Application Note

3 Fluke Corporation Event recording (or logging) with a Fluke 287/289 Digital Multimeter
Step 4
Using the navigation arrows,
highlight Set Duration and
press Edit (F1). Edit the duration
setting to 07 Days 00 Hrs 00
Min. (We can always manually
stop the recording procedure
earlier if we like.)
Note: Recording duration and sample
interval times may interact — setting
one variable may adjust the other to
fit the recording session within the
available memory.
Step 5
When Duration and Sample
Interval settings have been
changed to desired values, press
OK (F1) to accept the changes.
Step 6
Press the Start (F2) softkey to
begin recording. You can now
leave the meter unattended.
The 289 will record the current
(amps) used by the refrigerator.
Note: While recording is active (1) the
power button LED will flash on and
off, (2) five minutes after any button
press, the display will turn off to con-
serve battery power. Press any button
to turn the display back on, and (3)
the display will show the start time,
the remaining time and number of
recorded interval samples and events.
Step 7
Recording is stopped in three
ways: (1) Automatically when
the recording duration time
has reached, (2) Automatically
when the battery level becomes
critically low or (3) Manually by
pressing the Stop (F4) softkey.
When recording is stopped,
the power button LED will stop
flashing on and off. Note that
once the recording session has
stopped, you cannot resume that
session.
Note: Returning to Stopped Screen
after meter auto powers off: When
recording ends automatically due to
duration time being reached, the dis-
play is turned on (if it had been off)
and the meter will power off accord-
ing to the Auto Power Off setting in
Instrument Setup (never or N minutes).
If the recording ends due to the bat-
tery becoming critically low, the meter
will immediately power down. Turn
the meter back on. If the battery is
showing empty, turn the meter off and
replace the batteries. Turn the meter
back on. The meter will start showing
the display as if you were at the start
of Step 8.
Step 8
Press Save (F2) to bring up the
Save display.
Step 9
Press the +Name (F1) softkey
to select the recording session
name to be associated with this
saved data. In this case, since it
is a recording, you might choose
to highlight Recording and note
that a boxed number appears.
This number is automatically
incremented each time you do a
save using that save name. Note
this saved name (including its
number) so that you can easily
identify the source of the data
in memory after you upload it to
FlukeView Forms. That’s because
you could easily have ten or
more recordings in memory
before you return to a computer.
Step 10
Now, press Save (F1) one more
time to complete the storage of
the test data in the DMM mem-
ory. The display screen will now
show the Start time, the Dura-
tion of the test, and the number
of Interval samples and Events
that were stored.
Congratulations!
You have successfully completed
a recording session and saved
the results in the meter. You can
now turn the meter off, or use
it for other purposes until you
choose to transfer your data to a
computer.
Using TrendCapture
You may now safely press the
Trend (F3) softkey to view
the stored results in graphi-
cal format. A vertical cursor
will appear in the center of the
TrendCapture display. Using the
navigation keys, you can move
this cursor over areas of interest
in the graph and the value and
time of recording for that value
will appear.
The first thing to note is that
the graph has been scaled to
20 mA. Here’s what’s happening.
The current level was mostly at
about the 2 mA level when the
compressor was running. The 18
mA “spikes” show the momen-
tary motor starting current each
time the compressor ran.
The blank gap near the center
of the screen is interesting, so
now we’ll use the TrendCapture
Zoom feature, using the up-
down navigation keys, to look at
the detail.
While in Trend mode, the
F3 menu selection changes to
Summary. Press the softkey to
see the session summary data,
including the Start Time and
Duration of the recording and
the number of Interval Samples
and Events recorded. The main
display shows the last recorded
value in the session.
Note: Time scale for Figure 2 and 3 is
elapsed time.
Figure 2. Single refrigeration cycle.
Figure 3. Single cycle, zoomed.
16
12
8
4
0
00:0009:30 19:00 28:30 37:33
m
A
A
C
1.830 mAAC 01:57:42pm HH:MM
05/30/08 07:03:09pm
06/01/08
08:35 am
x1
16
12
8
4
0
14:36 16:36 18:36 22:3620:36
m
A
A
C
1.944 mAAC 02:21: 01pm HH:MM
05/30/08 07:03:09pm
06/01/08
08:35 am
x3
Important
These next steps (7 through 9) should be
performed immediately after the test is
ended, or when you return to retrieve you
meter, before you explore the data on screen.
This is to make sure you save the recorded
data in a known and easy to recall location.