A meter is disclosed for measuring the
dielectric constant of a
particulate material, particularly grain, as a function of its
moisture content. The meter includes a test
cell for containing a sample of the
particulate material to be tested. A
single oscillator includes a variable frequency tuned circuit for varying the frequency of the
single oscillator output. The tuned circuit includes a test
cell capacitor using a sample of material to be tested as a
dielectric, a calibrated variable standard
capacitor and a variable trimming
capacitor. An indicator is coupled to the calibrated variable standard capacitor to display a value representing the
capacitance setting of the calibrated variable standard capacitor. A frequency monitor compares the output frequency of the oscillator with a selected frequency and a null display displays the difference between the output frequency of the oscillator and the selected frequency. In the invention, the frequency monitor generates DC outputs of opposite polarity according to whether the output frequency of the oscillator is greater than or less than the selected frequency and the null display is a digital display, displaying the
frequency difference as zero when the output frequency of the oscillator equals the selected frequency, as a positive value when the output frequency of the oscillator is greater than the predetermined frequency and as a negative value when the output frequency of the oscillator is less than the predetermined frequency.