UNIT II

ANALOG AND DIGITAL

MEASURING SYSTEMS

Ballistic Galvanometer
 Galvanometer

•A galvanometer is an instrument
used for detecting the presence of
small currents or voltages in a
circuit or measuring their
magnitudes.
•The ballistic galvanometer is an
instrument, which is used to measure or
indicate current in a closed circuit.
•The galvanometer also is known as
PMMC instrument, works on the
principle of permanent magnet moving
coil.
•The force is generated on the coil, due to
Lorentz Force Law
•Lorentz force is defined as the
combination of the magnetic and
electric force on a point charge due
to electromagnetic fields.

•It is used in electromagnetism and is

also known as the electromagnetic
force.
• Due to the interaction of fluxes, the pointer in the
meter is deflected.
• Once the pointer is deflected, different torques
are exerted on the pointer to make pointer stop at
its steady-state position.
• The different torques are, deflecting torque,
control torque, and damping torque.
• In the ballistic galvanometer, the damping torque
is almost zero.
• For that reason, it is called a ballistic
galvanometer. It can be used as an ammeter or
voltmeter
• The ballistic galvanometer is a current
measuring instrument with zero damping
torque.
• It is also called as frictionless, damping less
galvanometer. For this galvanometer, the
damping constant is zero.
• The basic principle of galvanometer Lorentz
Force Law, according to which, force is
exerted on the current-carrying coil when it
is placed under the influence of the
magnetic field.
Construction
 Magnetic Poles
•The two magnetic poles are required to
create the necessary magnetic field.
•The poles may be separately excited, or
in some cases, we may use permanent
magnets also.
•For the deflection of the coil/pointer,
magnetic poles are required.
 Phosphor Bronze Wire
• The wire used for the suspension of the coil is made up
of phosphor bronze.
• The reason for using phosphor bronze material is,
phosphor bronze has low torsional constant.
• It allows the coil to suspend easily. Also phosphor
bronze is nonmagnetic.
• So it does not comes under the influence of magnetic
poles.
• And phosphor bronze does not oxidize easily.
• This allows the suspension wire not to get rusted due to
atmospheric conditions.
 Mirror
• The mirror is used in the galvanometer to avoid parallax
errors.
• Parallax error means, error in taking the readings of the
meter. One may note the reading of the pointer by
looking sideways. i.e. from the left side or right side. So
different reading will come.
• So to avoid this, a mirror is placed such that, the
position of the pointer and its reflection should
superimpose, and then readings should be taken.
• This would avoid parallax errors.
 Torsional Head

•The torsional head is used to control the

position of the coil.
•This is important for accuracy in the
meter.
•The torsional head also adjusts the zero
settings of the meter.
 Springs

•The springs are used to make the

deflection of the pointer, proportional to
the magnitude of the quantity to be
measured.
•It also helps to provide restoring torque
to the galvanometer.
 Advantages
1.Linear Scale. The scale of the galvanometer
is linear.
2.It is highly sensitive.
3.It is accurate and precise
4.The toque to weight ratio is high. (This
avoids errors)
5.It is not affected by stray magnetic fields
 Disadvantages
1.Since it works on the principle of
PMMC, it can be used only of DC
measurements.

2.Due to components such as springs,

permanent magnets, etc. it develops
errors due to aging.
 Applications
1.Used in Wheatstone bridge, to detect the
presence of current in the loop
2.Can be used to measure current by connecting a
low resistance in parallel to it.
3.Can be used to measure voltage by connecting a
high resistance in series to it.
4.Detecting errors in communication cables
5.Positioning the pen in analog strip chart
recorders, electrocardiographic, etc.
D’Arsonval galvanometer
 Moving Coil
• It is the current carrying element. It is either
rectangular or circular in shape and consists of a
number of turns of fine wire.
• The coil is suspended so that it is free to turn about its
vertical axis of symmetry.
• It is arranged in a uniform, radial, horizontal magnetic
field in the air gap between pole pieces of permanent
magnet and iron core.
 Iron core
•The iron core is spherical in shape if the coil
is circular and cylindrical if the coil is
rectangular.
• The iron core is used to provide a flux path
of low reluctance and hence provides a
strong magnetic field for the coil to move in.
•This increases the deflecting torque and
hence the sensitivity of galvanometer
 Metal Former
• The moving coil is mounted on the metal former.
The metal former provides the required damping
torque.
• The damping torque is produced due to the eddy
currents developed in the metal former.
• Damping can also be achieved by connecting a
low resistance across the galvanometer
terminals.
 Suspension
• The coil is supported by a flat ribbon suspension, which
carries the current to coil.
• The other current connection is a coiled wire, also called
the lower suspension.
• The galvanometer must be levelled carefully so that the
coil hangs straight and centrally without rubbing the poles
or the soft iron cylinder.
• The upper suspension consists of gold or copper wire of
nearly 0.0125 or 0.025 mm diameter, rolled into the form
of ribbon.
• The controlling torque is usually provided by these
suspensions.
 Indication
The upper suspension carries a small mirror upon
which a beam of light is cast.
The beam of light is reflected on to a scale upon
which the deflection is measured. The scale is
usually about 1m away from the instrument.

