VOL

'
•

iBital
y voJtmctcrs (DVM's) displa a second comparator circuit senses that f ound in low có'st "li.l.i1
' ·'

mea•u rem ents as díscrete .nu mer a J
s, ratber than as a poínter deflectíon
on a contínuous scaJe common J y used in
ana log devíces. Dírect numericaJ readout
in DVM's red uces human error and
tedium, eJ ím ína tes para Jlax error and
increa ses reading speed. .Au tom a tic
polarity and range-changing
fea tu res red uce opera tor training,
measu rement error and pos
sible instr umen t dam age through over
load.
Digita l instrumen ts are a va ila ble to
measure ac and de voltages, de cu rren ts
resista nce an d ra tio. Otl1er pt1ys ica l va r
i a bles ca n a lso be 1neasu red by use
of su ita ble tra11sd u cers. Ma ny l1a ve ou
tpu ts wl1icl1 can be t1sed to r11a ke
pe1·m a nen t records of n1ea su re1nents
with prin ters, ca ed an cl tape
pu ncl1es, a n d magnetic tape equ
ipm e11t . With d a t a in d igit a l f or1n, í
t n1a y be ¡)roc·essed w i t l1 no loss 06
'f l1e S()etll , c1Jn v1:: 11ie11ce, a n cl a ccu r acy is fixed a t two sa111p les per second .
a ccu racy.
Most popu lar d igit a l volt met er s on t
l1e m a rket tod ay tit i nto one of t l1e
f ollow in g ca tegor ies : ( 1) r a n1p , ( 2
) sta irca se r a 1n p, ( 3 ) du al ra m p
the ra mp has rea ched zero vol ts. The opt ional version of' ;th
outpu t pu lse of tl1is compa ra tor closes n11• ts r at i•o measuremcnts,
the gate. t ure f or norm alizing the re diuR ,.. .. ..
The_ time duration of the ga te opening tr ansd ucer outp\1ts and taking .teai
is proportional to t he inpu t voltage. The u sing a n external ref erence. A precí.sion
ga te allows pu lses to pa ss to de am plifier output is an additional bene
totalizing circuits, and t l1e n u n1ber fit of this model.
of pu l ses cou n ted during Ref err ing to Figu re 3, the 34 30.A makes
the gating interval is a volt age n1easuremen ts by compa ring the
mea suthe
trates re oftecl1n
t l1e iqu
vole tage.
u Figu i ret 2 illus
H input voltage to an internally gener ated ''sta
344 0 sed Digit a l Voltmeter . n he P irca se r a n1p'' voltage. When the in pu t and
the sta ir case r amp voltages are equ al , a
Tl1e 3440A l1a s a n a ccu r a cy of co111p ar ator gener ates a signa l to stop the
+ 0.05 % of rea d ing w it l1 read ing ca ran1p. Then the instrument displ ay s tl1e
tes u¡) to 5 per second . 1'11ese f ea t u number of steps necessar y
res, coupled witl1 its capa l1i li ty of 10 to m a ke t l1e stairca se .r a n1p equ a·l to the
µV resolu tion , 4 -cl igi t rea dou t, an d input. At tl1e en d of t l1e sa mple, a reset pu lse
plu g- in versati li t y , 1n ::i ke it a po¡)u rese ts t l1e st a i rcase to ze.ro and t l1e
l a 1· a n d eco non1ica 1 cl1oice. measuremen t sta r ts over . Tl1e d ispl ay cir cu
Tl1e HP 3'130A is a 3- d igi l DVM its store eacl1 rea ding until a new .read ing is
()riced not 111u cl1 l1i gl1er l l1a 11 an a n a comp leted, elin1in ating ahy blink ing or
log v ol t111et er . coun ting during con1pu ta t ion. Tl1e sample ra te
of d igit a l r1:a clou l now l)eco n1es a va lntegrating types: an in tegra ting d igi
ila bl e a t a 111od e1·a tc: ¡)r i ce f or ta l voltmeter measu.res the true a verage
gen er al - pu rpose a ppl i c.a t ions in t l1e l a of the inpu t vol tage over a fixed mea su r
l1ora tory , on prod u c t í on t est stan d s, in ing period , i11 contra st to ra1np
re¡)a ir sl1op s, a nd a t 1n spect1on sta
• • •

