SOLID STATE VOLTMETER

~By Kunal Verma(02014804919)

Electronic Voltmeter: Introduction

Solid state or electronic voltmeter is one of the many types of voltmeters available. In our
labs, we have commonly used Moving coil or Moving iron type voltmeters (PMMC). But this
type employs the above mentioned type in its working. We will discuss the same later.

Definition: The voltmeter which uses the amplifier for increases their sensitivity is known as
the electronic voltmeter. It is used for measuring the voltages of both the AC and DC
devices. The electronic voltmeter gives the accurate reading because of high input
resistance.

[The sensitivity of a voltmeter is defined as the reciprocal or inverse of the full-scale

deflection current (Ifsd) of the basic movement. It is denoted by the symbol S and expressed
in Ω/V.If the sensitivity of the voltmeter is low, then the voltmeter gives accurate readings
for a low resistance circuit and inaccurate and unreliable readings for a high resistance
circuit, which is known as loading effect.]

The moving coil voltmeter is not able to detect the low voltages. The electronic voltmeter
overcomes this problem. The electronic voltmeter has high input impedance because of
which it detects the signals of very weak strength, hence gives the better accuracy reading.

In electronic voltmeter, the pointer is deflected by taking the supply from the auxiliary
amplifier circuit. The output voltages of the amplifier circuit are similar to the voltage of the
test circuit. The extra power is not passing through the deflector because of which the
meter gives the accurate reading.
Advantage of Electronic Voltmeter

The following are the advantages of the electronic voltmeter:-

1. Detection of Low-level signals – The electronic voltmeter uses the amplifier which
avoids the load error. The amplifier detects the very small signals which produce the
current of approximately 50μA. The detection of low-level signals is essential for
determining the true value of the measurement.

[Ideally the resistance of a Voltmeter is infinite so that so that voltmeter does not
alter circuit current. A low resistance voltmeter may give correct reading when
measuring voltage in low resistance circuit but the Voltmeter produces unreliable
and erroneous reading when connected in high resistance circuit. This is because, as
the resistance of voltmeter is less when compared to the circuit resistance, this will
act as a shunt path for the current and therefore the voltage drop across the resistor
where we want to measure the voltage will be less. Because of this the reading of
voltmeter will not be the actual voltage drop rather it will be lower than actually
existed before the connection of the voltmeter. This effect is known as Loading
Effect. ]

2. Low Power Consumption – The electronic voltmeter has vacuum tubes / FET and the
transistor which has the amplifying properties. It uses the auxiliary source for the
deflection of the pointer. The measured voltage controls the deflection of the
sensing element. Thus, the circuit of the electronic voltmeter consumes very less
power.

3. High-Frequency Range – The working of the electronic voltmeter is free from

frequency range because of the transistor. Along with the voltage, the signal of very
high and low frequency can also be measured through it.
Working principle:

The basic circuit of one type of analog electronic voltmeter is illustrated in figure 1. This
particular circuit is made up of three stages: an input attenuator, an electronic amplifier,
and an electromechanical voltmeter stage.

Fig1 : Electronic Voltmeter Circuit Diagram (Block diagram)

The input attenuator is simply a voltage divider that divides (or attenuates) high input
voltages to measurable levels.

The amplifier has a very high input resistance so that there is virtually no loading effect on
the attenuator resistors. It also has a low output resistance to supply the current required
by the electromechanical voltmeter stage.

Amplifier

The amplifier has voltage gain (or amplification) of 1, which means that a 1 V input produces
a 1 V output. So, its function is solely to offer a high input resistance and a low output
resistance. In this situation it is said to be a buffer between the attenuator and voltage-
measuring stages; thus, it is termed a buffer amplifier.
A DC supply voltage (Vcc) must be provided for the amplifier, and this may be derived from
a battery or power supply contained within the instrument.

Electromechanical Voltmeter Stage

The electromechanical voltage-measuring stage is typically designed to give meter FSD for
an amplifier output of 1 V. Because the amplifier has a gain of 1, its output voltage (V0) is
equal to the input (Vi) from the attenuator. Thus, meter FSD is obtained when the
attenuator produces a 1 V output.

