Pros and Cons of Fluke Scopemeters
John Hudak
I am debating between the purchase of a Tek analog or digital scope (350
MHZ) and a Fluke Scopemeter (200 mhz) and am looking for opinions from
people who have used the Scopemeter as a 'bench' instrument for a period
of time. My requirements are such that 200 mhz bw is sufficient. Aside
from the feature-to-feature comparison, I am looking for opinions on
things like display quality, responsiveness, durability (i.e. from high
voltage inputs, etc.), Does it work well in helping to troubleshoot
TV's, stereo amps, etc. (i.e. are there things that are particularly
good or really annoying when, say working on a TV or amp...)
I am not considering the earlier, greenish-yellow display scopemeters
(i.e. 92, 93, 95). The bluish, backlit display models is what I am
considering. I am considering the Fluke because of its portability,
which on occasion I would use, for actual field work or simply going
from one room to another. I have used the Flukes before, but mainly for
field work and for short time periods, mainly for instrumentation or
computer related troubleshooting, not TV or amp repair.
Comments are appreciated.
Thanks
John
Joe
>TV's, stereo amps, etc. (i.e. are there things that are particularly
>good or really annoying when, say working on a TV or amp...)
I a Fluke fanatic an on this I say NO WAY !,
.....And I had a good one ....Fluke 105B
Dont like them AT ALL for audio work, the resolution is lousy and cant pick
up "rings" and faint x over distortion.
Display is washed out pale compared to a CRT, viewing angle.
They have a way to go on them displays
Dont like em at all so far ........Bla !
The $150 12 volt B&K 1420 and Tek 465B, 532 CRT scope's rule the
roost............over here anyway
The Tek 532 heats the shop in the winter also.
:)
-Joe
John Hudak wrote in message <3C8D2214...@sei.cmu.edu>...
John Larkin
wrote:
>>Does it work well in helping to troubleshoot
>>TV's, stereo amps, etc. (i.e. are there things that are particularly
>>good or really annoying when, say working on a TV or amp...)
>
>I a Fluke fanatic an on this I say NO WAY !,
>.....And I had a good one ....Fluke 105B
>Dont like them AT ALL for audio work, the resolution is lousy and cant pick
>up "rings" and faint x over distortion.
>Display is washed out pale compared to a CRT, viewing angle.
>They have a way to go on them displays
>Dont like em at all so far ........Bla !
>
>The $150 12 volt B&K 1420 and Tek 465B, 532 CRT scope's rule the
>roost............over here anyway
>The Tek 532 heats the shop in the winter also.
>:)
>-Joe
Joe,
you must live in the tropics. We use 547s as lab heaters here up
North.
John
Rich Webb
wrote:
>Hi Folks:
>
>I am debating between the purchase of a Tek analog or digital scope (350
>MHZ) and a Fluke Scopemeter (200 mhz) and am looking for opinions from
>people who have used the Scopemeter as a 'bench' instrument for a period
>of time.
We have a Fluke Scopemeter (don't recall the model, unfortunately) and a
couple of the THS-7x0 portable Teks. All of the technicians swear by the
Teks and swear at the Fluke. The good folks at Fluke make many wonderful
test instruments, but the Scopemeter might be the exception.
If you don't have to have battery powered operation, I'd recommend the
TDS-220. Fairly inexpensive, easily portable, nice to use.
#include <std_disclaimer> /* I don't work for Tek, just buy their stuff
* (when I can afford to). */
--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
John Del
>From: Rich Webb web...@earthlink.net
>We have a Fluke Scopemeter (don't recall the model, unfortunately) and a
>couple of the THS-7x0 portable Teks. All of the technicians swear by the
>Teks and swear at the Fluke. The good folks at Fluke make many wonderful
>test instruments, but the Scopemeter might be the exception.
I have and use the Tek 720P Tekmeter, and I like it, although I can't comment
on the Fluke's because I've never used one. I don't use the 720 as my main
scope, but will use it on the road, and around the shop when my big scope is
used elsewhere. The only thing odd about LCD displays is that the display is
"negative", that is the trace is black, and the field is lit (exactly opposite
of a CRT scope). You don't notice this when looking at horiz drives, or vert
ramps, etc. You notice this when viewing a complicated waveform, like a
composite video, when it looks "wrong". I'm getting used to it, but don't use
the 720 more than once a month on average.
