{"id":376,"date":"2013-01-17T12:22:52","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T19:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.circuitspecialists.com\/?p=376"},"modified":"2014-06-23T09:23:33","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T16:23:33","slug":"testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/","title":{"rendered":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

DC voltage can measured using either an oscilloscope or a digital multimeter. Each piece of testing equipment has its advantages and disadvantages. Let\u2019s first take a look at using an oscilloscope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Oscilloscope<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can measure DC voltage with an oscilloscope<\/a> that has a direct-coupled deflection amplifier or terminals for connecting directly to the cathode-ray tube\u2019s deflection plates, but measuring DC voltage using an oscilloscope is only convenient in some situations \u2014 e.g., when you\u2019re using the oscilloscope to take other measurements on the same piece of equipment or when you need a high-impedance measuring device and a vacuum tube voltmeter is not available.<\/p>\n

Oscilloscopes will not usually load down the circuit you\u2019re testing because of their high input impedance, but oscilloscopes are designed primarily for waveform observation and are generally less accurate than other types of testing equipment commonly used to measure DC voltages. One advantage of using an oscilloscope is its capability of monitoring the amount of AC ripple voltage riding the DC voltage; this advantage makes an oscilloscope perfect for troubleshooting DC power supplies with excessive ripple resulting from component failure.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Digital Multimeter<\/strong><\/p>\n

The majority of today\u2019s analog voltmeters are accurate to roughly plus-minus two percent of full-scale reading. (Like<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

oscilloscopes) the majority of digital multimeters have a high input impedance, so they\u2019re unlikely to disturb the circuit you\u2019re testing and generally provide an accuracy of at least plus-minus point one percent.<\/p>\n

Digital multimeters display numerical readings and these direct-reading displays \u2014 in addition to their ability to change range and polarity \u2014 eliminate parallax issues, reduce error, and significantly increase the speed at which you can take measurements. The digital data from multimeters<\/a> can be processed by computers, printers, magnetic tape equipment, etc. as well.<\/p>\n

Modern digital multimeters are compact and lightweight and often come with rechargeable batteries, all of which makes them perfect for work in the field. The disadvantages of using digital multimeters is that they aren\u2019t usually rugged and won\u2019t hold up to abuse, and certain models don\u2019t produce enough bias voltage to test a transistor or diode junction.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DC voltage can measured using either an oscilloscope or a digital multimeter. Each piece of testing equipment has its advantages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital-storage-oscilloscope","category-multimeters"],"yoast_head":"\nTESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DC voltage can measured using either an oscilloscope or a digital multimeter. Each piece of testing equipment has its advantages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CircuitSpecial\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"George\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"George\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\"},\"headline\":\"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\"},\"wordCount\":363,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Digital Storage Oscilloscope\",\"Multimeters\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\",\"name\":\"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog\",\"description\":\"How To's, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Circuit Specialists\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg\",\"width\":120,\"height\":120,\"caption\":\"Circuit Specialists\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca\",\"name\":\"George\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"George\"},\"description\":\"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","og_description":"DC voltage can measured using either an oscilloscope or a digital multimeter. Each piece of testing equipment has its advantages","og_url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/","og_site_name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","article_published_time":"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"George","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_site":"@CircuitSpecial","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"George","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/"},"author":{"name":"George","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca"},"headline":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS","datePublished":"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/"},"wordCount":363,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg","articleSection":["Digital Storage Oscilloscope","Multimeters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/","name":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS | Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg","datePublished":"2013-01-17T19:22:52+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-23T16:23:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/content\/image\/67211\/300\/csi2012l.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/testing-dc-voltage-with-oscilloscopes-and-digital-multimeters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TESTING DC VOLTAGE WITH OSCILLOSCOPES AND DIGITAL MULTIMETERS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","name":"Simply Smarter Circuitry Blog","description":"How To's, Reviews, and Product News from Circuit Specialists HQ.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Circuit Specialists","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/csi.jpg","width":120,"height":120,"caption":"Circuit Specialists"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CircuitSpecialists\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CircuitSpecial","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCG87WTqDKIqA704uqjumJgg"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/414c9adb626f1f36fba73f3b4ae376ca","name":"George","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f7719440cadb3ea0bf4a1ef0c50b309a?s=96&r=g","caption":"George"},"description":"George Leger has a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, worked in private industry pioneering surface-mount technology and in government research labs for twenty years, published several papers on surface-mount technology, co-authored papers published in national symposiums on accelerator technology, was past president of SMTA and an adjunct professor at the community college level, holds a patent, and is a certified microchip design partner, serving as a consultant to many companies developing electronic circuits.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/author\/george\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":935,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.circuitspecialists.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}