[Amps] Manganin wire

Tim Long tlong8 at earthlink.net
Mon Mar 1 07:47:14 PST 2010


Hello All,
Forgive me if this has already been said.

The resistance of manganin wire is extremely stable with respect to 
temperature and this is why it is so useful as a meter shunt.  An 
ammeter is nothing more than a voltmeter that measures the voltage drop 
across a meter shunt.  The resistance of the shunt and the meter scale 
determine the range of the ammeter.  There is no reason to use manganin 
wire to connect the power supply to the meter unless the designer is 
using this connection AS the meter shunt.  Just because the meter scale 
reads amps, doesn't mean that there is a shunt internal to the meter. 
Good luck & 73, Tim, W2UI


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