Fluke 164 Counter Demo Aid

[sambonator]

I found an interesting 1979 relic from Fluke.

From what I gather from the markings, it appears to be a signal generator for frequency counter product demonstrations.
It can be AC powered or powered by its internal 4 D cell NiCD batteries. 

It just takes unscrewing 1 screw to slide the entire unit out of the case.  Accepts 115V or 230V via switch on the board.

Sorry about the poor smartphone pics!   

[sambonator]

Here are the internals.
The 4 NiCd D cells have shrink wrap around them, along with cardboard protectors to protect the board from battery leakage.

[sambonator]

Non-custom IC's, standard GE NiCD D Cells.  Looks good for 40+ yrs old.

[sambonator]

Cool thing is, it still works, as a Fluke should 

[sambonator]

Scope readings, from left to right BNCs, going through each setting.  The knobs were set to top dead center.
(sorry I'm still a scope noob)

[sambonator]

Last 4 scope readings.  Hope you enjoyed!
Only thing that didn't make sense to me is the DC setting (DC 5V 10KOhm... what is that for?). 

[lowimpedance]

Interesting unit , built into the same housing used for their 8000 series DMM's and the 1900a counters. Same nicad battery layout as well.
Relic indeed, thanks for posting

[sambonator]

I'm going to put this on the bay... I don't have room for collecting vintage equipment, and I had fun with this already, so time to pass it on 

I need to do that with my HP 3455A too. 
Got it "parts or not working" and "untested" so I expected to do some learning and repair... but seems to be spot on in all measurements and quite stable, so I don't want to mess it up! 

[tooki]

A Fluke 164 counter just came up for sale on the local auction site, so I suspect that the object above is the demo aid for the 164, rather than being named “164” itself. Given that the 164 counter is 20 years younger than 1979, I bet they just found an old generator in a closet and gave it custom labeling because… reasons.

The 164 looks like an interesting critter, in that it’s in a ScopeMeter housing and has some interesting scope-like features, and a really odd sampling mode where it samples at various voltage thresholds, rather than by time. See the attached datasheet.