In electronic ac voltmeters input signal is firstly rectified and then supplied to the dc amplifier, as shown in figure. Sometimes signal is firstly amplified by ac amplifier and then rectified before supplying it to dc meter, as shown in figure. In the former case the advantage is of economical amplifiers and the arrangement is usually used in low priced voltmeters.
Broadly ac voltmeters can be divided into three categories.
1. Average Reading AC Voltmeters.
![comprehensive note on AC voltmeter](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3OshOUuYpGMZ4lEugyyHHeJZqfHMMkkVRHd52unoiSPi149BC8N5oGS3KI9xn7hY8IyLP0j99bJ2hvrNa03TURzzIDulX963JKOLCC1UFDhmDsXD0hPAHaJ5xxNImzGJagVF1yM8UHDs/s400/AC-Voltmeter-using-Vacuum-Tube-Diode-300x193.jpg)
Normally ac voltmeters are average responding type and the meter is calibrated in terms of the rms values for a sine wave. Since most of the voltage measurements involve sinusoidal waveform so this method of measuring rms value of ac voltages works satisfactorily and is less expensive than true rms responding voltmeters. However, in case of measurement of non-sinusoidal waveform voltage, this meter will give high or low reading depending on the form factor of the waveform of the voltage to be measured.
The circuit diagram for an average reading voltmeter using a vacuum tube diode is shown in figure. The arrangement requires a vacuum tube diode, an high resistance (of the order of 105 Q.) R and PMMC instrument, all connected in series, as shown in fig. Resistance R is used to limit the current and make the plate
voltage-current characteristics linear. The linear plate characteristics are essential in order to make the current directly proportional to voltage. Also because of high series resistance R, plate resistance of vacuum tube diode becomes negligible and therefore variations in plate resistance do not cause non-linearity in voltage-current characteristics. In this way we get the scale of PMMC instrument uniform and independent of variations of tube plate resistance. Voltage across the high resistance is fed to dc amplifier and output of the amplifier is fed to PMMC instrument. Circuit diagram of an average reading ac voltmeter using semi-conductor diode is shown in figure. The diode conducts during the positive half cycle and does not conduct during the -ve half cycle, as shown in figure.
The average current through the meter will be given by the expression
Iav = Vav / 2R = 0.45 * [Vrms/R]
Vrms is the effective or rms value of applied voltage and 1.11 is the form factor of sinusoidal wave. R is multiplied by 2 because the voltmeter operates on half-wave rectification. It is to be worthnoting that this instrument can be used to indicate dc voltages but in such a case the instrument readings will have to be multiplied by 2 x 1.11, that is, as the diode conducts all the time. Circuit diagram of an average reading ac voltmeter using semi-conductor diodes as a full-wave rectifier is shown in figure. In this case average current through the meter will be Vrms/ 1.11R. Main advantages associated with these voltmeters are that they are simple in construction, have high input impedance, low power consumption and uniform scale. Main disadvantage of these voltmeters is that these operate in audio-frequency range. In radio-frequency range, distributed capacitance of the high resistance R introduces error in the readings.
Another disadvantage of such a voltmeter is that due to non-linear volt-ampere characteristic for lower voltage the readings of the voltmeter at lower voltage are not correct.
![comprehensive note on AC voltmeter](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGIJNrEq_ZldgJLykdHpTrTGzWx8K4vx3KL9VyVBBhug_jxr1l5as-dBrQz9MnJ8LRspah_YdfOLp3ZTz7QUct-9bl4pC137FjjWxYM7xuGlqTi8j3dct-Wun0e5hrChk4jWNV4LAv2_g/s400/AC-Voltmeter-using-Semi-Comductor-diode-half-wave-rectifier-300x160.jpg)
2. Peak Reading AC Voltmeters.
![comprehensive note on AC voltmeter](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfII2AYoumuwkwnLY8vYZkLAipLb0ELB9OiRZHcVOXeb5yeoV_q_-45gfiaA-LhEV76AJnGsAfyJ6tUwJt3j3aubkEfDBQdjZb34lTnQVYo3M4TYLVc6yI0Dxe7NQS93Q7TwNVh9Fb4Kg/s400/Peak-Reading-AC-Voltmeter-300x80.jpg)
The circuit diagrams for peak reading voltmeter using vacuum tube and semi-conductor diode are shown in figures respectively.
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