Overview
The 8588A Reference Multimeter is the world’s most stable digitizing multimeter. Designed for calibration laboratories, this long-scale high-precision reference features superior accuracy and long-term stability over a wide measurement range, with an intuitive user interface and a color display.
The 8588A delivers reliable and reproducible measurements with exceptional performance suitable for primary level laboratories. With more than 12 measurement functions, including the new digitize voltage, digitize current, capacitance, RF power, and external shunts for dc and ac current, the 8588A helps you consolidate your lab’s cost of test into a single measurement instrument. Its superb analog performance is augmented by Fluke Calibration’s new high-speed system design and the industry’s fastest direct digitizing capability, enabling significant throughput increase for many automated systems demanding a combination of the highest speed and best accuracy.
The 8588A holds the industry’s best one-year dc voltage accuracy of 2.7 uV/V at 95 % confidence interval, or 3.5 uV /V at 99 %, and best 24-hour stability of 0.5 uV/V (95 %) or 0.65 uV/V (99 %), enabling it to outperform other long-scale reference multimeters on the market. The 8588A further pushes the speed envelope by producing a stable 8.5 digits reading in a mere one second.
The 8588A platform consists of two models:
- The 8588A Reference Multimeter is designed for calibration and metrology laboratories that require the highest stability for the most accurate measurements to maintain maximum confidence in traceability
- The 8558A 8.5 Digit Multimeter offers a subset of 8588A functions and features at an extremely competitive accuracy and speed performance.
Each model features a common intuitive user interface with an easy-to-navigate menu structure for all configuration and matching SCPI-compliant commands for an automated environment. In addition, both models support a minimum of 100,000 readings per second at 4.5 digits across GPIB, USB or Ethernet.
8588A feature callouts
A. Visual Connection Management terminals
Active terminals light up, guiding the user to make the correct connections.
B. Easy-to-access configurations
Range, aperture, input impedance, RMS filter and other measurement configurations are readily available.
C. Large, bright full color display
The intuitive user interface and flat menu structure make it easy to access configurations and view trend plots, waveforms, FFT, histogram and statistics.
D. Programmable front/rear electronic switch
Eliminates manual operation and allows immediate ratio results through a single remote command.
E. 30 A terminal (8588A only; 2A for 8558A)
Enables industry’s widest current measurement range through a single terminal.
F. Soft menu keys
Adapt to the active function, so the menu structure is intuitive and easy to learn.
G. Multi-language selection
Choice of English, Chinese, French, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish.
H. Run/Stop trigger
Toggles the continuous, or free run, measurement state.
I. USB ports
Download data quickly and easily to a flash drive.
J. Trig in/Trig out
Precise triggering maximizes synchronization in system automation.
K. Freq Counter
Enables 100 MHz frequency counter measurement at 0.5 uHz/z.
L. Rear panel input terminals
Mirrors front panel input terminals for connection compatibility and allows for front/rear scan measurement.
M. IEEE 488, LAN, USB interfaces
Standard remote interface for straightforward system integration.
N. USB port
Download data quickly and easily to a flash drive.
O. 2 A terminal
8588A key features and performance
DC voltage
- 100 mV to 1000 V, (1050V max)
- 2.02x full scale
- Maximum resolution: 1 nV
- 2.7 μV/V (95 %) 3.5 μV/V (99 %), 1 year
- 0.5 μV/V (95 %) 0.65 μV/V (99 %), 24 hour stability
- 0 to 10 s reading aperture (200 ns resolution)
DC current
- 10 uA to 30 A (8588A only; 2 A for 8558A)
- 2.02x full scale
- Maximum resolution: 1 pA
- 6.5 μA/A (95 %), 8.4 μA/V (99 %), 1 year
- 0 ns to 100 s reading aperture
AC voltage
- 10 mV to 1000 V, 1 Hz to 10 MHz, (1050 Vrms max)
- 2.02x full scale Vpp, 1.2x full scale Vrms
- Maximum resolution: 1 nV
- 60 μV/V (95 %), 77 μV/V (99 %), 1 year
AC current
- 10 uA to 30 A (8588A only; 2 A for 8558A)
- 2.02x full scale Vpp, 1 Hz to 100 kHz 1.2x full scale Vrms
- Maximum resolution: 1 pA
- 250 μA/A (95 %), 323 μA/V (99 %), 1 year
- Resistance
- 1Ω to 10 GΩ (20 GΩ max)
- 2.02x full scale
- Maximum resolution: 10 nΩ
- 7 μΩ/Ω (95 %), 9 μΩ/Ω (99 %), 1 year
- Low current mode, high voltage mode and current-reversal Tru Ohms™
Digitize V
- 100 mV to 1000 V, (1050 V max)
- 2.02x full scale
- Maximum resolution: 18 bits
- 5 mega-samples per second sample rate
- Up to 20 MHz bandwidth
Digitize I
- 10 μA to 30 A (8588A only; 2A for 8558A)
- 2.02x full scale
- Maximum resolution: 18 bits
- 5 mega-samples per second sample rate
- Up to 4 MHz bandwidth
Frequency or period
- Voltage, up to 10 MHz
- Current, up to 100 kHz
- Frequency up to 100 MHz on BNC
- 0.5 μHz/Hz, 1 year
Capacitance
- 1 nF to 100 mF
- 400 μF/F, 1 year
Temperature
- PRT and thermocouple
- 5 mK PRT, 25 mK TC – 1 year
RF power
- Rhode & Schwarz NRP series DC I and AC I external shunt
DC I and AC I external shunt
- A40B and any other external shunt
Reading speed
- 1 reading /s @ 8.5 digit into memory
- 100,000 readings /s @ 4.5 digit into memory
- Up to 5,000,000 (5 MS/s) readings /s into volatile memory in digitize V and I
- Up to 500,000 readings/s transfer through USB in binary format
Measurement memory
- 15 million readings volitile
- 7.5 million readings with time stamp volitile
- 16 GB non-volitile
GPIB, USBTMC, Ethernet
- Native SCPI compliant remote commands
- 8508A and 3458A emulation mode
- Fully support MET/CAL™ calibration procedures library in Fluke 8508A emulation
- IVI driver
- USB thumb drive for convenient data transfer in .csv format
Trigger mechanisms
- Manual trigger
- External BNC Trig In and Trig Out
- Internal or level trigger
- Timer trigger
- Epoch trigger
- Line trigger
- BUS trigger
