[Test-Equipment] Fluke current clamp probes & scopes

DaveC davec2468 at aim.com
Wed Dec 9 15:57:37 EST 2009


I've been looking at some Fluke current clamps for use with 
oscilloscopes. These output typically 1mV/1A and have a BNC 
connector. With a banana adapter it can be used with a DMM.

I looked at the specs for a couple of these clamps (i410, i200s) and 
was quite surprised to see that the output impedance is spec'd at <20 
ohms (not Kohms, or Mohms). The "load impedance" was spec'd at 1 Mohm.

See here for the i410 & i1010 PDF user guide:

<http://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i4101010iseng0200.pdf>

here for the i200 & i200s PDF user guide:

<http://assets.fluke.com/manuals/i200s___iseng0500.pdf>

I'm confused about how these mV output clamp probes can be used to 
obtain an accurate signal level on an oscilloscope if the output 
impedance is not 1 Mohn (the commonly-accepted norm input for scopes).

Fluke tech support was no help in determining if this was a misprint 
or to even understand how such a non-standard output impedance could 
impact measurement.

I could go on the premise that Fluke wouldn't be selling any of these 
"scope" type current probes if there was such an impedance mismatch, 
but I'd really like to understand if/how well such a combination 
works.

Is anyone using such a probe with a scope? Is the amplitude viewed 
correct? What model probe do you use?

Thanks,
Dave


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