Hameg HMC8012 User Manual

DIGITAL Multimeter
HMC8012

User Manual

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Benutzerhandbuch / User Manual

35

HMC8012 Brief Introduction

3 HMC8012 Brief

Introduction

The following chapter is an introduction to the most impor­tant HMC8012 multimeter features and settings allowing
you to use the measurement instrument promptly. A more
detailed description of basic operating steps is given in the
manual.

3.1 Setting Parameters

Each function and operating mode of the multimeter can
be selected with the keys on the front panel of the instru­ment. Use the respective function keys to select basic func­tions such as voltage, current or resistance measurement.
Advanced functions are managed by use of soft menu keys
to the right of the display. Pressing the SHIFT key activates
the numeric keypad.

3.2 Measuring a Direct/Alternating Voltage

An example for a basic measurement that can be per­formed with a multimeter is the measurement of a DC
voltage, for instance. The following measurement example
shows the individual steps to perform this measurement
effectively with the HMC8012. A DC power supply unit,
e.g. the HMP2030, is used.

To measure a DC voltage, you can connect a power supply
unit to the HMC8012 multimeter via silicon test leads, for
instance. Use the COM and V connectors on the bottom
right. Once the DC V key on the front panel of the instru­ment is used, the DC voltage value will be shown on the
multimeter display.

The measurement of alternating voltage applies the same
principle. In contrast to the DC voltage measurement, the
AC voltage measurement requires the use of the AC V key.
Please note that for an AC measurement, RMS values will
be shown on the display.

3.3 Automatic / Manual Selection of the Measure­ment Range

You can use the soft menu keys Range Up or Range Down
to switch the measurement range. Pressing Range Down
will switch to the next lower measurement range, pressing
Range Up will switch to the next higher measurement
range. The automatic selection of the measurement range
(Auto Range) is deactivated.
If the function Auto Range is activated, the measurement
instrument automatically selects the optimal measurement
range. If the selected measurement value is too great while
the manual selection of the measurement range is activa­ted, the message OVER RANGE appears on the display.

3.4 Displaying Several Measurement Values

If you would like to view a second measurement value on
the display, select the soft menu 2nd Function and select
a second measurement value via knob. In the current ex­ample, the second measurement value could be AC V. The
second measurement value (2nd) will be displayed in blue
above the display of the main measurement value (Main). If
you select the option None via knob, the second measure­ment value will be deactivated.

3.5 Resistance Measurement with Zero Point

For the resistance measurement, connect measurement
cables with clamps to the respective connectors on the
front panel of the instrument. A two-wire measurement
only requires the COM and V connectors. A four-wire
measurement also requires the LO/HI connectors (SENSE).
After connecting the cables and connecting with a resis­tance, press the Ω key. The resistance value will show on
the display. During a resistance measurement, the cable
resistance (cable offset) requires particular attention. Espe­cially for small resistances which may be close to the cable
offset it is recommended to zero the measurement section.

A zero measurement is also called a relative measurement,
i.e. each measurement value indicates the difference bet­ween a saved zero value and the input signal.

In this case it is necessary to short circuit the measurement
cables and then press the NULL key. This triggers the offset
correction of the entire measurement section. This value
will be shown on the display below the main measurement
value. The line resistance of the measurement cable, con­tact resistances and thermoelectric voltages between diffe­rent metals have been intentionally eliminated by this offset
correction. The compensation values will not be stored
after the HMC8012 has been switched off and have to be
redetermined.

3.6 Statistic / Measuring Limits

In addition to the basic functions of the multimeter, ma­thematical functions are also available. These can be ac­cessed by pressing the MEAS key on the front panel of the
instrument.

The soft menu Stats allows the user to activate individual
statistic functions (Min/Max, Mean, StdDev, Pk to Pk,
Count). Use the soft menu key STATS to activate (On) or
deactivate (Off) statistic values. The statistic functions will
be displayed below the main measurement value. You can
use the soft menu key #MEAS. to determine how many
measurement values are to be included in the statistic. You
can select the number of measurement values via knob
or via numeric keypad. If #MEAS is set to „0“, the statistic
will be performed on all measurement values. If #MEAS is
set to „7“, for instance, the statistic will be performed on 7
measurement values. The soft menu key Reset resets the
statistic.

36

HMC8012 Brief Introduction

4 Setting Parame-

ters

Each function and operating mode of the multimeter
can be selected with the keys on the front panel of the
instrument. Use the respective function key to select the
measurement function. An active measurement function is
highlighted by an illuminated white LED. Subsequent set­tings refer to the selected measurement function.

