The use of virtual frequency meter in Multisim

Frequency meters can measure parameters such as frequency, period and pulse width of periodic signals. This section introduces the use of Multisim's virtual frequency meter.

1) Place the frequency meter on the working platform

Place the mouse under the multimeter icon on the right border of the workbench and select the icon until "Frequency Counter" is displayed. This is a virtual frequency meter. The operating steps are the same as for a multimeter. Click this icon to pick up the instrument. Click the left mouse button again on the appropriate position of the working platform to place the frequency meter at this position.

Frequency meter use

There is only one terminal button on the frequency meter icon. Connect it to the signal source "+". After clicking the "Run" button, double-click the frequency meter icon XFC1 to open the frequency meter panel, as shown in Figure 1. The measured frequency value is displayed in the black box above the panel.

Figure 1 Frequency meter usage

There are 4 buttons on the lower left side of the display box: "Freq", "Period", "Pulse", and "Rise/Fall". Press the "Freq" and "Period" buttons, and the frequency and period of the measured signal will be displayed in the display box respectively. Press the "Pulse" button, and the display box displays the width of the positive and negative pulses of the measured signal. Because the signal source in this example outputs a 50Hz sine wave signal with a period of 20ms, and the positive and negative half-cycles are equal in length, so pressing this key will display that both the positive and negative half-cycles are 10ms. "Rise/Fall" displays the measured rising and falling edge times of the pulse signal.

On the lower right side of the display box are the input sensitivity and trigger level settings, as well as slow-changing signals that can be compressed and tested again after increasing the frequency.

There are two buttons "AC" and "DC" on the lower left side of the panel, indicating whether the input coupling method is AC coupling or direct coupling (DC coupling). If "AC" is selected, it is AC coupling, and the DC component of the input signal is shielded; if "DC" is selected, it is direct coupling, and the input signal can contain AC and DC components.

summary:

Frequency meters can measure both frequency and period;

The frequency meter has a single-ended input and does not require grounding.