Review: Fluke 199C ScopeMeter, part 1 of 2

Fluke 199C ScopeMeter, 200 MHz, price $2999
(click here for the introduction to this series of reviews of four handheld oscilloscopes)

Fluke’s 199C comes from a long line of ScopeMeter handheld oscilloscopes. I remember the first model as being very difficult to use. Fluke had made vast improvements since then and this model is proof. Its gray scope-setting buttons (v/div, t/div, and position) are dedicated buttons, as are the channel-selection buttons. No menus needed here because of soft keys, but the buttons are closer together than other meters (see photo). That’s good and bad, depending on the size of your hands and fingers. Function buttons are in yellow, with cursor, zoom, and replay buttons in black. Fluke’s buttons are made of hard plastic, not the soft kind of the other meters.

The power supply is large and must plug into the AC mains plug. Thus, it consumes two or three locations on a power strip, depending on where you plug it. The screen is the largest of the four models evaluated in this series. It. looks bright and clear when used indoors, but the plastic cover is so shiny that outdoors in daylight, you can’t see the traces because of reflections. It does have a light on/off function if you press the USER button.

The Fluke 199C has a hand strap located on the left side, as do the other three units in this evaluation. It’s the only instrument for lefties because you can move the strap to the right side. Doing so will cover the optical communications port, though. Fluke also has the most rugged stand of the group. It’s also is the only one with a strap that lets you hang the instruments while in use (see photo).

Fluke’s user manual says you should never have to change the battery pack. But, if you do, you must send the instrument back to Fluke. I hope the company is right about never needing to change battery packs. I can’t see that. What if you need more that four hours of measurements and you want to bring a spare battery? You’re sunk. But, battery packs are available through distributors.

Fluke’s oscilloscope probes come in red and gray with the unit also having a set of red-and black DMM probes. The oscilloscope probes were easy to insert into the top of the unit. The top also includes banana jacks for DMM probes and the DC power connector (see Photo). Only the data cable is port on the side.

The ScopeMeter has two dedicated buttons marked “Zoom” and “Replay.” The zoom button does just that, it cuts the time/div in half, which gives you a quick 2x zoom of the waveform. The “replay” button gives you a link to the past. It lets you view the last 100 screens in reverse chronological order. When you exit replay, you lose the data because the scope starts recording another 100 screens.

Fluke has an Auto/Manual button that, when the 199C is in auto mode, the instrument automatically adjust for signal changes. For example, I changed input frequency from 20 MHz to 200 kHz and the 199C found the signal and adjusted its time-base setting. The other oscilloscopes require you to push the auto set button again. Fluke also has A and B buttons that take you to menus for each scope channel. This is a good feature thatmakes the ScopeMeter easy to use.

Fluke provides two measurements that you can add to the scope screen. For example. You can display DMM measurements such as VAC, VDC, AAC, and ADC. You can also measure frequency, rise time, dB, and temperature.

In part 2, I cover the DMM, recorder, and PC software.