4.1 Soft Menu Keys

The soft menu keys on the upper right of the screen allow

you to use the shown menu eld in the display. Use the

numeric keypad or the knob to set the respective selec-

ted parameter. If a menu eld has been selected via soft

menu keys, this function will be marked in yellow and will
be activated to set the parameter and function. If a spe-

cic setting makes an instrument setting unavailable, the

respective soft menu key will be deactivated and the label
will be displayed in gray.

4.2 Numeric Keypad

The easiest way to enter a value precisely and promptly is
to use the numeric keypad. Pressing the SHIFT key activa­tes the numeric keypad. When entering a numeric value
via keypad, you can accept the entry by pressing a soft

menu key with the corresponding unit. Before conrming

the parameter unit, you can delete any value that has been
entered incorrectly by pressing the key

(SHIFT + SETUP
key). The ESC key allows you to cancel the operation to en­ter parameters. This will close the editing window.

4.3 Display of Measurement Values

The HMC8012 multimeter includes a brilliant TFT color
display with 5-3/4 digits. The display can show up to 3
measurement values simultaneously. The display of the
third measurement value is intended for the display of
mathematical functions, such as statistic or limit display.
The signal displays indicate the measurement units and the
operating environment of the multimeter. Figure 4.2 shows
an overview of the screen layout.

Fig. 4.1: Numeric keypad and editing keys

The soft menu Limit allows you to select the High Limit
and Low Limit for a measurement. Based on these limits,
a test can be evaluated as passed or not passed. The
limits can be activated (On) or deactivated (Off) via soft
menu key LIMITS. The limits will be displayed below the
main measurement value. If a value is exceeded or falls

below the set limit during a test, it will be reected by the

color display of the measurement value. A measurement
value that exceeds or falls below a limit is marked in red;
a measurement value within a limit is marked in green. In
addition, you can activate (On) or deactivate (Off) an error
tone (soft menu key Beeper) which will sound when the
value exceeds or falls below the set limits.

3.7 Storing Data

The HMC8012 multimeter can store two different types of
data:

❙ Instrument settings
❙ Screen displays

Out of these data types, screen displays can only be stored
on a USB stick. Instrument settings can be stored on a
USB stick or internally in the instrument to non-volatile
storage media.

Press the key SAVE/RECALL to open the store and load
menu. The soft menu Device Settings allows you to load
or store instrument settings. Select the submenu Save to
store the current instrument settings. Select the storage

location and the le name, then press the soft menu key

Save to save the current instrument settings. This le may
be reloaded at a later time.

The menu item Default Settings in the main menu also al­lows you to load the factory default settings.

37

Setting Parameters

4.4 Displaying Several Measurement Values

The HMC8012 offers the option (depending on the selected
measurement function) to simultaneously show multiple
measurement values on the display. The main measure­ment value is labeled as „Main“. A second measurement
value can be activated via soft menu key 2nd Function
(depending on the measurement function). If you press the
soft menu key 2nd Function, you can use the soft menu
key SELECT and the knob to select a second measurement
value. The second measurement value (2nd) will be dis­played in blue above the display of the main measurement
value (Main). If you select the option None via knob, the
second measurement value will be deactivated.

4.5 Automatic / Manual Selection of the Measure­ment Range

Depending on the selected measurement value, you can
change the measurement range via soft menu keys Range
Up or Range Down. Pressing Range Down will switch to
the next lower measurement range, pressing Range Up
will switch to the next higher measurement range. This will
deactivate the automatic selection of the measurement
range (Auto Range).

Main (main
measure­ment value)

2nd (secondary measurement value)

DC V AC V DC I AC I Fre-

quency

dB dBm

DC V

− ● ● − − ● ●

AC V

● − − − ● ● ●

DC I

● − − ● − ● ●

AC I

− − ● − ● ● ●

Tab. 4.1: Displaying Several Measurement Values

If the function Auto Range is activated, the measurement
instrument automatically selects the optimal measurement
range. Activating the automatic mode enables you to
switch to a higher measurement range when 90% of the
respective range end value have been reached. Operation
will switch to the lower range if the value falls below 10%
of the range end value.

If the set measurement value is too large (whether the measure­ment range is selected manually or automatically), the display
shows the message OVER RANGE.

