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Peak voltage measurement

I'm looking for a cheap way to test a system I have, The system works by starting at 0V. When it is triggered it will produce a peak voltage with a magnitude of less then 100V, the system then produces a voltage of the same or lower magnitude but with the opposite sign, and then go back to 0V. All of this will occur over about 1/2 a second. I'd like to come up with a way of measuring the voltage of the peaks without using an oscilloscope.

My first thought was looking for a cheap voltage meter that could measure peak voltage, but as far as I can tell such a device doesn't exist. If someone knows of such a device, or another solution that would work for this I would be extreamly grateful.

Reply to
Geoffrey.Eadon
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Because your transient voltage changes so slowly (~1/2 second) you have several options available.

You can construct an op-amp peak hold circuit for a couple of dollars and read peak voltages with your DMM. Do a google search on "peak hold op-amp" and you'll find several simple solutions.

If the system you are testing has a reasonably low internal impedance, you can also charge a capacitor to the peak voltage and then measure that voltage with a high internal resistance DMM. 10 Megohms is typical for DMMs. If the capacitor is low-leakage, you can connect the DMM to the capacitor after charging and read the peak voltage. A diode in series with the capacitor will ensure that only the positive (or negative, if you prefer) peak will charge the capacitor. Without knowing how much loading your system can withstand, and the risetime of the voltage peak, it is really impossible to suggest values for components.

Chuck

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Reply to
chuck

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