integra t ing, (4 ) -types

t1on s. f he new DVM h as a ft oa t i ng
in tegr a t ing, (5 ) integr a ti n g an d poten t
i n pu t, a f e_,t u re not con1m on l y •

i · omet r ic, (6) su ccessive J

app r oxi111a t ion , and (7 ) continuous
ba la nce .
Ty pes currently in use by HP are de
scr ibed belo\v .
Ramp Ty pes: tl1e oper a t i n g pr incipie
•
. , _....... _ INPUT
COMPARATOR
RANG
ING A NO
of the ra mp d igital vol tm eter is to m ea ....-tA TTENUA TOR
STOP PULSE

su re the time a linea r ra n1p takes to --

cl1ange fro m tl1e inpu t level to
grou nd POLARITY OSCILLATOR •·-- __..
( or vice versa ) . This time period is mea RA MP
GENERA COUNTER
s ured with an electconic time -in terva J TOR
cou n ter an d d ispl a ye d on in -line indica STAR T
t ing tu bes. 1'he ad va n tages of this PULSE

type of instru men t are low p rice and -- 'GROUND

COMPARATO
R
simpl ic
ity. Conversion of a vol tage to a SA MPLE RESE REAOOUT
tin1e RATE · T
inte.rva l is illus tra ted by the tim ing dia •

gram in Fig ure l. A t the start of a m ea Figure 2. Bloc k diagra m of HP 3440A Digita l V olt meter .
su rernen t cycle, a ra mp volta ge is ini •

tia ted . TJ1e ran1p is comp ared con tin

u 2C PS
ousl y with tl1e vol tage being mea su red ;
a t t11e instan t they become equ a l, a oc SA
MPLE
AMPLIFIE
coin cídence círcuit genera tes a p ul se R ose
which open s a ga te. 1'h e ram1J OUTPUT
•

con tin t1es un til TRANSFER LINEMREADOUT

SIG
IN
STA RT OF MEA SUREMENT ' IATTENUATOR J-·
-t StG 4.5KC
+12 V VOLTA GE RAMP
VOLTA'GE BEJNGt--- COMPARATOR COUNT DECADE
MEASURED
ov
lst COINCIDENCE.
,..¡ ' ose COUNTER
S
,, 1 TIME -
, ,. "' POLARIT Y
..

-12V/ 1 1 AMPLIFIER
1
1
( TIME INTERVAL) 1 _ A NO FLIP-
1 1
1 _ FLOP
1 I 1
1
1__ _
COUNT GA TE-
_
 CO ERTERS
O/A NV
,TAIR CASE AMP
CLOCK PULSES-

figure J . Voltage-to·time con11ersion. Figure

Bloc k diagr a n1 of HP 343 0A Digita l V oltmeter.
3.

I
 ' •

Voltmeter is also in the 0.01% accu rac·

class, an d u ses !he voltage-to-f requency
interpol a t ion tecl1nique is u sed a f ter t
con version tech n1que, achieving outsta d
l1e sa r npling pe r iod w l1en pu l ses are
en terecl
/N'ltOlaMi" ---1 f E(bEL in to t l1e t Oº deca de. These pu l ses a i. n g abi l it y 1,,,;;.
re t r euce 11e eff ects
of
' e 1 ... I .. ip osed norse ; 1t acl11eves common- mo'ile
V -
V?,¡TS¡
T•:J\.I\_ f 1{'
1 , LEVE L 1 'f V V "PULSE propor t ion a l to t l1e ch arge rem a in ing 111
n oise rejec t ion by gu a rding.
on
tl1e
1/60-in tegr a tin g ca pa ci tor af t er t l1e
OC t' ( ' TRIGGE"
Tl1i s model applies especi a lly well to
DETECTOll secon d sa m p lin g t i m e. Af ter t l1e in ter
measu remen t s of extremely noisy sign al s,
pola t ion period, t l1e cou n ts presen t i n
- -·-----' a l i decadcs a re d isp l a yed by in -l i ne even reje ct i ng n oise u p to 3 x f ull -scale
PULSE
NERATOR
d igi t a l reacl ings down to 99.999 mV w ithout an
J l l l l L
accessor y a1n p li fier . Com pl ete remote
rea cl ou t tubes .
Tl1e V /F con ve r te r i s i sola ted f r om t
l1e
Fi11u re 4. Voltage- t o-f requency con ve rsion con t rol a bi l i ty ma kes i t ideal f or system
. cou n ter by a sl1ield i ng tecl1niqu e know \