Description of the Operating Elements

soft menu keys

Display for math. function (e.g.: statistic)

Range (2nd)
Second measurement value

(2nd Function)

Range (Main)
Main measurement value
Zero measurement (Null)

ADC

Rate Trigger

Local/

Remote

Log-

ging

Inter-

face

Fig. 4.2: Screen layout

38

Instrument Functions

5 Instrument

Functions

5.1 Measuring a DC / AC Voltage

A basic measurement that can be performed with a multi­meter is the measurement of a DC or an AC voltage.

To measure a DC or AC voltage, you can connect a voltage
source to the HMC8012 multimeter via silicon test leads,
for instance. Use the COM and V connectors on the bot­tom right. Once the DC V / AC V key on the front panel of
the instrument is used, the DC or AC voltage value will be
shown on the multimeter display.

In addition, it is possible to show a second function (2nd)
on the display. The soft menu key 2nd Function and the
knob allow you to select AC V, DC I, dB or dBm. The se­lected function is shown above the main measurement
value display. The menu display changes depending on the
selected second function. The soft menu key Remove 2nd
allows you to hide the second function from the display.

You can select the option Slow, Medium or Fast via soft
menu key AC Filter and knob. This applies to a low pass
lter. A lower setting (Slow) ensures more stable measure­ment values. However, the measurement is slow and signal
elements of higher frequency will be attenuated. Depen­ding on the input frequency, this function will smoothen
the displayed value. The setting Medium is saved as default
value. Select the setting Slow for an input frequency of

<50kHz, and select Fast for a setting of >1kHz.

To compensate for the line resistance of measurement
cables, it is necessary to short circuit the measurement
cables and press the NULL key. This triggers the offset
correction of the entire measurement section. This value
will be shown next to the soft menu key NULL and on
the display below the main measurement value. The line

ESC

ENTER



89

456

123

0

.

--

7

SETUP

SAVE

RECALL

HELP

SHIFT

DC V AC V

CAP

MEAS

AC I

DC I

SENSOR

HOLD

TRIGNULL

max.

600 V

pk

F10H250V

max.

10 A

CAT II
600 V

max. 200 V

pk

max. 1000 V

pk

max.

1000 V

pk

Fused

SENSE

4 W

- +

voltage source

(AC/DC)

Fig. 5.1: Measuring a DC or AC voltage

Please note that for an AC measurement, RMS values will be
shown on the display.

resistance of the measurement cable, contact resistances
and thermoelectric voltages between different metals have
been intentionally eliminated by this offset correction. The
compensation values will not be stored after the HMC8012
has been switched off and have to be redetermined. In
addition, you may also enter the NULL value numerically or
via knob.

The soft menu key ADC Rate and the knob allow you to
set the display refresh rate to Slow (5 measurements per
second), MEDIUM (10 measurements per second) or FAST
(200 measurements per second).

The function Auto Zero on page 2|2 of the DC V main
menu may be activated (ON) or deactivated (OFF). If this
function is activated, the instrument automatically compen­sates for the connected measurement cables and deducts
this offset from the measurement result (automatic zero
measurement).

The input impedance can be set via soft menu key Input

Imp. to 10 MOhm or >10 GOhm.

If the second function (2nd Function) is activated (dB or
dBm), you have the option to dene a reference value. For
the function dB, the reference value is the voltage (Ref.
Value). You can set the reference value numerically or via
knob. If a reference value is dened, you can reset the pre­viously selected reference value via soft menu key Null.

For the function dBm, the reference value is 1mW and is
often used for RF signal measurements. If the dBm func­tion is activated, the multimeter performs a measurement
and calculates the power supplied to a comparator resis­tance. The reference value (Ref. Value) in this case is 50,

75 or 600 Ω. In addition, you can set a user-dened value

(User) either numerically or via knob.

5.2 Measuring a DC / AC Current

To measure a DC or AC current, you can connect a power
supply unit to the HMC8012 multimeter via silicon test
leads, for instance. Use the COM and A connectors on
the bottom. Once the DC I / AC I key on the front panel of
the instrument is used, the DC or AC current value will be
shown on the multimeter display.

In addition, it is possible to show a second function (2nd)
on the display. The soft menu key 2nd Function and the
knob allow you to select AC I, DC V, dB or dBm. The se­lected function is shown above the main measurement
value display. The menu display changes depending on the
selected second function. The soft menu key Remove 2nd
allows you to hide the second function from the display.
To compensate for the line resistance of measurement
cables, it is necessary to short circuit the measurement
cables and press the NULL key. This triggers the offset

The maximum accuracy in measurements is achieved when using
the setting Slow (ADC Rate).

