Numbef3.4 on your F~ .
:ard
A liohm Adapter
ForYourD
Expand your meter sensitivity
he lowest resistance scale on
T most D1\.11\.1 s is 200 ohms, allow
ing resolution o f 0 . 1 ohms max i-
mum. T his is adequate for man y pur-
poses. out there arc limes when lo wer
value resistances simply must he mea-
sured . and measured with greater reso-
lution . A Jot of problems occur around
the shad because of poor pins and
soc kets on connectors, because of ox i-
d ized contacts on swi tches. ami othe r
similar circ umstances. A particularly
troublesome item is a relay with di rty or
pined contacts. Many small slide- type
swi tches arc notorious for fouled switch
contacts. And we've all had unpleasant
experiences with bad microswirchcs. It
is often di ffi cult to determine if the low-
vo ltage winding of a power transformer
is shorted or not, and some times cente r
tap connections are not obvious. When
the problem is a si mple' open o r shorted
Photo A. Completed lilliohm adapter.
34 73 Amateur Radio Today . December 1995
by Marion D. Kitchens K4GOK
connection. that is readily determined.
hut whe n pa rti ally ope n o r shorted
situat io ns o cc ur a wa y 10 mea s ure
low -va lue re sist an ce i s req uire d .
T he mi llio hm adapte r described
here is q uite help ful in those situa -
lions.
The adapter also serves a multitude
o f o the r purpose s around t he rad io
room and buil ders work benc h.
Whe n des ig n ing hig h c urren t po wer
s upp l ies, it is nece ssary to kno w t he
" i nte rn a l" res istan ce of the wi nd-
ings. Th at property is seldo m avai l-
able . hut ca n easily he measu red
with the adapter de scribe here . You
can eve n me as ure the int erna l te m -
peratu re rise of a tran s forme r. by
co mp ari ng t he co ld and w ar m re sis-
ta nc e mea s urem en ts. I suspec t yo u
co uld mea s ure the res istance o f a
cold sol der joint as we ll. hut I cou ld
nOI fi nd o ne to mea s ure in m y s hack
<G ri n>.
T he m ilfi u hrn adap te r is a si mp le,
hu t effec t ive test i nst ru me nt. It i s
s imple e no ug h to be w ired o n
pe rfboard . o r a PC B ca n be m ade
from t he foil pattern p rovided . All
the p arts are avai lable from mo s t
pe g bo ard sources l ike Radio S h ack
o r JimPak . T he re is not hing fu ssy o r
c rit ic a l abou t t he co mpo ne nts o r in
c ul ib ra ri ng a nd u si ng th e i ns tru -
me nt. T he ad apter ca n be powe red
frum a wide range of supp lies from
5 to 12 VDC . and because it con-
sumes powe r (l00 rnA) only when
actually m ak ing a measureme nt.
ba ttery o pe ra t io n is pract ical. T he
ins t r ume nt pl ug s direc tl y int o yo ur
DM M for c lu tter-fr ee ope ra ti on as
s how n in t he photo . T he c irc uit d e -
sig n precludes the nece ssity of cor-
recting fur the te st le ad resi s tance ,
which otherwise wou ld be a signifi-
cant part o f the ve ry low value re-
sis tance t hi s instr ument is ca pable
o f meas ur ing .
T he mill ioh m ada pte r ha s two ba-
s ic res ista nce ran ge s of 2. 000 o hms
full sc a le a nd 20.00 o hms fu ll sca le .
The lower ran ge res u lt s in a max i-
mum resolution of 0 .001 ohms . o r I
mil li oh m per dig it of display o n a 3-
1/ 2 dig it D MM. T hus the name o f
mi llioh m ad ap te r.
Circu it
Fig ure I s hows the sc hematic o f
the m illioh m a da pte r. The LM 3 17 is
operaled in a co ns tant curren t mode
at 100 rnA . set by the 15-oh m resis-
tor parall e le d with the 100 -ohm trim
po t. T he two 2.2 MF D caps ass ure
st abil ity o f th e LM 3 17 . T he circ u it
app l ies e xac t ly 100 m A to the re si s-
to r und er te s t, th us prod uci ng a

+S to 12
VDC
2.2 , +
u DV:\1
Resistor
U C hec k O ul a n d Calibration
• (GNDl
Figure I. Sche mat ic drawing.
