Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Thanks!
Emilio

Emilio wrote in message
...
Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Thanks!
Emilio



Try and find someone with a "Weston Standard Cell" voltage reference.
My one is decades old with calibration certificate stating 1.01863V at 20
deg C and as far as I can tell is still much the same voltage now to the
last digit accuracy.
I cross-compared via DVM with a much more recent one.
Never draw any current to speak of and don't knock them and they seem
incorruptible.
Failing that find a 0.01 per cent resistor


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/

Emilio wrote:
Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Thanks!
Emilio




I've heard that lithium batteries make reasonable calibration sources.
You'd be best off finding an accurate multimeter to compare to though,
then the calibration source is not critical.

James Sweet wrote in
news:%tBAf.1237$jO3.145@trnddc07:

Emilio wrote:
Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Thanks!
Emilio




I've heard that lithium batteries make reasonable calibration sources.
You'd be best off finding an accurate multimeter to compare to though,
then the calibration source is not critical.


I'd use one of those integrated circuit voltage references;some of them
have excellent accuracy,and are trimmed to precise,KNOWN voltages.

You could also buy an older Fluke differential voltmeter;they can source an
accurate voltage,that you can dial up the near full-scale voltage for
checking each DMM range.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

In article , says...

Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

No battery in the consumer market is precise enough. In order to
properly calibrate any voltmeter, you need a true calibration standard
such as the Fluke 5700 series.

Regrettably, such equipment usually carries a five-figure price
tag. There are older units -- DC and AC references and such -- that you
can often find on Greed-bay or at electronic surplus places, but keep in
mind that you may need multiple units for DC, AC, and Ohms.

Happy hunting.

--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

"Emilio" bravely wrote to "All" (21 Jan 06 15:11:44)
--- on the heady topic of "Digital Voltmeter Calibration"

Em From: "Emilio"
Em Xref: core-easynews sci.electronics.repair:356047

Em Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
Em there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Em Thanks!
Em Emilio


You can use a band-gap temperature compensated voltage reference IC.
They are pretty inexpensive and unlike a battery will not discharge.
They come in various useful precisions like 1% and better to 0.1%.
The more precision the more expensive they are. A very common IC is
the TL431 with 1% tolerance and it can be trimmed still better.

However, it is always better to calibrate a voltmeter on the highest
voltage range. Then any error is divided into the other lower ranges.
By comparison if it is calibrated on a low range the error gets
multiplied into the higher ranges.

A*s*i*m*o*v

.... If all else fails, hurl it across the room a few times!

n cook wrote in message
...
Emilio wrote in message
...
Is there an easy way to calibrate (low voltage) digital voltmeter? Is
there- say a battery that can be usd as a reference?

Thanks!
Emilio



Try and find someone with a "Weston Standard Cell" voltage reference.
My one is decades old with calibration certificate stating 1.01863V at 20
deg C and as far as I can tell is still much the same voltage now to the
last digit accuracy.
I cross-compared via DVM with a much more recent one.
Never draw any current to speak of and don't knock them and they seem
incorruptible.
Failing that find a 0.01 per cent resistor


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/



For anyone with access to a Weston cell but not access to a 5 or 6 digit
DVM.
I think this is how I cross-calibrated.
I've dug out the docs and mine was calibrated at manufacture as
1.01866V at 20 deg C and -40 ppm/ deg C , 14 March 1979.
estimate of uncertainty 10 ppm

Perhaps 5 years ago I did the following with my cell and someone else's
secondary standard cell.
My DVM has a 300mV range for its 4 digits, or 200mV will do the same.
With a NiCad in good condition in mid discharge and left for some hours to
reach room temperature is a nominal 1.2V.
What the actual voltage is does not matter as long as it is stable.
Assume for convenience here 1.2V.
Only use with DVMs ( high input impedence) .
Then commoning negatives of Weston cell and NiCad, measured the difference
so came in the 200mV range.
Which brings it into the first 6 of 1.01866 then ratioing of the flashing
digits gives an estimate for the fifth digit.
So reading of 181.4 mV
With DVM 2/3 time reading 181.4 and 1/3 time reading 181.3 so implying
Weston Cell voltage of 1.01863 at 22 degrees C. The other cell / DVM test
was about 1/3 to 2/3 the other way round on last digit agreeing with that
cell's yearly calibration value.

At the same time I checked a small standard cell salvaged from a bit of kit
and it too was many years old but almost the same voltage, only last digit
different again.

--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/