Finding the Index on an Incremental Encoder with a Digital Multimeter (DMM)

August 10, 2014

Sometimes you don’t have the right tools to do the job.

Let’s say you needed to identify where the index pulse was firing on your incremental encoder, but you left your oscilloscope in your other jacket pocket, and now all you have on hand is a Digital Multimeter (DMM).

Well fear not, finding the index with a multimeter is possible although a bit tedious.

The index fires once per revolution and at higher line counts this makes it VERY easy to miss. Since there is some delay in a multimeter’s display time, you will need to rotate the encoder very slowly to catch a change in voltage level.

The blue box has a 9-volt battery inside that I regulated down to 5Vdc for the encoder power. I have pulled out connections to ground (Black wire) and the index channel (Orange wire). When the index fires, the voltage will go from zero to five volts.

Jim is an Applications Engineer with Quantum Devices Inc., a leading manufacturer of incremental optical rotary encoders.