Banana
Plugs (2)
LM31
5 to 12
VDC
Figure ::! . Parts pl accr nent drawing.
vo ltage direc tl y pro po rti o na l to the
va lue o f the resistor. T he DM1\.1 the n
d ispla ys the res is tanc e a s a vo ltage .
A vo ltag e read i ng o f 100 .0 mifli -
vol ts eq ua tes to a re sista nce o f
1.00 0 o h ms. No te that th is is a fou r-
wi re sys te m. ass uri ng non e o f th e
100 m A c urre n t fl o ws th ru the le ad s
to the DMM and the reb y c li mi nut-
in g any affect s o f the le st le ads o n
th e mea sure ment.
Co nslr uclion
Fi gures 2 a nd 3 show thc part s
placement and the PC B fo il pat tern .
respec ri vc fy. The PC B co ns truct io n
is re co mm e nd ed. but pcr fboa rd
const ruc tio n is qui te adequa te . T he
pho to sho ws a finishe d PCB ready
for test lead att ach ment and mo un t-
in g. The re is nothing c ri tic a l o r
fuss y abo ut the layo ut . just keep the
2.2 ~F ca p leads s ho rt a nd c lose to
th e pins o f the LM 3 17.
Insta ll the LM 3 17 first a nd ho lt it
to th e board wi th a 4 -4 0 sc re w. No te
the pnl arity or th e ta nta lum c aps
and insta ll th em correctly. Add the
15-o hm re sisto r an d the IOO-oh m
trim po t to co mp lete mou n tin g o f
the co m po ne nts . The ho le s for the
ban an a plug s shou ld be s lig htly
200mV
100.0 mV = 1.000 Ohms
Red
Test Leads.... Black
o ve rs ize to a llo w ali g nme nt wi th
yo u r 0 1\.11\.1 j ac ks. Inst a ll th e banana
plug s in the j ack s o f you r DM M
fi rs t, and th en pl ace th e PC B o ve r
the plu g s a nd tigh te n the mo u nting
nut s on the ba na na pl ug s . No te that
on ly the meta l part o f the banana
plu g s arc use d ; di sca rd the in sul a-
tors . Fou r n ut s arc re q uire d - 2 o n
each side o f the PCB , so you may
ha ve to p urcha se fo ur ba na na plu g s
to gel the nuts .
Mou nt a power con nector o f your
choic e o n th e PCB . The s ma ll co -
ax ia l con nectors sho wn in the d ra w-
ing and p ho tos are recomm ended.
but any co nnec tor yo u have wi ll do .
Make s ure the po wer co nnec tor po -
larity is corre c t: there is no ci rc uit
protec tion fo r re ve rse d po larity.
Mak e a se t of te st lead s by tw is t-
in g to gether two 2 fo ot long piece s
of re d wi re , a nd so lde ring the m to -
gc the r at o ne e nd on ly. Yo u sho uld
ha ve a 2 foo t long . twis ted te st lead
co n nec ted at o ne e nd onl y. Rep eat
that w ith two piece s o f black wire
fo r the seco nd te st le ad . The fo ur
u nsold ered e nds o f the te st lead s are
so ldered 10 the PCB at poin ts a. b. c .
an d d as show n in the d raw ing . T he
two red te st lea d s go to po i nts ban d
c . an d the 2 blac k le ad s go ro poi nts
a and d . S tu d y the d ra wi ng carefull y
to be sure the co n nectio ns a rc cu r-
rcc t. Yo ur le st cl ips o r o the r con nec -
to rs w ill be attac hed o n ly after
c hec k o ut and ca li b ra tio n .
C heck the PC B fo r so lde r bri dges
and un soldered j o ints .
A ppl y powe r fr o m a 5 - to 12-V DC
sou rc e . T he re s ho uld be no c urre nt
flo w fro m the po we r su pply a t th is
po in t in c he ck o ut. Make sure tha t
the su pply po sitive vo lt age up pcurs
at the e nd o f thc red te st lc ud , a nd
thai the bl ac k le ad is at g ro und po -
ten ti a l. Adj us t the IDO-ohm trim pot
for a mid -ran ge posi tio n. Se t yo ur
DMM o n th e 200 rn A c urrent ran ge .
and co n nec t it be twee n the e nd s o f
the red a nd black te st lea d s. T he
Of\.I M sho uld sho w a bo ut 100 m A of
cu rren t. C al ib ra te the unit by adjust-
ing the 100-ohm trim pot for a cu r-
rent of exac tl y 100.0 mA o n the
OMM . No te th a t be st acc ura cy w ill
be o bta i ned if the uni t is c a lib rated
w ith the powe r sup ply to he used in
normal o pe ra tio n. Disco nnec t e v•
cry th ing from the mi llioh m ada pte r.
