EXPERIMENT 01

Understanding of Measuring Instruments

Objectives:
 To study about Electrical variables and electrical symbols.

 To study about Digital Multi-meter.

 To study about Digital Oscilloscope.

 To study about Power Supplies.

Background:
Electrical Symbols:

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

Digital Multi-meter:
Multi-meter is the measuring instrument use to measure voltage, current and resistance of the electronics and
electrical circuit. Multi-meter is basically an integration of Ammeter, Voltmeter and Ohm- meter. Some of the modern
digital Multi-meter also contains Frequency meter.
Ammeter is used to measure the current. Since current flows through the component, the ammeter must go in series
with the component. This makes sure the same current flows through the meter. Current is measured in Amperes (A).

Voltmeter is used to measure the voltage and potential difference across the component. Therefore, the voltmeter
must go in parallel. If the internal resistance of voltmeter is quite small, then the loading effect causes the problem.
The unit for measuring the voltage is volt. Small signals such as bio-signals are generally measure in millivolts (mV).

Figure 1.3

The Cathode Ray Oscilloscope:

We use CRO to visualize at the voltages that changes with the time such as AC voltages and signal waveforms from
amplifiers. The voltage on the X-plate makes the electron beam sweep across the screen. This sets the time base. The
two properties we need to know about the sine wave is its amplitude and frequency.
 Figure 1.4

PROBLEM 01
Resetting the Oscilloscope

Equipment / Tools:
 Digital Oscilloscope

 Power supply unit

 Function generator

Procedure:
 Turn on the oscilloscope, and disconnect any probes plugged into the “channel 1” (CH 1) input connector.

 Set all the levers and buttons as indicated, if they’re not already.

 Set the CH 1 coupling mode switch to “ground” (GND).

 Turn down the INTENSITY knob, if necessary, to avoid burning out the screen.

 The sweeping dot should be clear but not too bright.

 Since channel 1 is now “grounded” to zero volts, the oscilloscope should read zero on the vertical axis (using
the coordinate axes centred on the screen). Adjust the channel 1 vertical POSITION knob so that the
oscilloscope reads 0 volts.

PROBLEM 02
Measuring DC voltages, and using the VOLTS/DIV setting

Equipment / Tool:
 Digital Oscilloscope

 Power supply unit

 Function generator

Procedure:
 The point of this brief activity is to practice measuring a voltage with the oscilloscope, and to get a feel for
what the VOLTS/DIV control does.

 Set the CH 1 VOLTS/DIV to 2.

  Set the CH 1 coupling mode switch to DC.

 Now use the oscilloscope to measure the voltage across a 1.5-volt battery.

 Make sure you understand what the VOLTS/DIV setting is doing. Students often err in thinking in terms of
DIV/VOLT instead of VOLT/DIV.

 To get a more precise reading of the battery’s voltage, should you turn the VOLTS/DIV knob clockwise or
counter clockwise? Why? Try it, to get a feel for how much precision can be gained.

Voltage (V) Time (ms)

Volt/Div No of Div Volt P2P Time/Div No. of Div

PROBLEM 03
Measuring AC voltages, and the Time/DIV setting

Equipment / Tool:
 Digital Oscilloscope

 Power supply unit

 Function generator

Procedure:
 Now you’ll practice using an AC power supply, and you’ll figure out what the SEC/DIV knob does.

 The “AC” means “Alternating Current”—that is, the voltage put out by the power supply oscillates with a
frequency that you set.

 Set SEC/DIV to 0.5 milliseconds.

 Set the CH 1 VOLTS/DIV to 5.

 Turn on the AC signal generator. Set it to sinusoidal wave, 1000 Hz (i.e., 1.0 kHz). (Note: make sure the sweep
width knob is all the way to the left, so it clicks.)

 Connect the AC signal generator to the oscilloscope, use the oscilloscope to measure the voltage produced
by this AC signal generator.

 To get a more precise measurement of the period of the oscillating voltage, should you turn the SEC/DIV
knob clockwise or counter clockwise?

Frequency Frequency
from Voltage (V) Time (ms) Calculated
Function (Hz)
Generator Volt/Div No of Div Volt P2P Time/Div No. of Div Time Period
2kHz
 5KHz
10KHz
15KHz

PROBLEM 04
Measuring DC Voltages, Current and Resistance Using DMM

Equipment / Tool:
 Digital Multi-meter

 Power supply unit

 Resistances and Breadboard

Procedure:
 Now you’ll revise the usage of DMM,

 Connect the DC power supply in series with a resistor and make the following circuit on breadboard.

Figure 1.5

 For selection of resistance, measure at least three different resistances through a DMM, and the compare
values with the color-coding scheme.
 Calculate the value of current using Ohm’s Law, i.e. V=IR. With the help of this formula and calculate the
current and using the DMM; we can break the circuit and calculate the value of current manually.

 For Voltage, we use the same formula and for measuring voltage, we connect the DMM across the resister.

Resistance Voltage(V) Current(mA)

Calculated Measured Calculated Measured
1 K ohm
10 K ohm
100 K ohm