Fluke 1900A frequency counter

[Ranger14]

I got a great deal on a Fluke 1900A frequency counter off ebay.. Today I got it in the mail and it seems pretty nice but no power .. So I tore it down and the fuse was blown and after replacing the unit now works ..  Is there anything I should check or would cause the fuse to blow???

[tautech]

The user manual?
Maybe the previous owner didn't. 

http://exodus.poly.edu/~kurt/manuals/manuals/Fluke/FLUKE%201900A%20Instruction.pdf

[FlyingHacker]

Just be sure you used the proper size fuse and not a larger one. If it blows again investigate further.

I would take a look side just to see if there are any signs of trouble/cap leakage, etc.

[Ranger14]

The user manual?
Maybe the previous owner didn't. 

http://exodus.poly.edu/~kurt/manuals/manuals/Fluke/FLUKE%201900A%20Instruction.pdf

The unit came from a company of some sort and it was calibrated in 2011 and ends in Aug 2016.. You have to break the calibration sticker in order to change the fuse hence why the unit was sold and mostly cause of the age too ..

[Kleinstein]

This is a really old counter. The input stage is still reasonable quality, but resolution and the reference stability are not really good by today's standard. Well possible to trough such an old counter out because a better one is needed.

[FlyingHacker]

I think it should take an external 10MHz reference, which makes more sense that buying multiple prices of equipment with OCXOs. Check the back.

Also, rarely do you need a more accurate counter unless you are doing RF stuff. Tools only need to be as good as they need to be. Something better will always be cheaper tomorrow.

[Ranger14]

I think it should take an external 10MHz reference, which makes more sense that buying multiple prices of equipment with OCXOs. Check the back.

Also, rarely do you need a more accurate counter unless you are doing RF stuff. Tools only need to be as good as they need to be. Something better will always be cheaper tomorrow.

The unit is really old and has input only ...From what I can tell the unit is still within spec and work perfectly for me.. As right now I have a 60mhz scope and don't plain on using RF anytime soon..

[FlyingHacker]

Ah, I see that in the manual now. No 10MHz reference input. Could be a fun project to add a better reference. They can often be had really cheap on eBay.

Still a useful instrument. I have been known to use two or three frequency counters at once to measure things like divide by N circuits, etc. I have some old Data Precision counters (almost as old as your Fluke, but I think they do ~100MHz) that I use as extra counters when I just need to check a few frequencies at once. Comes in handy.