Hello forum.
I bought an Uni-T UTD1025CL portable/handheld oscilloscope and was wondering about using it safely.
Now, I know some of the Fluke scopes have isolated and insulated connections that allow safe floating measurements (no ground ref). However, I am wondering if this is just a marketing gimmick from Fluke to boost their sales, since my understanding is that all portable handheld battery powered scopes are safe to float.
Please help me understand more.
Basically, I only bought a scope to be able to visually see sine waves output from a Honda generator (just to see how sinusoidal it is). Being paranoid about 240V, I made sure to work behind a HPM RCD and MCB GPO (it is actually one of them "industrial worksite approved 4 double pole units). I am in no way an electrician, but rather just starting out to learn more about electrical stuff.
Now, my understanding is with how to use a scope is to attach the GROUND LEAD on the probe to the EARTH on the generator, and then attach the actual PROBE to the ACTIVE, and from here I can get a 50Hz wave reading. However, I am unsure if firstly this is safe to do and if it is also okay to do using a portable battery powered scope that is not grounded itself (I don't connect the scope to the actual household mains power). I don't know if that is the right jargon to express. Nonetheless, I have successfully got measurements and frequencies from both the Honda Generator comparing the results without changing any parameters with household 240VAC 50Hz mains power as control reference, but I am unsure if it is safe and figured I better ask you experts if it is safe et cetera. I don't want a cardiac arrest over ignorance. I was that paranoid using the scope during measurements I used a wooden broomstick with probe on end to keep my nimble body at bay, all whilst wearing thick gumboots and poor man leather gloves!
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QUESTIONS:
How do I use the scope properly for my intended purpose of finding out how many Hz (Hertz) and visually see the waveform is being generated from my Honda Generator, and what leads to connect to what. I want to do it safely for both myself and the scope (obviously don't want to blow a fuse unnecessary).
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Thanks.
p.s. The Uni-T UTD1025CL is a nice DSO/DMM. My only gripe is the delay it takes to switch DSO and DMM. However, I am new to scopes and I have only had the scope for one week approx.