John Del
Wolcott, CT
"The trouble with eating Italian food is that 5 or 6 days later you're hungry
again"
---George Miller---
(remove S for email reply)
Roger Hamlett
"John Del" <ohg...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020312073012...@mb-dd.aol.com...
> >Subject: Re: Pros and Cons of Fluke Scopemeters
> >From: Rich Webb web...@earthlink.net
> >
> >We have a Fluke Scopemeter (don't recall the model, unfortunately) and a
> >couple of the THS-7x0 portable Teks. All of the technicians swear by the
> >Teks and swear at the Fluke. The good folks at Fluke make many wonderful
> >test instruments, but the Scopemeter might be the exception.
>
> I have and use the Tek 720P Tekmeter, and I like it, although I can't
comment
> on the Fluke's because I've never used one. I don't use the 720 as my
main
> scope, but will use it on the road, and around the shop when my big scope
is
> used elsewhere. The only thing odd about LCD displays is that the display
is
> "negative", that is the trace is black, and the field is lit (exactly
opposite
> of a CRT scope). You don't notice this when looking at horiz drives, or
vert
> ramps, etc. You notice this when viewing a complicated waveform, like a
> composite video, when it looks "wrong". I'm getting used to it, but don't
use
> the 720 more than once a month on average.
got rid of it again fairly quickly. It really was inconvenient to use, and
wasn't either a good 'multimeter', or competent basic 'scope. I replaced it
with the Fluke 867B 'graphical multimeter', and found this a far better
instrument. For 'field' work, or as a second instrument on the bench, this
is a very competent. I also have a Tek TDS 210, and though this is not
battery driven, as a 'scope', it is very mobile (only about the same weight
as the 'graphical multimeter'), and is a far more competent 'scope',
provided power is available.
The graphical meter, really "comes into it's own", when working with 'live'
equipment, where the fact it has a properly insulated case, allows it to be
a much easier tool, than having to fiddle around with isolation
transformers, or differential measurements.
I've never even noticed the 'inverted' display.
I'd rate the graphical multimeter at least twice as 'well' as the ordinary
'scopemeter', which I don't think really works very well at all...
Best Wishes
Terran Melconian
Rich Webb <web...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>If you don't have to have battery powered operation, I'd recommend the
>TDS-220. Fairly inexpensive, easily portable, nice to use.
When I used a TDS-2xx a few years back, I was disappointed by the
quality of the display and went back to my analog scope. Have they
improved recently? It's possibly I just had a particularly bad
part.
Roger Hamlett
"Terran Melconian" <ter...@mit.edu> wrote in message
news:a6lha8$3v2$1...@decurion.mit.edu...
Best Wishes
Sir Charles W. Shults III
on the display when fed a square wave signal- mystery square wave
transitions showing up at two or four times the input frequency. I shy away
from them now, because you cannot always believe what you see- the display
will show a 4 KHz signal when you are feeding it a 1 KHz signal.
No amount of probe swapping, trimming, padding or pulling with resistors
or terminators made this problem vanish. Seems like a shame, too, because
they otherwise make good products and the scopemeter idea is a very useful
one. Out of three or four of them I have used, two showed this problem.
Cheers!
Chip Shults
My robotics, space and CGI web page - http://home.cfl.rr.com/aichip
Rich Webb
Melconian) wrote:
>When I used a TDS-2xx a few years back, I was disappointed by the
>quality of the display and went back to my analog scope. Have they
>improved recently? It's possibly I just had a particularly bad
>part.
It does leave somewhat to be desired in that it's not a uniform field
under all ambient lighting and dispaly contrast settings, and it does
change a little as it "warms up."
On the TDS-220 I picked up for personal use, the region-to-region
variability is barely noticable and a one-up or one-down adjustment to
the contrast is usually all that's needed during a day. The 240 on the
bench at work has more pronounced "echos" of display objects (menu text,
etc.), above and below, at low contrast settings but at normal, working
contrast it's okay.
For a personal scope or a general-purpose bench scope, it's wonderful.
There are apps where a good, wide bandwidth analog is what's called for,
but if I could only get one, I'd still go with the little 220.
Kevin Carney
scopes. I calibrate and repair digitizing scopes but prefer
an analog scope any day any time !!! It's a shame no analog
scopes are made in the USA anymore.