n a s gu a rd i n g, v.1l1icl1 i sola tes t l1e a p¡,J ica t i on s. It ca n a l so be u sed as a n

w/1icl1 mea su rc tl1e vol t age a t t l1e en
d of the measuring in tecval. A widely -
used tecl1niq u e to a ccomplisl1 in tegration
js the use of a vol t age-to- f req uency
converter, as in d ica ted in Figu re 4 .
TJ1e circu itr y f unctions as a feed ba ck
con trol sys tem w l1icl1 governs the ra te
of pulse genera
electron ic counter to 1neasure f requency
i n¡,u t in te rcon nected bet,v een t he con
ve r ter a n d cot1n ter sections by t l1rt1-gu or per iod .
l ntegrating/ Pote ntiometric Types: by
a rd t ran s f?rm ers a n cl tl1ru -gu a rd re la
y s. Eacl1 sec t 1on l1a s i t s own power u sing tecl1niques exploiting the best qual i
st1pply. ties of sever al system s, a totally new
Tl1e con ve r ter secti on in cl u des a t ten resu lt i s acl1ieved in t l1e HP 3460B. Be
1
sides being an in tegrati ng-ty pe volt meter '

tion, m aking the a ver age voltage of t l1e
rectangu la r pti l se tr a in equ a l to t l1e d e
inpu t voltage.
Tl1e nla jo r a dva n tage of t l1is t ype
of
u a t i11g a n d S\\'i tcl1in g ci r ctii t s i n a dd w h i cl1 con t in u a l ly measures tl1e true
i t i on to t lie vol t age- to- f requen cy av er age of tl1e input voltage, it is a lso a
conver ter. Tlle cou n ter sect ion in cl u cl es poten t i orn et r i c t y pe p rovi d i n g l1i gl1
a t i n1e -b a se f en.er a or , . de.ca cl e d i v i accu
d ers a n d con t r c> l og1c c1rcu 1ts i n a d cl i racy f rom precision resistance r at ios and •

a n a log-to-d igit a 1 con version is its a b i l t ion to t l1e rever sibl e -

it y to measure a ccu ra te l y in tl1e p cou n t er . 1
resen ce of Tl1e l-11' 2 ·101 CJ n tegr a t i n g Di gi ta
1
la rge va lu es of super in1posed n oise, -
•

bc --- - 1 1
ca u se t l1e inpu t is i11teg 1·a / ecl over t 1 1
l1e 1 1
san1pJing in ter va l. Tl1e reading repre
sen ts a tru e a verage of t l1e inpu t volta
ge.
1 ZER O 1
Tl1e HP 2402 A In t egr a t ing Digi t a HIGH LEVEL
INT DETECTOR 1
l 1-- IEUFE
1
Vol t1neter, w l1icl1 is in t l1e 0.01 %-ac 1
L 1
cu racy cla ss, u ses tl1e vol tage- to- f re ¡VOLTAG E G AT E 1
qt1en cy con ,r ecsion tec/1niq u e,
a c/1iev in g
I NPUT
PULSE 1
t/1e a bilit y to rejec t the eff ects o f supe r 1 GEN 1
LQW 1•
1 GATE., 1 1
in1posed n oise. A floa ted a n d gu a
rcl ed
• inp u t circuit el in1 ina tes co111111on -n1od e \
noise error. Com bin ed, tl1ese tecl1n iq u 01 GUA R
STEP \
O
es 1 1
GEN
yield eff ective com m on - n1ode rej ect ion of 1
1 26 d B a t a n y f req u en cy. '
. , .. .
1 •

'
1
. ' . . , T/ 1is n1od el m ea su res the a vera ge va l • • -·
• ••

ue
of t/1e app lied voltage over a 1/ 60 secon
d 1 1 •
1 FF ) I
L
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
1 1
1•
1

