Learning the Art of Electronics: 1W.1 Designing a Voltmeter | In The Lab With Jay Jay

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In this video we continue working our way through Learning the Art of Electronics and continue working through 1W Worked Examples: DC circuits. Particularly we design and implement the 10 V voltmeter.

We use the Riden RD6006 Bench Power Supply to provide voltage for testing.

We use the EEVblog BM2257 Digital Multimeter to measure resistance and voltages.

We use the Multicomp Pro MP701033 Resistor Decade Box as our variable resistor.

We use the Kaisi S-160 45x30cm Repair Mat as our workspace.

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Maxitronix 10in1 Electronics Project Lab KitThis is an image of the product.notes

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Voltmeters and ammeters

In this photo we see three voltmeters (across the top) and five ammeters (across the bottom) attached to a voltage divider connected to a load.

30 V is applied then 2 mA flows through R1 and then splits with 1 mA going through R2 and 1 mA going through Rload. 20 V drops across R1 and there is 10 V across R2 and Rload.

Five ammeters and three voltmeters connected to a voltage divider attached to a load

The circuit on the left in the schematic below is the one being tested. In this case R1, R2, and Rload are all 10 kΩ. As R2 and Rload are connected in parallel their effective resistance is 5 kΩ. R1 being 10 kΩ gets two thirds of the voltage because R2 || Rload is 5 kΩ getting one third of the 30 V being 10 V.

The schematic of the voltage divider being tested

Analog Meters for Learning the Art of Electronics

I was flipping through my copy of Learning the Art of Electronics: A Hands-On Lab Course (I have the first edition, this second edition comes out in Australia on 3 April 2025, I have a copy on pre-order, I think it’s already available in the USA) and I noticed that some analog meters are used in the first lab course.

So in preparation for doing that I purchased some analog meters, being these:

I am planning to start working through these projects on my YouTube channel @InTheLabWithJayJay at a rate of one project every 28 days starting April 1st. April 1st, being April Fools’ Day, is of course the traditional date for launching IT projects and it is also the one year anniversary of my video (which happens to be my most popular YouTube video by a large margin): New Book Teardown #3: Learning The Art of Electronics: A Hands-On Lab Course (2016) | In The Lab.