Zero setting
A torsion head is provided for adjusting the position
of the coil and also for zero setting
 UNIT II
ANALOG AND DIGITAL
MEASURING SYSTEMS

Digital Frequency Meter

Principle of Operation
•The signal waveform is converted to
trigger pulses and applied continuously
to an AND gate.

• A pulse of 1s is applied to the other

terminal, and the number of pulses
counted during this period indicates the
frequency.
• The signal whose frequency is to be measured is
converted into a train of pulses, one pulse for each
cycle of the signal.
• The number of pulses occurring in a definite interval
of time is then counted by an electronic counter.
• Since each pulse represents the cycle of the unknown
signal, the number of counts is a direct indication of
the frequency of the signal (unknown).
• Since electronic counters have a high speed of
operation, high frequency signals can be measured.
Basic Circuit of a Digital Frequency Meter:
• The signal may be amplified before being applied to the Schmitt trigger.
The Schmitt trigger converts the input signal into a square wave with
fast rise and fall times.
• The output from the Schmitt trigger is a train of pulses, one pulse for
each cycle of the signal.
• The output pulses from the Schmitt trigger are fed to a START/STOP
gate.
• When this gate is enabled, the input pulses pass through this gate and
are fed directly to the electronic counter, which counts the number of
pulses.
• When this gate is disabled, the counter stops counting the incoming
pulses.
• The counter displays the number of pulses that have passed through it
in the time interval between start and stop. If this interval is known, the
unknown frequency can be measured.
Gate Control Method
• Initially the Flip-Flop (F/F-1) is at its logic 1 state.
• The resulting voltage from output Y is applied to point
A of the STOP gate and enables this gate.
• The logic 0 stage at the output Y̅ of the F/F-1 is
applied to the input A of the START gate and disables
the gate.
• As the STOP gate is enabled, the positive pulses from
the time base pass through the STOP gate to the Set
(S) input of the F/F-2 thereby setting F/F-2 to the 1
state and keeping it there.
• The resulting 0 output level from Y̅ of F/F-2 is applied to
terminal B of the main gate.
• Hence no pulses from the unknown frequency source can
pass through the main gate.
• In order to start the operation, a positive pulse is applied to
(read input) reset input of F/F-1, thereby causing its state to
change.
• Hence Y̅ = 1, Y = 0, and as a result the STOP gate is disabled
and the START gate enabled.
• This same read pulse is simultaneously applied to the reset
input of all decade counters, so that they are reset to 0 and
the counting can start.
Block diagram of Digital Frequency Meter
 High Frequency Measurement
• Some of the techniques used are as follows.
1. Prescaling
• The high frequency signal by the use of high speed is divided by the
integral numbers such as 2, 4, 6, 8 etc. divider circuits, to get it within
the frequency range of DFM (for example synchronous counters).
2. Heterodyne Converter
• The high frequency signal is reduced in frequency to a range within that
of the meter, by using heterodyne techniques.
3. Transfer Oscillator
• A harmonic or tunable LF continuous wave oscillator is zero beat
(mixed to produce zero frequency) with the unknown high frequency
signal. The LF oscillator frequency is measured and multiplied by an
integer which is equal to the ratio of the two frequencies, in order to
determine the value of the unknown HF.
Automatic Divider:
• The high frequency signal is reduced by some
factor, such as 100:1, using automatically tuned
circuits which generated an output frequency
equal to 1/100th or 1/1000th of the input
frequency.