Analogue Displays
Analogue Displays are used to gain a quick overview of measurement parameters. Analogue displays often measure electric currents, voltages and electric capacities. The measured values are simply displayed on an analogue scale. The analogue display is especially convenient where ever a simplified and not too elaborate display mechanism is required. Often the analogue displays are installed for larger facilities consisting of many units. For example to monitor generators in power stations or standby sets. PCE instruments offers analogue displays for electric currents, voltages and electric capacities. Custom- designed analogue displays are the ones of the PCE-EP19 series. Those analogue displays measure the alternating current in accordance to the three-phase-method  and can be switched via a rotary switch. All analogue displays have the same size of 96 x 96 mm and by that they are suited for an installation into control panels. Furthermore the analogue displays can be mounted at various angles. Due to different scale ranges the analogue displays can be applied in almost any area. These analogue displays have an advantage over digital indicators, and that is that they do not require any separate power source. All kinds of fluctuation are immediately shown at those analogue displays. Furthermore the course of measured signals can be viewed directly by means of this analogue display, e.g. during the start of machines. If you have any questions regarding our analogue displays, contact us: UK customers +44(0) 23 809 870 30 / US customers (561) 320-9162 and our technical staff will gladly help you find the analogue displays that are most suitable for your requirement as well as advise you on the assortment of our measuring instruments and scales. 

Technical information about Analogue Displays can be found at the following links:

It is often necessary in areas of industry and laboratories that various voltage and electric current values need to be monitored. Amongst others the Analogue displays fulfill these tasks. Voltages are measured by their accordant unit [V], which is the appropriate SI unit for electric voltages and is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. The electric voltage is defined as the following: 1 Volt is the electrical potential difference between two ends, which have a current flow of 1 Ampere and by that withhold an electric capacity of 1 Watt. Typical SI prefixes are micro [µ], milli [m], kilo [k] and Mega [M]. The measuring current lines are either connected in parallel or in series circuits to the measured object. These are then indicated on a scale by a pointer. If the input cables are too long or under higher loads, the line voltage is endangered to collapse. Analogue displays might help foreseeing this. Analogue displays are often used for a larger monitoring task to gain a quick and simple overview. Thus a service technician can easily get an overview and detect the error in major systems consisting of many units. The advantage of moving coil meters over digital indicators is that the analogue displays do not require any separate power source. Analogue displays simply run by the measured electricity source, due to their mechanism. Another advantage is that e.g. fluctuations of a voltage are easily detected, since the indicator of the analogue display would then be oscillating. Analogue displays are also called moving coil meters, moving iron meters, voltage meters, current meters, analogue meters, electric indicators or ammeters, describing their mechanism. 

The mechanism of analogue displays that are designed as moving-iron ammeters is the following:
Inside the analogue display there is a coil with an interior fixed iron vane, which gives the device its name. If there is a current flow throughout the coil, both, the fixed vane as well as the moving vane, are magnetized with the same intensity, and as a result magnetically repel each other. By that the pointer deflects and points at the according value on the scale. An additional helical spring attached to the moving vane cause functions as the restoring force to reestablish the zero point. 

Mechanism of the moving-coil ammeters:
Analogue displays made as moving-coil ammeters differ from moving-iron ammeters in a minor detail: these ammeters have a moving coil installed in a magnetic field of a permanent magnet. As soon as electric current passes from the connected lines of the analogue display via the spiral springs through that coil, the so called Lorentz force emerges within the air gap in-between the coil and the magnet, so that the coil is proportionally moved and the according value is indicated on the scale. Nowadays moving-coil ammeters are more and more replaced by moving-iron ammeters and are hardly applied in industrial branches. But they are still today installed inside multimeters with ammeters.

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If you have any questions, call our offices on:
UK customers +44(0) 23 809 870 30
US customers (561) 320-9162