The impedance setting is dependent on the measurement range

39

Instrument Functions

correction of the entire measurement section. This value
will be shown next to the soft menu key NULL and on
the display below the main measurement value. The line
resistance of the measurement cable, contact resistances
and thermoelectric voltages between different metals have
been intentionally eliminated by this offset correction. The
compensation values will not be stored after the HMC8012
has been switched off and have to be redetermined. In
addition, you may also enter the NULL value numerically or
via knob.

The soft menu key ADC Rate and the knob allow you to set
the display refresh rate to Slow (5 measurements per se­cond), Medium (10 measurements per second) or Fast (200
measurements per second).

You can select the option Slow, Medium or Fast via soft
menu key AC Filter (main function AC I) and knob. This

applies to a low pass lter. A lower setting (Slow) ensures

more stable measurement values. However, the measure­ment is slow and signal elements of higher frequency will
be attenuated. Depending on the input frequency, this
function will smoothen the displayed value. The setting
Medium is saved as default value. Select the setting Slow
for an input frequency of

<50 kHz, and select Fast for a set-

ting of

>1 kHz.

If the second function (2nd Function) is activated (dB or
dBm), you have the option to dene a reference value. For
the function dB, the reference value is the current (Ref.
Value). You can set the reference value numerically or via
knob. If a reference value is dened, you can reset the pre­viously selected reference value via soft menu key „Null.

For the function dBm, the reference value is 1mW and is
often used for RF signal measurements. If the dBm func­tion is activated, the multimeter performs a measurement
and calculates the power supplied to a comparator resis­tance. The reference value (Ref. Value) in this case is 50,

75 or 600 Ω. In addition, you can set a user-dened value

(User) either numerically or via knob.

The maximum accuracy in measurements is achieved when using
the setting „Slow (ADC Rate).

5.3 Measuring Frequency

The frequency display can be added in the main function
AC V and AC I as the second measurement function (2nd).

The measurement time can be set via soft menu key Gate
Time. The measurement time can vary between 10ms,
100 ms and 1s and is shown below the frequency informa­tion on the display. The display refresh rate is dependent
on the selected ADC rate in the AC V or AC I mode. For
the setting SLOW, the measurement rate of the frequency
measurement is 1 measurement per second, for MEDIUM
it is 10 measurements per second and for FAST it is 100
measurements per second.

5.4 Measuring Resistance

For the resistance measurement, connect measurement
cables with clamps to the respective connectors on the
front panel of the instrument. A two-wire measurement
only requires the COM and V connectors. A four-wire
measurement also requires the LO/HI connectors (SENSE).
After connecting the cables and connecting with a resis­tance, press the Ω key. The resistance value will show on
the display. During a resistance measurement, the cable
resistance (cable offset) requires particular attention. Espe­cially for small resistances which may be close to the cable
offset it is recommended to zero the measurement section.

A zero measurement is also called a relative measurement,
i.e. each measurement value indicates the difference be­tween a saved zero value and the input signal.

ESC

ENTER



89

456

123

0

.

--

7

SETUP

SAVE

RECALL

HELP

SHIFT

DC V AC V

CAP

MEAS

AC I

DC I

SENSOR

HOLD

TRIGNULL

max.

600 V

pk

F10H250V

max.

10 A

CAT II
600 V

max. 200 V

pk

max. 1000 V

pk

max.

1000 V

pk

Fused

SENSE

4 W

+ -

frequency source

Fig. 5.3: Measuring frequency

ESC

ENTER



89

456

123

0

.

--

7

SETUP

SAVE

RECALL

HELP

SHIFT

DC V AC V

CAP

MEAS

AC I

DC I

SENSOR

HOLD

TRIGNULL

max.

600 V

pk

F10H250V

max.

10 A

CAT II

600 V

max. 200 V

pk

max. 1000 V

pk

max.

1000 V

pk

Fused

SENSE

4 W

Fig. 5.4: Measuring resistance (2-wire)

- +

resistance 2-wire

(Ω)

ESC

ENTER



89

456

123

0

.

--

7

SETUP

SAVE

RECALL

HELP

SHIFT

DC V AC V

CAP

MEAS

AC I

DC I

SENSOR

HOLD

TRIGNULL

max.

600 V

pk

F10H250V

max.

10 A

CAT II
600 V

max. 200 V

pk

max. 1000 V

pk

max.

1000 V

pk

Fused

SENSE

4 W

+ -

current source

(AC/DC)

Fig. 5.2: Measuring a DC or AC current