APPLIED ELECTRICITY LABORATORY REPORT

COURSE CODE: GET 233

DATE: Thursday 24th October 2024
EXPERIMENT NO: One (1)
GROUP 6 MEMBERS:
Amarachi Achugbu – 20230034
Aliya Aminu – 20231191
Azalea Akpokugbe – 20231719
DEPARTMENT/LEVEL: Computer
Engineering/200 level
SUBMITTED TO:
TITLE: DC Sources and Metering
NAME/ID: Amarachi Achugbu/20230034 DEPT: C.P.E GROUP: 6
Aliya Aminu/20231191
Azalea Akpokugbe/20231719

1
DC Sources and Metering
Objective
The objective of this exercise is to become familiar with the operation and usage of basic DC electrical
laboratory devices, namely DC power supplies and digital multimeters.

Theory Overview
The adjustable DC power supply is a mainstay of the electrical and electronics laboratory. It is
indispensible in the prototyping of electronic circuits and extremely useful when examining the
operation of DC systems. Of equal importance is the handheld digital multimeter or DMM. This
device is designed to measure voltage, current, and resistance at a minimum, although some units
may offer the ability to measure other parameters such as capacitance or transistor beta. Along with
general familiarity of the operation of these devices, it is very important to keep in mind that no
measurement device is perfect; their relative accuracy, precision, and resolution must be taken into
account. Accuracy refers to how far a measurement is from that parameter’s true value. Precision
refers to the repeatability of the measurement, that is, the sort of variance (if any) that occurs when
a parameter is measured several times. For a measurement to be valid, it must be both accurate and
repeatable. Related to these characteristics is resolution. Resolution refers to the smallest change in
measurement that may be discerned. For digital measurement devices this is ultimately limited by
the number of significant digits available to display.

A typical DMM offers 3 ½ digits of resolution, the half-digit referring to a leading digit that is
limited to zero or one. This is also known as a “2000 count display”, meaning that it can show a
minimum of 0000 and a maximum of 1999. The decimal point is “floating” in that it could appear
anywhere in the sequence. Thus, these 2000 counts could range from 0.000 volts up to 1.999 volts,
or 00.00 volts to 19.99 volts, or

000.0 volts to 199.9 volts, and so forth. With this sort of limitation in mind, it is very important to
set the DMM to the lowest range that won’t produce an overload in order to achieve the greatest
accuracy.

A typical accuracy specification would be 1% of full scale plus two counts. “Full scale” refers to the
selected range. If the 2 volt range was selected (0.000 to 1.999 for a 3 ½ digit meter), 1% would be
approximately 20 millivolts (0.02 volts). To this a further uncertainty of two counts (i.e., the finest
digit) must be included. In this example, the finest digit is a millivolt (0.001 volts) so this adds
another 2 millivolts for a total of 22 millivolts of potential inaccuracy. In other words, the value
displayed by the meter could be as much as 22 millivolts higher or lower than the true value. For the
20 volt range the inaccuracy would be computed in like manner for a total of 220 millivolts.
Obviously, if a signal in the vicinity of, say, 1.3 volts was to be measured, greater accuracy will be
obtained on the 2 volt scale than on either the 20 or 200 volt scales. In contrast, the 200 millivolt
scale would produce an overload situation and cannot be used. Overloads are often indicated by
either a flashing display or a readout of “OL”.

Equipment

(1) Adjustable DC Power Supply model: GwINSTEK GPS-3303 srn: EL874793

(1) Digital Multimeter model: UT890D srn: 693575058905
(1) Precision Digital Multimeter model: UT890D srn: 693575058905

Procedure

* Assume a general purpose 3 ½ digit DMM is being used. Its base accuracy is listed as 2% of
full scale plus 5 counts. Compute the inaccuracy caused by the scale and count factors and
determine the total. Record these values in Table 2.1.
 * Repeat step one for a precision 4 ½ digit DMM spec’d at .5% full scale plus 3 counts. Record
results in Table 2.2.

* Set the adjustable power supply to 2.2 volts via its display. Use both the Coarse and Fine
controls to get as close to 2.2 volts as possible. Record the displayed voltage in the first
column of Table 2.3. Using the general purpose DMM set to the DC voltage function, set the
range to 60 volts full scale. Measure the voltage at the ouput jacks of the power supply. Be
sure to connect the DMM and power supply red lead to red lead, and black lead to black lead.
Record the voltage registered by the DMM in the middle column of Table 2.3. Reset the DMM
to the 600 volt scale, re-measure the voltage, and record in the final column

* Repeat step three for the remaining voltages of Table 2.3.

Data Tables

Scale 2% FS 5 Counts Total

200 mV 40mV 0.5mV 40.5mV

20 V 0.4V 0.05V 0.45V

Table 2.1

Scale .5% FS 3 Counts Total

200 mV 1mV 0.3mV 1.3mV

2V 0.01V 0.003V 0.013mV

Table 2.2
 Voltage Power Supply DMM 60V Scale DMM 600V Scale

2.2 2.20 02.221 002.1

5.0 5.00 05.000 005.0

9.65 9.65 09.700 009.7

15.0 15.00 15.110 015.1

Table 2.3

Questions
* For the general purpose DMM of Table 2.1, which contributes the larger share of inaccuracy;
the full scale percentage or the count spec?

At 200mV, the full-scale percentage contributes a larger share of inaccuracy, and at the count
specification has a larger share of inaccuracy

* Bearing in mind that the power supply display is really just a very limited sort of digital volt
meter, which voltages in Table 2.3 do you suspect to be the most accurately measured and
why?

Lower values are measured with greater accuracy than higher values because of possible
limitations in resolution and accuracy at the higher end of the range due to the power display
being a limited digital voltmeter causing 2.2V and 5.oV to be the most accurateky measured
voltages

* Assuming that the general purpose DMM used in Table 2.1 has a base accuracy spec of .1%
plus 2 counts and is properly calibrated, what is the range of possible “true” voltages measured
for 15.0 volts on the 60 volt scale?

Scale = 60V

.1%FS = 0.1% × 60 = 0.060

2CS = 2 × 0.01 = 0.002

Total = 0.060 + 0.002 = 0.062

Range of possible ‘TRUE’ voltages;

Lower Bound: 15.0 - 0.062 = 14.938

Upper Bound: 15.0 + 0.062 = 15.062