ME1600 Lab 1 Equipment & Resistors

Learning Outcomes

Introduction

By the end of this lab you should become familiar with

This experiment aims to give you some laboratory experience

essential lab equipment

on the first day of the module. Initially, you will get familiar

Digital Multi-Meter (DMM), model Hameg HM8012

with two of the standard pieces of equipment used in the

DC Power Supply Unit (PSU), model Hameg HM8040

electronics laboratories. The second part of the lab deals with

You will also learn how to determine the resistor nominal value
and measure the resistance in experiment

Task 1. Operate the Power Supply

Use a multimeter to measure resistance using an

appropriate range.

resistor.

Read a colour code (using a colour code chart) and

determine the value of a resistor.

the most basic and common electronic component - the

The purpose of the Power Supply (PSU) is to provide DC

power to your experiments. Think of it as an adjustable

Understand the resistance tolerances.

battery with infinite life.

This document should be kept and used as a reference

during future work. Being comfortable with basic operation
of the test equipment you will use on a regular basis will mean
your experiments will run smoother and your results will be

The purpose of the multimeter (DMM) is to enable you

to take accurate measurement of voltage, current and
resistance.

more accurate and repeatable.

Figure 1 shows the Hameg test equipment that is provided to

It is recommended that you view this document full screen in

you in rooms N205 and N202.

order so see the figures clearly, so in Word select VIEW

Page Width

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The front panel of the PSU is shown in figure 2.

Figure 1 - Hameg Equipment in N205

Figure 2 - HM8040 PSU

The power for the modules is switched on with the red, vertical

The 3-channel PSU has three pairs of output connectors. Left

switche in the centre of the equipment.

to right these are: 0-20V (0.5A maximum), 5V (1A maximum),

Only use the power switches twice during the lab

and 0-20V (0.5A maximum).

sessions; once at the start and once at the end (this is

The two 0-20V outputs are identical in operation, we will look

because the specified accuracy of test equipment is usually

at the one on the right, happy in the knowledge that the left-

achieved once its temperature has stabilised).

hand output works the same way.

1.1. Switch the top and bottom units on.

The PSU has two knobs per output; Voltage and Current.

The DMM should be set to Volts (V) and DC and be displaying

Generally, you will only use the current control to set a

0.0 on the display.

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safe limit. The voltage control is used to adjust the voltage to
what the experiment asks for.

Your starting point for the PSU should be: all values adjusted

The three-digit display will show the output voltage in volts in

the form V V.V (e.g. 07.3 is 7.3V) or the output current in mA
in the form AAA (e.g. 324 is 324mA).

Setting Your Starting Point for the PSU

The push-button at

to minimum, the outputs are turned off.

Set the PSU in starting state:

the side of the display selects what will be indicated a

1.2

gentle press toggles between voltage and current.

force them). You should see two red lights, which tell us the

Output On/Off switch.

A gentle press toggles the output

switches (for all outputs).

If the ON light is illuminated, the

outputs are on.

The clonk you hear when the switch is

00.0.

If it reads 000 (no decimal point), press the V/mA

button.
On the right-hand output, turn the current knob

clockwise slowly until the red light goes off.

Points to remember:

current limit has switched on, and the display should read

1.3

pressed is from three relays that switch the outputs.

Turn all four knobs anticlockwise until they stop (dont

We never use the 5V output as there is no means of

checking the current being drawn.

These two steps should be done each time you switch

the PSU on, repeating step 2 for the left-hand output if that is
also being used.

The three output pairs are isolated from each other.

For every pair, the red connector is positive with respect

to the black one.

The black terminal is not 0V or ground / earth! It is

isolated.

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Task 2. Operate the Multimeter

Points to remember:

The DMMs front panel, shown in figure 3, is more complicated

BLACK connections

than the PSU, so we will learn its many functions as we need

them.

This exercise will look at taking voltage readings and

To measure voltage or resistance, use the RED and

how the best accuracy is achieved.

To measure current, use the BLUE (mA) and BLACK

connectors

Current is ALWAYS measured in series with the circuit

Operate the Multimeter as follows:

2.1

Take a red and black wire from the drawer that matches

the bench you are working on (e.g., if you are on bench 8B,
take the leads from drawer 8B and return them to the same
drawer at the end of the experiment). (If you are working in
N202, the leads are already on your bench.)
2.2

With the red wire connect the red output of the right-

hand side of the PSU to the red input on the DMM (marked
V//T) and with the black wire connect the black output of
Figure 3 - HM8012 DMM

the right-hand side PSU to the black input on the DMM

(marked COM).

The DMM will display the voltage that is

present across the red (positive) and black (COMmon)

terminals.

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2.3

Turn the PSU outputs on with the output switch

2.12 OFL means OverFLow. This means the voltage you

2.4

Turn the Voltage knob on the PSU until the PSUs display

reads 09.0 (so 9.0V).

