EXPERIMENT 4 : FREQUENCY RESPONSE OF AC VOLTMETERS

OBJECTIVES To investigate the frequency responses of AC voltmeters

INTRODUCTION There are several types of devices that can be used to measure AC voltage such as analog voltmeter, Digital multimeter and Oscilloscope. All these general purpose AC voltmeters can only response over a limited range of frequency which is differ from one meter with another. On other words, general purpose AC voltmeters have a flat frequency response over a limited range of frequencies. The meter response is inaccurate above or below this range of frequencies. This inaccuracy is due to the frequency characteristics of components such as rectifier diodes, capacitors, and wire wound resistors in the voltmeter circuit. The major effect is in AC voltmeter that use a dArsonval meter movement.

PROCEDURES 1. The circuit was connected as shown in Figure 4.1. First, the digital AC voltmeters was used with the Oscilloscope.

Figure 4.1 2. The positive lead of the digital AC voltmeter and Oscilloscope was connected with the positive output terminal (red) of the function generator.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Negative output of the function generator (black) should also been connected to negative lead of both voltmeter and Oscilloscope. The function generator was set so that it will produce a sinusoidal waveform. The frequency was set of the function generator at 1 kHz. The AMPL knob of the function generator was adjusted so that the output voltage reaches 10 V peak-to-peak. Never change the amplitude of the signal once was set. Set the frequency of the function generator to each of the frequencies as shown in the data table in Table 4.1. The Oscilloscope and voltmeter readings was recorded. Please note that the value measured by the voltmeter (Analog and digital) is a RMS value. Step 8 and 9 was repeated with the Analog AC voltmeter and record all readings.

RESULT: Frequency ( Hz) Oscilloscope (peak-to-peak volts) 30 60 120 300 600 1 200 3 000 9 000 18 000 30 000 60 000 120 000 600 000 900 000 2 100 000 3 000 000 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 12.0 9.8 8.8 8.8 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 3.536 4.241 3.465 3.411 3.411 Oscilloscope (rms volts) Digital Voltmeter ( rms volts) 3.338 3.386 3.395 3.388 3.401 3.390 3.345 3.345 3.379 3.468 3.804 3.833 4.1 x 10-3 3.3 x 10-3 3.2 x 10-3 3.2 x 10-3 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.3 3.0 3.2 3.4 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 Analog Voltmeter ( rms volts)

DISCUSSION: Frequency response is the quantitative measure of the output spectrum of a system or device in response to a stimulus, and is used to characterize the dynamics of the system. It is a measure of magnitude and phase of the output as a function of frequency, in comparison to the input. In simplest terms, if a sine wave is injected into a system at a given frequency, a linear system will respond at that same frequency with a certain magnitude and a certain phase angle relative to the input. Also for a linear system, doubling the amplitude of the input will double the amplitude of the output. In addition, if the system is time-invariant, then the frequency response also will not vary with time From the graph we can state that the maximum frequency that can experienced by three method which are by using analog, oscilloscope and the digital, the highest is goes to analog and digital compared to the oscilloscope. Actually by its theoretical we must get the digital will become the higher. This is due to the an analog multimeters usefulness is limited by its low input impedance and poor accuracy (typically 2%). However, rugged construction and ease of operation make analog multimeters extremely useful whenever poor accuracy and low input impedance can be tolerated. When performing ac voltage measurements with a multimeter, be certain that the frequency of the signal being measured falls within the upper and lower frequency limitations of the meter. While A major advantage of using an oscilloscope for ac voltage measurements is that the waveform can be observed; consequently, errors in measuring complex peak voltages are minimized. An oscilloscope may be used as a high-impedance ac voltmeter. In standard oscilloscopes, the vertical amplifier input impedance is generally greater than 1 M, making it possible to measure voltages in high-impedance circuits. If the signal is applied directly to the plates, rather than at the vertical amplifier input, the input impedance is increased considerably. Voltage measurements are most easily made when the deflection of the trace extends across the major portion of the oscilloscope screen; whenever possible, the trace should cover at least 60% of the vertical viewing area of the screen. If the amplitude of the measured voltage is very low, the trace dimensions may be small. If a voltage to be measured is large and cannot be attenuated to a usable value by attenuation circuits within the oscilloscope, an external resistive or capacitive voltage divider can be used. Such voltage dividers are often furnished with oscilloscope test sets and are called HIGH VOLTAGE PROBES. When the voltage of pulses or other complete waveforms is being measured, the high voltage probe selected must be so designed as not to distort the measured signal. Most probes have adjustable (compensating) capacitors that are used to adjust the symmetry of the displayed waveform. You adjust the probe by monitoring either the calibrator output of the oscilloscope or a known good signal and adjusting the probe for a symmetrical display. Oscilloscopes are calibrated to display peak-topeak values. To determine the rms voltage of a sinusoidal signal, divide the number of graticule units from the positive to the negative peaks by two and multiply this value by 0.707. When using the oscilloscope for ac voltage measurements, ensure the upper frequency range of the oscilloscope is not exceeded; otherwise, inaccurate values will be displayed. Most commonly used oscilloscopes have a frequency response from dc up to 100 megahertz Lastly ,digital multimeters present a high input impedance to the circuit under test and are fairly accurate. Many earlier models had very limited frequency responses. Even today the upperfrequency limitations of digital multimeters vary from 20 kHz to over 300 kHz, depending onthe model. Their upper frequency limitations can, however, be significantly extended by using

optional rfprobes. When you perform ac voltage measurements with a digital multimeter, remember that they are true rms indicating devices

Conclusion: From the experiment we can conclude that the most suitable method to measure the high frequency instrument is by using digital method then analog method and lastly by using oscilloscope method.