Plug the i nstru me nt into the D~IM
j ack s a nd se t th e DMM fo r 20U mil -
li vo lt s full sca le. Appl y power. a nd
the DM f\.1 sho uld show an ov e rfl o w.
Next sho rt th e two te st lead s to -
ge the r di rec tly at th e so lde r j o in ts
(d o not us c cl ips o r co n nec to rs o n
th e te st le ads fo r th is test ). an d the
DMM sho uld rea d 000.0 or 000 . 1 If
th e read in g is more tha n nOO .2, fi nd
the p ro blem a nd correc t it be fo re
procee d in g.
Recheck th at th e c urr e nt throu g h
the test le ad s measu res e xac tly
I nO.n mA wi th the mA me ter c o n-
nectcd be twee n the red and black
tes t le ad s. Attach te st cli ps to the
re d a nd black te st lead s . Short th em
~­
o
~+ .-&
~
Co
8
Figure 3. PCR foil pattern.
73 Amaleur Radio I oaev » December 199 5 3 5

C. Adapter in U~ with Beckman
tog ether and re ad th e DMM o n th e
200 milli volt sca le . Yo ur Df\.1M wil l
no w most l ikel y re ad a sma ll vo lt-
age. Th at is the res ist ance o f yo ur
milliOhm
Adapter Data
3OV@6A 0.16 Ohm
12.6@ lolA 1.040hIn
12.6@2.0A 0.56 Ohm
Relays - - - - - - - - --,
#1 Close 1.540 to 0.200
Open 0.033 to 0.092
Some » 20
#2 Close 0.022 to 0.022
Open 0.200 to 0.530
Some » 1.0
#3 Close 0.015 to 0.122
Open 0.015 to 0.018
Table I. Data Chart Sho wing Measured Data.
36 73 Amateur Radio Today · December 199 5
to be mou nte d in a co nta ine r and put
to usc . The p ho to s sho w a com -
p leted unit moun ted in a co nt ai ned
made fro m PCB material. No te th at
if your D~tM shows neg ati ve read -
in g s (a mi nu s sig n ), th at c a n be rem -
edied by reve rsin g the te st lead co n-
nect ion s arc poi nts c a nd d ' o n the
PCB .
Us in g th e Ad apter
Plu g in the ad ap ter. set the D M M
to 20 0- m il liv o lt ran ge , appl y
ada pte r powe r. an d mak e measur e-
men ts ! No te tha t thi s is a -i- wire in -
stru me nt, a nd that for p roper opera-
tion the re sho u ld alway s be fou r
wire s direct ly to eac h resi st ance be-
in g me asured-any o ther arrange -
ment wil l c a use e rro rs. The te st
lead s as rec o m me nd ed w ill assure
proper ope ra tion . Also no te th at th is
uni t ac tua lly mea sure s vo lt age ,
there fore al l po wer mu st be re-
mo ved from th e resi st ance be ing
mea sured .
A C los in g No te
The acco mpa nying data c hart pro -
vide s some enlight en in g informa-
tion . First tho s e s lide-sw itc hes with
D~IM . high re si stance we re du mpe d. im -
me d iatel y. Note th e vo ltage drop th e
te st cl ips and a measu re o f the i r tra nsformers will ha ve at rated cu t-
co nnectio n qu a lit y. Wig g le the test put. Some re lays had quite high contact
cli ps for a bone r co n ne ctio n, if pos- resistance. and they were all old. but un-
si ble . Th e in s tr um ent is no w re ad y used. GOlia wa tch those relays! Fa
.---- - Switches - - . . . ,
Slid e
Micro
0.055 to >20
0.011 to 0.030
Micro 0.024 to 0.100
T oggle 0.009 to 0.021
Toggle 0.008 to 0.025
Toggle 0.013 to 0.031
T oggle O.oI8 to 0.032
Photo B. Assembled PCR.Pholo
#4 Close 0.020 to 1.750
Open 0.016 to 0.060
#5 C lose 0.050 to 0.052
O pen 0.923 to 3.400
Some » 20
NOTE: All Data
is in Ohms
Photo D. Alternate view of assembled PC B.