1
.sa rn p le períocl. Usecl in a da ta syste1n , - --
_ _ _ _ _ j

it prov ides the benefi t of i n tegr a t ion an

10 3 60 kHz
d in
one secon d ca n m ake n1or e tl1an 43 sepa OIGI
10 5 104
DECAD DECAD
10 2
DECAD 'ºº
DE C A _ _ CLOCK
T
E E E
r ate S - digit m easu r emen ts v.1 it l1 a m
ax i
• mt1m resolut ion of l p a r t in 130,000 .
Wl1en u sed on. the ben cl1 wit hout ex Figure 5. Bloc k Diagra m Mode l 2402A DV M. 1
t er n a ] t r iggerin g, i t ta kes up to 10
read
Ta ble l. Hewlett-Packa
> z o
rd Digita l Voltmeters.
en > e e o :u > • G'> '1J . ., :u :u en
ings per second . In ad d i t ion , i t h
as
- - ... ... ... -
con '1J
d stan t 10-m egoh m in p ut resi stan ce a n ,..... g e < :u1i: n n n :::r
eo e
- 1
3- ·
I »

is design ed f or completely progra m m

e... .... .. 3
o -o· I» = 3 3
e

a bl e .. .
I »

o cr I» CL < < > ... - -.. o o

C I
...
•
.
... _ ........ - =-· ... CL

-
I» C L o o 3 :u
- -... - 3
ope ration with in a d igit a l d a ta acq u isi n ... ::s - I» ta -::s ... .=.. ...
·
3:
.
.. . . . "< ee...
::s
-.. . . . = - e o :u ......
-...
" C I

.
t ion system Mod el (Type)
-· ... = ,.....
I»
e e >
e
-
t» t I»
.
-·
"CI
e
=
a
·
-· CL
-...· . . .. ..
.. . .. .. ... . ::s
"CI n = .a· "1111

DC vol t age, ac voltage, resista n ce, f = s.

"CI
n
n 3:
re
e e
- e
-· CI

-:u -· -
.. ..
quen cy an d ra n ge .(or au tora n ge ) ca n ... , CI
C ¡;·
I»

ali =
be selected by rem ote progra m m in g. Tl1e l n teg rat i n g/
I
= 1
si rn pl ified block diagra m ill u st r a ted in Potentiometric " '
Figu re S represen ts t l1e ba sic f u nct ion $2850 to $4600 •
1
al H 04/3460A (pg 238) 0.005 6 120 1 X X X X X X X X
com ponen ts w l1i cl1 en able the HP
2 4 02A
34608 (pg 234) 0.004 5 120 15 + X + X X X X X X X
to a ccep t an a log sign a ls an d conver t
it
to d igita l in for m a t ion . 3459A (pg 239) 0.008 •
5 120 l .7 X X X X * X
Ba sica l ly , tl1e i n st ru m en t con sis t s of l n tegrati ng
a vol tage- to- f requ encyco: verter a n d a $4100 -$6600 •

cou n ter . A de vol tage app l ied to a n in H P-2402A (pg 240) 0.01 5 300 43 .. X A. A. X X X X X A. X
te ..
grat ing a m pJ i fier in t l1e con ver ter i s H P-2401C (pg 242) 0.01 5 200 l ** ± X ± * X X X X X X
cl1an ged to a pu lse ra te propor t ion a J Ram p
to
tl1e app l ied vo l t age. AC vol t a ge a n $595 to ..
d resistan ce inpu ts a re con verted to el e $1195
3440A (pg 228) 0.0 4 1
•

5
• •• • 1
X X X X X • X
volt age be f ore be i ng appl ied to t l1e con
3439A (pg 229) 5 4 10 5
X X X X X X X •
ve r ter .
Du r i og t h e 1/60-secon d in ter v a l , t l1e . 3430A (pg 227)
.. 0.05
0.1 3 0 2
X X X

ou tpu t of t he V / F coover ter is applied •optional: HP-24108 A C/Ohms Converter ; +HP 3461A AC/Ohms Conver ter.
••4 diglts/9 readings per sec; 3 diglts/ 50 readings per sec .
to the l o: deca de ( see Figu re 5 ) . & plug-in c ircuit cards. e
plug-in drawe r
An
'

