IntroductionInterface NotesExamplesMeasuring DC VoltageMeasuring DC CurrentUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEYCollege of EngineeringDepartment of Ele ctrical Engine ering and Computer SciencesEE105 Lab ExperimentsHP 34401A Digital Multimeter Tutorial1 IntroductionThe DMM is simple, so this tutorial only contains a few bulleted notes and two simple examples. There isan image of the front panel interface in Figure 1.2 Interface Notes• To measure DC or AC current or voltage, use the two leftmost buttons in the FUNCTION se c tion.The current options are in blue, a nd require use of the Shift key.• Use the blue Shift key to sele c t options la beled in blue. For example, to measure DC current, firstpress Shift and then press the upper-left button labeled “DC I” in blue.• To measure voltage or resistance, plug in the probes as in Figure 1. To measure current, you mustswitch the red probe to the lower-right input port (labeled “I”).• AC voltage measures Vrms.• When measuring a current, never pla c e the probes across a voltage s ource. The ammeter has a verysmall internal impedance, and s o a voltage source would need to drive a very high current through theammeter to maintain its voltage o utput. High currents may damage the DMM.• The DMM ground is floating, so you can always measur e voltage differences w ith the two probes.Other devices are earth-grounded, and so can only measure a voltage difference from earth ground.Figure 1: HP34401A front panel. The input cables on the right a re set to measure voltage. To measure acurrent, the red cable is moved to the bottom-right port.13 EXAMPLES 23 Examples3.1 Measuring DC VoltageHere are all of the steps necessary to measure a DC voltage between nodes.1. Press the power button on the left.2. Press the DC V button on the left side of the Function section.3. Be sure that the probes are plugged into the DMM in the voltage configuration; the black probe shouldbe in the right LO port, and the red probe should be in the right HI port as in Figure 1.4. Place the probe tips on the nodes to measure.3.2 Measuring DC CurrentHere are all of the steps necessary to measure a DC current through a branch.1. Press the power button on the left.2. Press the Shift button, and then the button labeled with the blue “DC I.”3. Be sure that the probes are plugged into the DMM in the current configuration; the black probe shouldbe in the right LO port, and the red probe should be in the right I port (in the bottom-right).4. Place the probe tips in series with the branch that you want to
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