We report an investigation of structure by x-ray diffraction, microstructure by atomicforce microscopy (AFM) and broadening of resistive transitions in high dc magnetic fields(0-20 kOe) in Er1-yCayBa2Cu3-x(Fe, Zn)xO7-δ (y = 0.1,0.2;and 0⩽x⩽0.20) ceramic superconductors.The XRD shows that the presence of Ca does not alter the known effect of Fe/Zn substitutionon the structure of the pure (y = 0) system. Substitution of both Fe and Zn leads to a decrease in thegrain size and micro-hardness. Interesting results were obtained on the influence of variousdopants on the broadening of resistive transitions in dc magnetic fields, in general: (1) an increasein Ca content suppresses it; (2) Zn substitution has no effect; and (3) Fe substitutionenhances it. We show that these results can be interpreted in terms of a thermally activated fluxmotion (TAFM), and the effect of various dopants on the properties like pinning barrier andanisotropy.