1 1 1 . "- -
 r------------r---------------------V-/-F--C-O-N-V-E-R T-ER--• -------"'l
,fe ref erence voJ ta8e. A bJock • "'\
dia of the lnte8ra tin8/Poten
tiomet r ic 1 PUL 1
'ta l Voltmeter is shown in Figu re 6.
e HP 34608 is a good ch oice f or : 11 NERATOR 11
INPUT 1
pplica tions req u iring extremely l1igh :
1
AMPL I FIER INT EGRATOR 1
1
ac HI 1 - - E 1
curacy ( ± 0.004% ) an d l1ig}1 speed -
with
L EV L
h igh resolu tion. Tl1e 3460B takes up to o
AT OETECTOR
15 rea dings JJer secon d with more t l1an 5- TENUATOR
1
digit resol u tion ( 1.20000 fu l l sca le ) . 1

Sin ce the instr umen t is gua rd ed , a l i DIGITAL 1

1
LO O !'I 111
read
ANieoG
CONVERTE R
ings ca n be m ade in the presen ce of l a GUARO L_ .... - ...... ,• c ---- - - - - --- -- -- - -- - -- - -- -- --- ----J
rge
cor n m on -mode signals. The in - --- 1 ! '• ---- REEO REL AY •

.---<[ ' ' ' '=' 'l COUPL I N G I ST SAMPLE

tegra t ion cl1:1r acterist ic a l so a l lows
a 111ax i n1u 111
rea din g cate, even \\• it l1 noi se su per i111- •
ocu ocu 1 1 ocu 1 1 ocu
4 '-- I ST 8' 2NO
posecl c>n t l1e signa !. NO SAMPLE SAMPLE
SAMPLE COUNT ER RATE
To be usef u l as th e cent ra l an a log-
to ll igit a l con ver ter i r1 an a u ton1atic READOUT
R ATE
sy sten1, GEN ERATOR

1 a DVM 1nu st ha ve sever a ! f ea tu res COUNTER

wl1icl1 a r e not needed i n a ben cl1 n1eter
. A1n o11g
• t l1ese a re b i n a r y - codedcleci111a l ou t
'
p l1t
1
a nd r e111ote con t rols. I f sy sten1 u se i s
not
1 í n tend ecl , cost ca 11 be recl ucec\ by
0111it t ing t l1ese f ea t u r es.
Tl1e Hl) 3-i 59A , st r i¡J ped of sy st e111 f
ea
í t u rcs, 11as a ccu r a cy of :!:0.008 % over
a m ost a ¡) ¡)l i ca t i on 1·equ í re111en ts.
'
1 w ide range of en viron n1en ta l con d í t
ions. Wit l1 n1ax i111un1 abi l i t y to rejec t
t l1e ef
f ects of bot h su pe r im posed a nd con1n1on
1
- 111oc\ e 11oi se, Model 34 59A i s a l so t
l1e IO\.\'est pr iced i n st ru men t in t l1is a
ccu racy
\ el a ss.
Tl1e HP H04 - 3,160A , w l1icl1 a lso u
ses t l1e i n tegr a t i ng/¡)oten t i on1et r ic
tecl1ní q ue, l1a s a resolu t ion of 1 ¡J a r t
Figure 6. Block diagram of HP 34068 DVM.
i ncl u si on of a l)i - ll i1·ect ion a l cou n ter l ies a large area su i ted to smaller auto
( HP m a t ic or se1ni- a u t on1a t ic sy stems which
240 1C, 1-I P 2"i 02 A an cl I-IP 34 608 ) is are sim pler tl1a n t l1e con1pu ter system s
<lesir a b l e. llef er to Ta l)le 1 a Hew let t bl1t yield f aster a n d easier operation
Pa ck a r c\ DV M i s a v a il a l)J e to 111cet
than
m an u a l n1ea n s. -
A n1 • r a tely-priced au ton1a t ic or
High·Go- Low Compa rator: Ma n y n1ea ode
st1r e111e11t rec1l1 i re 1n en t s tod a y ca l ! f sen1i- a u to111a t i c sys ten1 u sed in p l ace
q r a p red eter m i n ed seq u en ce of o¡)er a of a m an u a l ar r angen1en t
t i on s. Of ten \v i t l1 t l1e u se of a d igi t a l can red u ce op era tor f a t igu e,
v ol t rn eter , an oper a t or m u st, cleci<l resu lt in fewer measure men t errors,
e w l1et l1er t l1e n u 111ber d i s¡)l ayecl recl u ce test t i n1e a n d perm it operation
d u r i n g ea cl1 n1ea su re- 111e11t l í es be t by less experie11ced operators. Design ed
v. een t \V O li m i ts. Typ i ca l a pp l ica t
1 to bridge th is gap, t he HP Model
ion s inclu cle a ssem bl y - l ine tests, sy 3434 A Con1p a r a tor u ses a tech
sten1 cl1eck -ou t p roced u res, inspectíon , n ique sin1ilar to r a mp -sty le - d igita l volt
i n st r u m en t ca l í br a t ion , circu it p a ra meters. lt gener a tes a l inea r ran1p w l1ose •

