Fluke123 discontinued as a required ETC technician tool

In discussion with technicians and monitoring job site activities, we have decided to no longer require ETC Certified Technicians to carry the Fluke 123 ScopeMeter.  We are installing more networking systems, the cost of the unit and its maintenance are rising, space in and weight of toolboxes is getting prohibitive.  Some of you still may wish to purchase and use one and we will support that effort.  In fact, it is advised that having one in the shop may be the best solution.    However, if you run in to a situation where a scope can troubleshoot a problem and yours is not available or not working, we will keep a stock of them here to ship out as needed on a short term loaner basis.

 

If you have any questions, please let me know.

  • I doubt that it will be a requirement any time soon.  One of the reasons is that 99% of the time it is the responsibility of the installing EC to "certify" the network.  Usually when we send out the DSP 4000 for use in verifying a network it is because we either want to perform the test and see the results with our own eyes or the EC is already off the job and it is up to us to prove that there are problems in the network infrastructure that are affecting the performance of our gear.
  • For quick checking of network cable runs, at ETC London we have a nice little "Fluke MicroScanner 2" cable verifier.

    This one includes cable length measurements as well as all the 'disconnected pair' and 'find this cable' tests.

    We've actually found it quite useful for testing DMX cable as well, with the relevant jumpers!

    RS have it for £303 in the UK, and a quick Google popped it up for USD$ 400 at a few places.