PARTS AND MATERIALS

Sensitive meter movement (Radio Shack catalog # 22-410)

Selector switch, single-pole, multi-throw, break-before-make (Radio Shack catalog #

275-1386 is a 2-pole, 6-position unit that works well)

Multi-turn potentiometers, PCB mount (Radio Shack catalog # 271-342 and 271-343
are 15-turn, 1 k and 10 k trimmer units, respectively)

Assorted resistors, preferably high-precision metal film or wire-wound types (Radio

Shack catalog # 271-309 is an assortment of metal-film resistors, +/- 1% tolerance)

Plastic or metal mounting box

Three banana jack style binding posts, or other terminal hardware, for connection to
potentiometer circuit (Radio Shack catalog # 274-662 or equivalent)

The most important and expensive component in a meter is the movement: the actual
needle-and-scale mechanism whose task it is to translate an electrical current into
mechanical displacement where it may be visually interpreted. The ideal meter movement
is physically large (for ease of viewing) and as sensitive as possible (requires minimal
current to produce full-scale deflection of the needle). High-quality meter movements are
expensive, but Radio Shack carries some of acceptable quality that are reasonably
priced. The model recommended in the parts list is sold as a voltmeter with a 0-15 volt
range, but is actually a milliammeter with a range (multiplier) resistor included
separately.
It may be cheaper to purchase an inexpensive analog meter and disassemble it for the
meter movement alone. Although the thought of destroying a working multimeter in order
to have parts to make your own may sound counter-productive, the goal here is learning,
not meter function.
I cannot specify resistor values for this experiment, as these depend on the particular
meter movement and measurement ranges chosen. Be sure to use high-precision fixedvalue resistors rather than carbon-composition resistors. Even if you happen to find
carbon-composition resistors of just the right value(s), those values will change or drift
over time due to aging and temperature fluctuations. Of course, if you dont care about
the long-term stability of this meter but are building it just for the learning experience,
resistor precision matters little.

CROSS-REFERENCES
Lessons In Electric Circuits, Volume 1, chapter 8: DC Metering Circuits
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Voltmeter design and use

Ammeter design and use

Rheostat range limiting

Calibration theory and practice

Soldering practice

SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM

ILLUSTRATION

INSTRUCTIONS
First, you need to determine the characteristics of your meter movement. Most important
is to know the full scale deflection in milliamps or microamps. To determine this, connect
the meter movement, a potentiometer, battery, and digital ammeter in series. Adjust the
potentiometer until the meter movement is deflected exactly to full-scale. Read the
ammeters display to find the full-scale current value:

Be very careful not to apply too much current to the meter movement, as movements are
very sensitive devices and easily damaged by overcurrent. Most meter movements have
full-scale deflection current ratings of 1 mA or less, so choose a potentiometer value high
enough to limit current appropriately, and begin testing with the potentiometer turned to
maximum resistance. The lower the full-scale current rating of a movement, the more
sensitive it is.
After determining the full-scale current rating of your meter movement, you must
accurately measure its internal resistance. To do this, disconnect all components from the
previous testing circuit and connect your digital ohmmeter across the meter movement
terminals. Record this resistance figure along with the full-scale current figure obtained in
the last procedure.
Perhaps the most challenging portion of this project is determining the proper range
resistance values and implementing those values in the form of rheostat networks. The
calculations are outlined in chapter 8 of volume 1 (Metering Circuits), but an example is
given here. Suppose your meter movement had a full-scale rating of 1 mA and an internal
resistance of 400 . If we wanted to determine the necessary range resistance (R multiplier)
to give this movement a range of 0 to 15 volts, we would have to divide 15 volts (total
applied voltage) by 1 mA (full-scale current) to obtain the total probe-to-probe resistance

of the voltmeter (R=E/I). For this example, that total resistance is 15 k. From this total
resistance figure, we subtract the movements internal resistance, leaving 14.6 k for the
range resistor value. A simple rheostat network to produce 14.6 k (adjustable) would be
a 10 k potentiometer in parallel with a 10 k fixed resistor, all in series with another 10
k fixed resistor:

One position of the selector switch directly connects the meter movement between the
black Common binding post and the red V/mA binding post. In this position, the meter is
a sensitive ammeter with a range equal to the full-scale current rating of the meter
movement. The far clockwise position of the switch disconnects the positive (+) terminal
of the movement from either red binding post and shorts it directly to the negative (-)
terminal. This protects the meter from electrical damage by isolating it from the red test
probe, and it dampens the needle mechanism to further guard against mechanical
shock.
The shunt resistor (Rshunt) necessary for a high-current ammeter function needs to be a
low-resistance unit with a high power dissipation. You will definitely not be using any 1/4
watt resistors for this, unless you form a resistance network with several smaller resistors
in parallel combination. If you plan on having an ammeter range in excess of 1 amp, I
recommend using a thick piece of wire or even a skinny piece of sheet metal as the
resistor, suitably filed or notched to provide just the right amount of resistance.
To calibrate a home-made shunt resistor, you will need to connect the your multimeter
assembly to a calibrated source of high current, or a high-current source in series with a
digital ammeter for reference. Use a small metal file to shave off shunt wire thickness or
to notch the sheet metal strip in small, careful amounts. The resistance of your shunt will
increase with every stroke of the file, causing the meter movement to deflect more
strongly. Remember that you can always approach the exact value in slower and slower
steps (file strokes), but you cannot go backward and decrease the shunt resistance!
Build the multimeter circuit on a breadboard first while determining proper range
resistance values, and perform all calibration adjustments there. For final construction,
solder the components on to a printed-circuit board. Radio Shack sells printed circuit

boards that have the same layout as a breadboard, for convenience (catalog # 276-170).
Feel free to alter the component layout from what is shown.
I strongly recommend that you mount the circuit board and all components in a sturdy
box, so that the meter is durably finished. Despite the limitations of this multimeter (no
resistance function, inability to measure alternating current, and lower precision than most
purchased analog multimeters), it is an excellent project to assist learning fundamental
instrument principles and circuit function. A far more accurate and versatile multimeter
may be constructed using many of the same parts if an amplifier circuit is added to it, so
save the parts and pieces for a later experiment!