i n 1, 2 00,000 a n c\ a sen si t i v i t y of 1 n1et er test i n g, sor t ing, ba tcl1:.1g an d m a mp lí t u de is con1p ared to tl1ree an a log
µ.V on t l1e l \1ol t a tcl1in g con1pon en t s inclu d ing in tegr a vo l t ages b y t l1ree con1¡J ar a tors. Tw o of
r a n ge. I ts m ea su r e111en t a ccu r acy i ted circu i t s. Tl1ey r a n ge f rom a these vol t a ges a re t l1e lin1i t vol t ages, an
s 0 .00'5 o/0 of r ead i n g. sin1ple ev a l u a t ion of d th e otl1er is t he de vol t age ou tpu t
\ Selectin g a Digital Voltmeter: I f t l1e .sin gle co1npon en t s to t l1e sequentia l m f rom a sign a l -con dition ing u n i t .
DV M is to be u sed in a d a t a acqu isit ion ea su ren1en t of n1a n y p a r a meter s of a Sign a l -condi t ion i ng u n i t s a re t l1e
sy stem , bin ar y -coded decim a l ( BCD ) cir cu i t, or even of a complet e saine p l u g- in u nits t l1at a re u sed w
· S)•Sten1. it\1 tl1e HP Moc\e\ 3440 A.
Digit a l Volt n1eter . Functiona\ capabili
! ou tpu t a n d re1note progr a n1n1in g a bil!
t )' a re n ecessities. Com pa t ies inclu de ac volts, de volts,
tibiJ it y witJ1 re resist ance
J a ted eq u ipm en t ( see p a g e 92 ) sJ1ou J d an d (le cu r ren t . I.i111its ca 11 be
j
1 /)e cletern1ined . se\ected alitoni.a t ica 11y or
W/1en se/ecting a d igita l vo/ tn1eter- to 111a11µally . A s man)' as
I 111ak e a cc u ra te m ea su rem en ts i11 t/1e • _• , ""..
• •
12 diff eren t ¡J a i r s of l in1it s ca11 be ¡)re
,,,,,.-·':.·-·
· · ''

