PRACTICAL TECHNIQUES & KNOW-HOW FOR MAKING & MEASURING IN THE LABORATORY & WORKSHOP

ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT KEVIN SCOTT 2011. LINKS TO THIS SITE ARE WELCOME BUT DO NOT COPY MATERIAL FROM THIS SITE TO ANY OTHER WEBPAGE.

If you find this site useful, please support it by making a donation of $1 to help maintain and develop it. Click on the PAYPAL DONATE button to do this safely. But there is no obligation - please avail yourself of the information and facilities of the site at no charge.


A Simple Gauss Meter

In order to measure the magnetic field strengths, a simple gauss meter was constructed using the Texas Instruments TL173C Hall effect gauss sensor. These sensors exploit the phenomenon known as the Hall effect in which a steady current flowing through a conductor in a magnetic field, causes an EMF to develop at right angles both to the current and to the field. By using certain semiconductors to carry the current this EMF can be maximised and used for measurement of the field. Referring to the schematic, U1a splits the 12 V power supply while U1b provides voltage gain. The trimmer R5 sets the zero. Output to meter or recorder is via pin 2 of Pl2. Pins 1 & 4 are 0 & +12 V. Pin 3 is ground, R1,R2 =10K, R3,R4 = 10K, R5 =2K, R7 = 2K2, R8 = 5K, U1 = OPA4277
Pl1 connects to Texas Instruments gauss sensor type TL173C. A = Vcc, B = Ground, C = output.

The TL173C sensor was mounted in a glass holder to form a convenient probe.