Despite the fact that both electrical and electronic instruments measure electrical quantities like voltage and current, they differ from each other in terms of the built-in features; for example, purely electrical instruments don’t possess any in-built amplifying device to increase … Read more
Category: Electrical & Electronics Measurements
Performing measurements in Electrical and Electronic systems: Power measurements, Microwave & RF measurements, Energy measurements, Fiber optics measurements, etc.
Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR)
The commonly employed technique for analysing the state of a fibre optic is to test it with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR). The OTDR uses backscattered light of the fibre to imply loss. The OTDR works is similar way … Read more
Basic Features of a DC Potentiometer
A potentiometer is an instrument that is used for measurement of potential difference across a known resistance or between two terminals of a circuit or network of known characteristics. A potentiometer is also used for comparing the emf of two … Read more
Features and Applications of Instrument Transformers
Instrument transformers are used in the measurement of voltage, current, energy, and power in ac circuits. The main reasons why instrument transformers are employed in measurements are:
- To extend (multiply) the range of the measuring instrument.
- To isolate the measuring
Power Measurement in AC Circuits (Single-phase & Polyphase Systems)
Introduction to AC Power Measurement
In alternating current circuits, the instantaneous power varies continuously as the voltage and current varies while going through a cycle. In this case the power at any instant is given by:
p(t) = v(t) x … Read more
Performance Characteristics of Digital Measurement Instruments
In this article, we discuss the performance characteristics of digital instruments i.e.
- Resolution
- Accuracy
- Linear errors
- Settling time
- Temperature sensitivity
- Monotonicity
Resolution
This is defined as the smallest increment in voltage that can be discerned. It is the reciprocal of … Read more
Key Instruments Used By Electronics Engineers
Multimeter
This is also called volt-ohm-milliammeter (VOM). It is a general purpose instrument having the circuitry and switching arrangement for measuring ac/dc voltage or ac/dc current or resistance. It is simple, compact and portable instrument because the only power it … Read more
Digital vs. Analog Instruments
Electronic instruments mainly voltmeters used either transistor or vacuum tubes. The later one is called The Vacuum Tube Voltmeter (VTVM) and the former one is called the Transistorized Voltmeter (TVM). In almost every field of electronics, VTVMs have been replaced … Read more
Power Measurements in DC Circuits
Measurement of electric power is essential in both commercial industrial applications and domestic applications. Prior estimation and subsequent measurements of instantaneous and peak power demands of any installation are mandatory for design, operation and maintenance of the electric power supply … Read more