p res ¡
J
.
pr ogr a n1n1e<l and qu ickly selectec\ by a
1 e11ce of noise, tJ1e DVM n1u st d iscrin1i-
•
12-posit ion rot ar )' sw it cl1 or r en1otel)'
n a te t/1e rea l signa l fron1 tl1e n oise a1J - b)'
f
pe a ring a t its inp u t tern1in a ls. Noise
rejection by integra tion perm its h igh .
.:i
,"ti'..
. ..
con ta ct closl1res a s test condit ions cl1a nge.
1
1
a ccu racy in the presen ce of severe noise . . ( Tl1e ver sa t i l i ty an d low cost of t \1e 3'\ 34
·-
1
1 TJ1e in tegra ting d igit a l vol tm eter rea ds A r11a kes it a t t r act ive f or a u ton1a t ed
/ .
tl1e a vera ge va lu e of t lie inp u t sign a l over HP 3434A used f test in g
or
•
on l ov.'-vol u n1e pr oduct ion ru ns f o111 50
a fi xed s a mp lé in ter va J a n d fi ts in to a t he digita l v0J t1neter is to be u sed in da t
n tering need not degra de vol a
1 • • •
a ttr active JJ r ice cla ss. tm eter accu racy, bu t it red a cqu1s1t1on sys tem s.
Noise on tl1e sig11a l m a y be inex pen u ces m easu remen t spee d .
1 Com n1on -m od e pick u p, em f 's
sivel y reduced by eq u ipping tl1e d igita l Considera t ion of speed 1n u st
•
com m on to bo t l1 high and
vol t m eter witl1 a pa ssive inp u t fil ter . Fil be made i f
 low - t ern1in a ls, is f produc t io n line test ing of integrated
circ uits .
re
1 c¡u en t l y asevere m ea su rem en t pr ol)ler n Mea su rern en t s of tl1is ty pe a r e of
. t en sim j) l i fied to ''Go'' ( in toler a n ce or
1 age 2 33 f or f t1r t l1er i n f or111a t ion on
1 Gu arding, w l1ich vir tu a l l y el in1in a tes ''N o Go'' (ou t of tol er a nce ) . Tl1e ' 'No
the effects of com m on - m ode noise, ca n be Go'' rea d ing n1ay be broken d ov.111 in to ''
impoc ta n t. The a bil ity to r11ea st1re sign a H igl1'' a n d ''Low ' ' rea d ings f or more
ls deta i led cl a ssi fica t ion of t l1e iten1 un
a rou n cl zero m a y be needecl , in w l i icl1 ca der t est .
se Tl1e ''Go'' or ''No Go'' decision s nl a
y
be determ in ed in a n u m ber of w ay s. In
rel a t i vel y complex sy ste111s, t l1e d eci
sion m a y requ i re a com p u ter w i t l1 in pu
ts su ¡)
j)l ied f com a con1b in a t ion of vol t n1eter s,
cou n ter s, et c. In t l1e simj)ler sy st en1s, a
l1um a n oper a t or n1a y obt a i n ea cl1 n1ea
su r en1en t to determ ine accept abil i ty .
Be t ween t l1e l1igh l y sopl1ist ica t ed
con1pt1ter t y pe tes t sys tem s an d t l1e m
a n u a l test s
'
to 100 pieces, a n d it ' s f a st e11ou gl1 ( U\) to
1. 5 deci sion s per secon d ) to be u sed 011
l1igl1- v olti111e l i n es a s w ell . Ref er t o p
tl1e HP 34 34 A Com pa r a tor .
AC/ DC Converters: tl1e ac- t o-dc con
ver ter (Figu re 7 ) typica lly produces a de
ou t pu t voltage J1et w een O and l V de pro
p or t iona l t o t l1é a ver age v a l u e of t l1e ap
plied ac vol ta ge cal ibr ated in rms.
The f requency range f oc preci sion ac
n1ea su remen t s (0.1 % or bet ter ) l1as
been
rest r ict ed to t l1e v ideo r a nge l)u t is
con t in u a l ly being extended. Mea
surement speed s f or ac voltage depend
on the f re
quency of t he voltage an the measure·
ment a ccu racy desired .
 •

•
unknown resistance
'
a • Conver ters: connect any
lied . Most
ohms-
to·Ohm s·to-De Convertec : the ohms- a 1 V de range to the de q
pp analog voltmeter, such as thc
de convectec, frcqucn tly an to-dc conver ters require a h igh input
additional f unction ol ae ·to ·de EL. The 400E/EL gives goOd accu·
imped a nce de preampli fier. racy as an ac-to-dc convcr tcr in its mid
eonverters, pro duces a de output The HP 346 I AC/011n1s Converter DC f requency range f rom 50 Hz to 500 kHz.
voltage between O and 1 V de
proportional to the va lue of the Prea m pli fier has total compa t ibi l ity w i It h as typically < 0.5% of read ing
th the 3460B, and can measu re ac error, even at 1/10 f u l! scale, 200 Hz
voltages up to 1200 V rms, and to 400
resistances up to
12 m egol1ms. It is f u lly gu.arded , au kHz.
True rms measurements f rom 10 Hz
to· m atic ranging on ali f u n ct ions, ancl
to 10 MHz can similar ly be made by com
- is ren1otel y progr a111m abl e.
Tl1e cornpatible AC- ohm s con verter bining any de digital voltmeter·having a
f ot t l1e 2'101C is tl1e HP Mod el 24 l 1-volt range w ith the HP 3400A RMS
OB . Plug- in AC/DC Conver ters : Voltmeter .
tl1e HP Typ ica l sp eci f ica t ion s of Hew let t
Typica l ac/ dc converter. 3445A and 3446A Plt1g- ins are compan Packa rd ac-to-dc an d o\1m s-to-dc con
Figu re 7.
ions to tl1e HP 3439A a n d 3440A Digit a ver ter s a re l isted in Table 2 .
•
l
Vol tn1eters.
A n a log Voltmeters used as AC/DC
•

Ta ble 2. Hew lett- Packard AC /Ohms Converters / Preamplif iers.

