Application Note

2 Fluke Corporation Capturing elusive waveform anomalies with pass/fail testing function in a Fluke ScopeMeter® 190 Series II portable oscilloscope
The ScopeMeter portable
oscilloscope can simultane-
ously perform a pass/fail test
at the input and output of the
balun with different masks.
The floating and isolated inputs
of the Fluke ScopeMeter test
tool make these measurements
possible without the risk of
making unwanted groundings.
Moreover, the high impedance
probes allow for direct mea-
surements without loading the
line and without the need for
an external differential probe.
Editing the pass/fail
templates
With FlukeView we can export
a waveform into an Excel
spreadsheet and create a cus-
tom template. A reference tem-
plate for pass/fail testing can be
created by saving waveforms
from FlukeView in .csv for-
mat and editing the waveform
using, for example, Excel or
Notepad—entering new values
for each sample point.
The reference waveform
requires a 300-point min-max
waveform. In figure 3, column
B represents the minimum val-
ues of the mask (blue, or lower
line in diagram) and column C
represents the maximum values
of the mask (red, or upper line
in the diagram). The areas to
the left and right of the origi-
nal template are of no interest
for this pass/fail test which
Figure 3: Example of an Excel edited ITU G.703 E1-coax mask
Figure 4: Pass/fail template used as reference on input A
means minimum and maximum
values are determined by the
screen size. Once the refer-
ence template is edited, it can
be uploaded to the ScopeMeter
portable oscilloscope using
FlukeView (v5.0 or higher).
A template can be used as
reference for testing on Input A
or as reference on Input B. The
trigger point should be at 50 %
of the rising edge of the pulse.
For exact positioning, the top
of the trigger symbol should be
lined up with the 50 % level of
the template.
Also, a pass/fail test can be
performed at both inputs using
two different masks. On Input
A, the input of a balun can be
monitored using a template
corresponding to a 120 Ω line
impedance while input B moni-
tors the output of the balun
using a 75 Ω template.
Conclusion
Pass/fail testing speeds elec-
tronic troubleshooting by
identifying any event that falls
outside the minimum or maxi-
mum values specified in the
reference template.
Whether you’re maintaining
telecommunication networks
or industrial control systems,
the flexibility of custom tem-
plates and pass/fail indicators
make the Fluke 190 Series II an
effective problem solver.
Fluke Corporation
PO Box 9090, Everett, WA 98206 U.S.A.
Fluke Europe B.V.
PO Box 1186, 5602 BD
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
For more information call:
In the U.S.A. [phone] or
Fax [phone]
In Europe/M-East/Africa [phone] or
Fax [phone]
In Canada (800)-36-FLUKE or
Fax [phone]
From other countries [phone] or
Fax [phone]
Web access: http://www.fluke.com
©2003-2011 Fluke Corporation.
Specifications subject to change without notice.
Printed in U.S.A. 4/2011 2125182B A-EN-N
Pub-ID 10656-eng
Modification of this document is not permitted
without written permission from Fluke Corporation.
Fluke. Keeping your world
up and running.
®