When the selection switch is at position D, the voltage-divider theorem gives the
attenuator output as:

For FSD, Vi =1V. Therefore, the maximum input voltage is

 Transistorised Voltmeter(TVM) and Vacuum Tube
Voltmeter(VTVM):

Electronic voltmeters may use either vacuum tube or transistor. Later one is called
transistorized voltmeter (TVM) and former is called the vacuum tube voltmeter (VTVM).

Transistorized voltmeters have numerous advantages over vacuum tube voltmeters and
hence replacing them in almost every field of electronics.

 A TVM does not require any warm up time because of absence of heating element.
 Use of transistor makes the instrument portable because of its light weight.
 A transistorized instrument can be operated on low voltage i.e. on battery so TVM is well
suited for the field work where power source is not available.
 VTVM cannot measure current directly because of its high resistance whereas TVM can do.
 TVM consumes very less power because of absence of heating element.
 The only disadvantage with TVM is low input impedance which it offers in comparison to
VTVM. But this short-coming is overcome by using field effect transistor (FET) in input stage
of voltmeter because FET offers input impedance almost equal to vacuum tubes
 In electronic voltmeters current proportional to the voltage to be measured is generated by
use of amplifier, rectifier etc. and then this current is measured by PMMC.

The way to overcome these disadvantages is by using the Solid State Volt Meter. The
modern day substitute to the Vacuum Tubes are the FET or Field Effect Transistor. It too can
be utilized in much the same way as the tube in a VTVM. The FET analog voltmeter is by
definition, a Solid State Voltmeter, as transistors are solid state devices.

This is a circuit of FETVM-FET Voltmeter. The function of the VTVM is replaced by the
FTEVM while at the same time ridding the usual line cord instrument. This circuit can allow a
0.5 volt scale range because drift rate of FETVM are superior to vacuum tube circuits. Here
is the circuit:
 FETVTM-FET Voltmeter

Solid State Voltmeter using OpAmp

Figure below shows the circuit of an electronic voltmeter using an IC OpAmp 741C. This is a
directly coupled very high gain amplifier. The gain of the OpAmp can be adjusted to any
suitable lower value by providing appropriate resistance between its output terminal, Pin
No. 6, and inverting input, Pin No. 2, to provide a negative feedback. The ratio R2/R1
determines the gain, i.e. 101 in this case, provided by the OpAmp. The 0.1 μF capacitor
across the 100 k resistance R2 is for stability under stray pick-ups. Terminals 1 and 5 are
called offset null terminals. A 10 IcS2 kΩ potentiometer is connected between these two
offset null terminals with its centre tap connected to a — 5V supply. This potentiometer is
called zero set and is used for adjusting zero output for zero input conditions.

The two diodes used are for IC protection. Under normal conditions, they are non-
conducting, as the maximum voltage across them is 10 mV. If an excessive voltage, say more
than 100 mV appears across them, then depending upon the polarity of the voltage, one of
the diode conducts and protects the IC. A μA scale of 50 — 1000 µA full scale deflection can
be used as an indica¬tor. R4 is adjusted to get maximum full scale deflection.
Example of Solid State Voltmeter (Heathkit IM-17 Utility Solid-State
Voltmeter)

Solid State Voltmeter(FETVM)

Measuring scale
Measuring a 1.5v Battery
 Internal Supply of 1.5v cell and 9v battery
Bibliography :

1) Books : A Course in Electrical and Electronics Measurements and

Instrumentation by A. K. Sawhney
2) Other Sources:
a) https://www.electricaldeck.com/2021/04/sensitivity-of-voltmeter-and-
loading-effect-of-voltmeter.html
b) https://electricalbaba.com/loading-effect-in-voltmeter/
c) https://circuitglobe.com/electronic-voltmeter.html
d) https://electricalacademia.com/instrumentation-and-
measurements/electronic-voltmeter-working-block-diagram/
e) The Heathkit IM-17 Utility Solid-State Voltmeter - YouTube