EEE 353: Measurement and

Instrumentation

Necessary Conditions for Measuring

Instruments
With the introduction of the instrument in the
circuit, the circuit conditions should not be
altered, i.e. quantity to be measured should not
get affected due to the instrument used.
Power consumed by the instruments for their
operation should be as small as possible.

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Types of Instrument (used as ammeters &

voltmeters)
Permanent magnet moving coil (PMMC)
used for dc measurement
Moving iron ac or dc
Electro-dynamometer ac or dc
Thermocouple ac or dc
Hot wire ac or dc
Induction- used for ac measurement
Rectifier ac or dc
Electrostatic ac or dc

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PMMC instrument (Construction)

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Construction of Shunts
General requirements for shunts are Temperature co-efficient of shunt and instrument
should be low and should be as nearly as possibly the
same.
Resistance of shunts should not vary with time.
They should carry the current without excessive
temperature rise.
They should have a low thermal electromotive force
with Cu.
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Problems

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Example 9.4, Pg 298:An 1 mA meter dArsonval movement with

an internal resistance of 100 is to be converted into a 0 100
mA ammeter, calculate the shunt resistance required. What
particulars should be specified on the shunt?

Problems

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Example 9.5, Pg 298: Find the multiplying power of a shunt of

200 resistance used with a galvanometer of 1000 resistance.
Determine the value of shunt resistance to give a multiplying
power of 50.

Problems

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Example 9.6, Pg 298: A moving coil ammeter has a fixed shunt of

0.02 . With a coil resistance of R=1000 and a potential
difference of 500 mV across it, full scale deflection is obtained:
(a) To what shunted current does this correspond?
(b) Calculate the value of R to give full scale deflection when
shunted current I is (i) 10A, (ii) 75A
(c) With what value of R is 40% deflection obtained with I=100A?

Multi-range Ammeters

To operate a moving coil instrument around a current

level 50mA is impractical owing to the bulk and weight
of the coil that would be required.
So, it is necessary to extend the meter-range shunts (in
case of ammeters) and multipliers (in case of volt
meters) are used.
For higher range ammeters a low resistance made up of
low TCR is connected in parallel to the moving coil
(Fig.) and instrument may be calibrated to read directly
to the total current. They are called shunts.

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 A multi-range ammeter can be constructed

simple by employing several values of shunt
resistances, with a rotary switch to select the
desired range. Fig. shows the circuit
arrangement.
+
+
R1

R2

R3

R4

Rm
_
DArsonval
Movement

S
_
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Figure 2.3: Multirange Ammeter

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 Let m1, m2, m3 and m4 be the shunt multiplying

powers for the currents I1, I2, I3 and I4.
R1 = Rm/(m1 - 1 );
R2 = Rm/(m2 - 1 );
R3 = Rm/(m3 - 1 );

R4 = Rm/(m4 - 1 );

+
+
R1

R2

R3

R4

Rm
_
DArsonval
Movement

S
_

Figure 2.3: Multirange Ammeter

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Disadvantages:
1.During the changeover of switch, the shunt is momentarily
removed from the meter. Then, the full current flows through
the meter coil. This can damage the coil.
2.The contact resistance of the switch is in series with the
shunt. It can be of variable nature. So, the ammeter indication
may not be accurate.

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Universal or Aryton Shunt

The selector switch, S selects the appropriate shunt
required to change the range of the meter.
When S at position1, R1 is parallel to the series
combination of R2, R3 and Rm. Hence, current
through shunt is more than current through meter
and thus protecting the basic meter.
When S at position 2, R1 &
R2 are parallel to the series
combination of R3 and Rm.
Hence, current through
meter is more than current
through shunt.
Same case for pos. 3.
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 For switch at position1,

ImRm = (I1 - Im )R1
R1=Rm/(m1 -1)
For switch at position 2,
Im (R1-R2+Rm)= (I2 - Im )R2
R2= (R1+Rm)/ m2
For switch at position 3,
Im (R1-R3+Rm)= (I3 - Im )R3
R3= (R1+Rm)/ m3
Thus values of different hunt sections are
(R1-R2), (R2-R3), R3
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Why Ayrton Shunt method is used?

Note that the rotary switch should be make-beforebreak type so that the meter is not damaged.
In this previous diagram there is one disadvantage.
When the position of the switch is changed for a
fraction of second the total current under measurement
flows through the PMMC which may damage it since
the meters full scale deflection current is very small.
To avoid this problem the Ayrton Shunt Method is
used. In this circuit, however the meter coil resistance is
more as compared to the general purpose PMMC.

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Problems
Example 9.9, Page-300: Design a multi-range d.c. milli-ameter
using a basic movement with an internal resistance Rm=50
and a full scale deflection current Im=1 mA. The ranges
required are 0-10 mA; 0-50 mA; 0-100 mA, and 0-500 mA.

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Problems
Example 9.10, Page-301: Design an Ayrton shunt to provide
an ammeter with current ranges of 1A, 5A and 10A. A basic
meter with an internal resistance of 50 and a full scale
deflection current of 1mA is to be used.

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Precautions to be taken while using an

ammeter

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Construction of Multipliers
The essential requirements of multipliers are Their resistance should not change with time.
The change in their resistance with temperature
should be small.
They should be non-inductively wound for ac meters.

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Problem
Example-9.11(Self):A moving coil instrument gives a
full scale deflection of 10 mA when the potential
difference across its terminals is 100 mV. Calculate:
(a) the shunt resistance for a full scale deflection
corresponding to 100 A
(b) the series resistance for full scale reading with
1000 V.
Calculate the power dissipation in each case.

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Multirange Voltmeters
In a multi-range voltmeter, different full scale voltage
ranges can be obtained ----(i) by use of individual multiplier resistors
(ii) by a potential divider arrangement

Use of individual multiplier resistors

Use of a potential divider arrangement

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Problems
Example 9.13, pg 303 (Self): A basic dArsonval
meter movement with an internal resistance
Rm=100, and a full scale current of Im=1mA, is to
be converted into a multi-range d.c. voltmeter with
ranges of 0-10V, 0-50V, 0-250V, 0-500V. Find the
values of various resistances using the potential
divider arrangement.

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Sensitivity of PMMC Voltmeters

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Problems
Example 9.15, pg 304: Which meter has a greater
sensitivity: Meter A having a range of 0-10V and a
multiplier resistance of 18k; Meter B with a range of 0
300V and a multiplier resistance of 298k? Both meter
movements have a resistance of 2k.

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Loading Effects of PMMC

Instrument

Example 9.16. (DO)

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Problem
Example-9.16

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