4 The average dc voltage across the outputs I6

then proportional to the value of ( J The circuit is a bit different in the low-range because compensation must be made for stray capacitance In the low range the output from I(.-d is fed to pin . of I(.-c through diode D5 which also charges (. (apacitor (. charges *uic$ly and discharges slowly through potentiometer 9: The charge on (. holds the input to I(.-a higher for a slightly longer time than would normally be the case That causes its inverted output to be low for a slightly longer time and conversely high for a slightly shorter time 6tray capacitance across input terminals >. and >5 does the same thing to I(.-c holding its input higher for a slightly longer time than would be the case f there were none 'otentiometer 9: is ad#usted so that the discharge time for (. matches that of the stray capacitance and so cancels it out In the low range an offset voltage is applied to the negative output terminal via D+ 9, and 92 to prevent the gates from loc$ing together with such close trigger points. httpF<<www.trans$ommuni$ation.ch<dateien<schaltungen<diverseKschaltungen<messgeraeteKcircuits<Inductance-(apacitanceD53Meter.pdf