1 e ,,. -.... e-.. e .,,
a - G)
.en.... - n.. !::.
co n
o
.. :u :u
•

. ..
•
"< <:r
ª..
CD
Accuracy ot
•
"
-... ... - -- ..... ft
3
::s a' ::s - - 3
- .

..·
c : r

."..' CD
... -- measurement •

-
C D

·
... ..
C D

-·
•
...
o o
at tull < C:
::s '° a.
.. scale
Converter type Compa nlon -::s· . . . ".-."..· " '
: :s
' a :s
D1 i
(ref er to page) HP DVM R anges '° ZO ºC + 30 ,¡
-· llE
: :s
" -. . - ' a 'a
to ºC

!!C
.... -"":s· "-' 5• CD ::;:
a.

a·
:s
a.

".<.'.
"
' AC f o • •
DC
2402A Opf ion M2 Part of 1 to 1000 V X X X ** X X X 180¡ (50 Hz to
100 kH z) No
(pg 240) 2402A 4 ra n ges ± 0.12 to ± 0.313
•

X X X 90 (50 Hz t
• 3461A (pg 236) 34608 1• to 1000 V X X X
o 100 kH z) '<e
•
•
4 ra nges ± 0.07 3 lo ± 0.153
1
•
-t
'
2410 8 (pg 242) 2401 C 0.1 lo 1000 V + X X X X 90¡ (50 H z lo 100 k.Hz) '< es
5 r a nges + ± 0.1753to 0.53
f
3445A/ 3446A 3439A/3440A 10 t o 1000 V X X X X X X 90¡ (50 H z to 100 k.H z) No
. (pg 232) 3 ra nges ± 0 .13to ± 0 .33
457A * (pg 244)
•
l mV to 1000 V x- (50 •l z to 500 k H z) Yes
4 ranges ± 1.053

3439A/3440A l mV to 300 V (10 Hz to 10 M Hz) Yes

3400A * (tr ue r m s) 12 ranges ± 0.753 t o ± 5.03
•
(pg 208) ..
'l' 400E/El* (avg) 3439A/3440A 1 m V to 300 V 365 (lOHz t o 10 M H z) Yes
• (pg 204) 12 ra n ges •
± 0.53 to ± 5.03
.'
O H M S to OC
2402A Opti on M3 Pa rt of 1 kr2 to 10 Mn X X X ** X X X 180 ¡ ± 0.0553 No
(pg 240) 2402A 5 ra n ges •

3461A (pg 236) 3460B 1 kn to 10 Mn X X X X X X 90 0.0163 to ± 0 .023 Yes

5 ra nges
•

2410 B (pg 242) 2401G lOOn to 10 M f! t X X X X X 90 ¡ ± 0.0893 Y es

6 ra nges
344 4 A (pg 231)
 1 kn to 10 Mn X X X 90¡ No
•

3439A/3440A ' ± 0.33 to ± 1.03

5 ra n ges • •
'
OC A MPL I F I E RS
--
3461A (pg 236) 3460 8 0.1 V de to 1 kV .
X X X X X X 90 ± 0.0083 to ± 0.0113 Y es
de
' 5 ranges
2411 A (pg 242) • ' 2401G +1·, + 10 ga i n X X X X X 180¡ ± 0.033 No
3443A (pg 230) 3439A/3440A 100 mV to 1 kV X X X X X X 90¡ ± 0.053 to ± 0.13 No
5 ra n ges •

3444A (pg 231) 3439A/3440A 100 mV to 1 kV x. X X X 90¡ ± 0.053 to ± 0.13 No

5 ra nges
t Sla nd ard 2410B au tora nges with 2401C -M31.
*Accuracy of converter only. Accuracy of readout device shou ld be added to determ i ne accuracy of mea su rem en t.
••optlons added by p lug-ln ci rc u i t modu les and boa rd s.
'Ass um es dai ly ca l i bra t ion of ba sic i n stru men t aga i n st in tern a ( ca l i b ra t ion stand ard af ter 30 m i n u te warm ·u p.