--
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Robert Lacoste
Tek7834 analog scope. Guess what ? I spend 90% of my tike on
the analog one. I think the scopemeter is fine for occasional
measurements, but for example to move a trace up it's MUCH
QUICKER to turn a potentiometer rather than to press 10 times
the "up" button ! Moreover the "feeling" you can got on an analog
scope is far better than on a digital scope for complex signals. May
be the new "Digital phosphor" scopes are back head to head with
analog ones, but I've never used them...
Conclusion : if you can buy one scope buy an analog one, except if
your pockets are deep enough to buy a high-range digital one. If you
can buy two of them then a digital scope is also very useful from time
to time and a scopemeter may do the job !
Cheers,
Robert.
--
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Lewin A.R.W. Edwards (Despammed)
> scopes. I calibrate and repair digitizing scopes but prefer
> an analog scope any day any time !!! It's a shame no analog
> scopes are made in the USA anymore.
Gotta agree with you here. I've got a Tek 2445 (4ch 150MHz analog) and a Tek
210 (2ch 60MHz digital) on my lab bench here at work and I rarely use the
210. When I do use it, I find myself spending MUCH longer poking through
menus and fncking around with the trigger settings than I do on the trusty
2445. Usually it's faster for me to write special custom firmware for
whatever I'm doing, to output a regular trigger pulse somewhere just before
the event of interest, and look at it on my analog scope, than it is for me
to try to work out how to capture the interesting time interval on the
digital scope and inspect it later. Maybe it's just because I was brought up
on analog scopes. My feelings towards digital have vacillated to and fro
over the years, but I'm certainly much more productive on a good analog
scope.
(FWIW - I don't see much ghosting on the Tek 210's LCD. Also, I've never had
to adjust its contrast except once - the day I moved it to my desk three
years ago. However, the room is usually pretty hot, so maybe its stabilized
operating temperature isn't much different from its inactive temperature).
--
-- Lewin A.R.W. Edwards
REPLACE 'spam' with 'larwe' if you want to email me!
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Roger
After reading all the posts it seems that there are a number of good
opinions expressed. The Fluke Scopemeters are fine instruments. That
is to say the new 190 series. I wouldn't use any of the previous
models. The Tek 200 and THS700 series are as a good digital scope as
you may find, but for my pick I would select a TDS3000/3000B any day.
It is small, portable, easy to use, color 100-500 MHz scope and the
DPO is almost as good at grey scale as an analog scope. For those that
want both analog and digital the new GRS series from Instek is good
value. As a distributor for all of these and someone that has been
involved with instruments for the last 30+ years I would be happy to
discuss the pros and cons of each with any one. For information check
www.blii.com or contact me at rwil...@stny.rr.com.
Happy hunting.. Roger
Videotech
it is not a replacement for a good old Tek scope. I have both and use them
together, often using the Scopemeter to record power supply fluctuations
while the Tek does the high freq stuff. Yes the scope meter does have
aliasing as does any digital sampling scope. It is learning how to use each
that you will get the value. If you want a scope, don't expect the
scopemeter to fill that role, as it is not designed for that but more as an
overall troubleshooting tool.
Jack Barrins
I have a new Fluke 199C and I love it. I bought it from a website
that had them on sale. www.tequipment.net Dont know much about them
but they shipped it right out.. as for the scopemeter so far so good,
I like it better than my old tek analog.
Videotech <"73267,2166"@compuserve.com> wrote in message news:<3C949F3C...@compuserve.com>...
Bushy
I've been using Scopemeter for a little over a year now after having using a
TekScope previously and I must say I favour the scopemeter. The isolated
channels is for me the best thing ever. The PC software also works quite
well (thru an optical RS232!)
Bushy.
"Jack Barrins" <ro...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4df60417.02031...@posting.google.com...
Dave
>
> [...] I also have a Tek TDS 210, and though this is not
> battery driven, as a 'scope', it is very mobile (only about the same weight
> as the 'graphical multimeter'), and is a far more competent 'scope',
> provided power is available.
and have grown fond of them. Being able to capturing single events
with a nice light-weight unit is very nice and hopefully they will
continue to get even better. I find it difficult to imagine going back
to using a non-storage scope now.
The THSxxx portable scopes are also nice but make some sacrifices for
their wonderful portability.
<http://www.tek.com/Measurement/cgi-bin/framed.pl?Document=/Measurement/scopes/comparison.html&FrameSet=oscilloscopes>