Section 2: General operation
Model 2461 Interactive SourceMeter® Instrument Reference Manual
2-126
2461-901-01 A/November 2015
Measurement range
The measure range determines the full-scale measurement span that is applied to the signal.
Therefore, it affects both the accuracy of the measurements and the maximum signal that can be
measured.
A change to the measure range can cause a change to the related current or voltage limit. When this
occurs, an event message is generated.
The combination of voltage and current ranges cannot exceed the power limit of the instrument. For
example, with a 100 V source range, the highest current measure range is 1 A (100 V * 1 A = 100 W).
Refer to
(on page 4-4) for other ranges.
Whether or not you can select a measure range is affected by other settings on the instrument. You
can only select a measure range if you are sourcing one type of measurement and measuring
another. For example, you can select a measure range if you are sourcing voltage and measuring
current. However, if you are sourcing voltage and measuring voltage, the measure range is the same
as the source range and cannot be changed.
You can only select a measure range for ohms if you are using the instrument as an ohmmeter
(sourcing current and measuring resistance).
Maximum limits for Model 2461
Measure range
Maximum source limit
200 mV
±210 mV
2 V
±2.1 V
7 V
±7.35 V
10 V
± 10.5 V
20 V
±21 V
100 V
±105 V
1 µA
±1.05 µA
10 µA
±10.5 µA
100 µA
±105 µA
1 mA
±1.05 mA
10 mA
±10.5 mA
100 mA
±105 mA
1 A
±1.05 A
4 A
4.2 A
5 A
5.25 A
7 A
7.35 A
10 A (pulse only)
7.35 A (10.5 A pulse only)