2.5

Make a note of the value that the DMM displays exactly

The DMM is only using a small part of its display, so the

accuracy, we will change the range. By default, the meter is

in level 5 (L5), which is the least sensitive (that is, a large
value is needed to fill the displays 4 digits).

Once

again, make a note here of the reading: 9.0

2.8

Repeat for L3: 8.994

2.9

Repeat for L2: OFL

The DMM should be displaying a few

hundred millivolts (mV).

2.14 Use the right Range button on the DMM to switch to
L2 and increase the PSU output carefully.

Try and find the

maximum voltage you can read before OFL is displayed.

Make a note of the voltage here: 5.0591

On the DMM, press the left Range button once. It

should briefly display L4 and then show the reading.

2.13 Turn the voltage from the PSU down until the DMM
displays a number.

reading is not very accurate. To improve the measurements

2.7

using. Always use the first range below the one that shows
OFL.

as you see it: 9.0

2.6

are asking the DMM to read is too high for the range you are

2.15 Now switch to L3 on the DMM and turn the PSU to the
maximum it will allow.

Make a note of the voltage here:

20.459
Points to remember:

The accuracy of the DMMs reading is affected by the

2.10 Repeat for L1: OFL

number of digits displayed more digits means higher

2.11 Question: What happens to the accuracy of the reading

accuracy

as the range changes? The accuracy increases but reaches

OFL if the range is too low.

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The DMMs reading is more accurate than the display on the

3.4

PSU, so if you need to set the PSUs output to a specific

why?

voltage, check it on the DMM

Question: What has changed on the DMMs display and

When you increase the PSU, the units change from mV to

V. Also, when the connections were swapped, the positive
and negative signs also swap because we are measuring it

Task 3. Advanced operation of Multimeter

The DMMs in N205 have an autoranging facility.

in the opposite way as we put the positive entrance in the

This is

switched on and off with the AUTO button (on the right-hand
side).

negative. After the connections swapped, as the PSU

increases, the DMMs display decreases.
The up / down buttons to the right of the DMMs display

Use Autoranging as follows:

switch between other functions.

3.1

3.5. Switching between the functions:

Switch AUTO on and slowly turn the PSU output all the

way down to zero, paying attention to the DMMs display (and

the sound the DMM makes).
3.2

Turn the output of the PSUs outputs off and press the down
arrow on the DMM a few times. Make sure you can find mA

Slowly turn the PSU up to its maximum value again to

convince yourself that is works as expected.

and , as you will need those in the future.

You should

notice that the lights to the right of the DMMs display

automatically switches from mV to V.

Dont record a

measurement as 513.7V when it was really 513.7mV!

3.3

Swap the black and red connections on the DMM and

repeat the minimum to maximum sweep on the PSU output.

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Task 4. Resistors: Reading Colour Codes.

You may wonder, what if the values can be read in either

direction, which is correct? The answer has two parts:

You have been given four resistors. Two of these, the smallest
of the four and the light brown one, are both specified as 1k

Points to remember:

(1000).

in most cases the value is only valid in one direction

The other two are from a random selection from the

with the blue-bodied resistors the last band is always

brown.

component drawers, and these are the ones you will use now.
You have been given a resistor colour-code chart, which will

4.2. Determine the valid colour code:

come in handy for many of your laboratory classes for this

Using your colour-code chart, try and determine which of the

module, so dont lose it. What you will do is read the colour

two values are valid, and enter it below (hint the blue

bands and determine the values of the two resistors without

resistors are from the E24 range):

the use of the DMM.

120*1000000 1%.

4.1. Read the colour code:

(Note it is important to always state the units that you are

Select one of the unknown resistors and read the colour bands

using)

in both directions, entering the information in the table below:

Repeat the process with the other unknown resistor

Direction

Direction

Band

Band

Band

100

1%

1.6*10^31%

1000000

1%

1.2*10^81%

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Band

Band

Band

Band

1000000

5%

10

1%

Band 4

160*100 1% and

Band

5
1.1*10^85%

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Enter the correct value here: _____110*10^6+ or 5%___

5.4. Calculate the percentage difference from the specified

1000 and your measured value: 1.27%

Because there is no gold on the first digit.

Task 5. Resistance: Measurement.

Now take the smallest of your resistors and the light brown
one. They are both specified as 1k, but resistors specified
values also include and allowable error (tolerance) either side

5.5. Which is nearer to its specified value?

Compare your

results with other students to see if their results agree with

your conclusions.
The small resistor as the percentage difference is smaller.

of that, as we know.
You will measure your own resistors and compare variations of
the readings with those by other students.
Resistance measurements.
Switch the Multimeter into "" regime. Don't forget to set the
DMM to the most suitable range (you should be able to read
five digits).
5.1. Measure the resistance of small resistor
Small resistor, Measured value 994.6
5.2. Calculate the percentage difference from the specified
1000 and your measured value: 0.54%
5.3. Measured the resistance of brown resistor
Brown resistor, Measured value: 987.3

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