If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Automotive scope vs. O'scope
I 'm contemplating purchasing an oscilloscope for amateur radio uses
and general electronics tinkering etc. But I also enjoy working on automotive electronic systems etc. My question is, can a regular oscilloscope be just as useful when diagnosing automotive electronic problems such as fuel injection, ignition, sensor related problems etc. as can a dedicated automotive scope, or would a dedicated auotmotive scope such as a Mastertech or Snap-On be more useful? Thanks for help in advance. B. Taylor |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Comboverfish wrote:
> wrote: > > I 'm contemplating purchasing an oscilloscope for amateur radio uses > > and general electronics tinkering etc. But I also enjoy working on > > automotive electronic systems etc. My question is, can a regular > > oscilloscope be just as useful when diagnosing automotive electronic > > problems such as fuel injection, ignition, sensor related problems > etc. > > as can a dedicated automotive scope, or would a dedicated auotmotive > > scope such as a Mastertech or Snap-On be more useful? Thanks for > help > > in advance. B. Taylor > > DC voltage is DC voltage, so any voltage meter will *work*. One big > difference with automotive use targeted labscopes is that they employ > some sort of glitch detection feature(s) that a plain old benchtop > scope may be lacking. Auto lab scopes mostly if not all are digital > storage types, so you can review a trace over a span of time if you > wish, with something like 10 or 20 ms between screen captures. They > usually have auto specific setup "macros" selectable via menu. They > typically default to DC and have an auto range function. > > Now for a possible problem: 10 Mohm input impedence is a standard with > auto scopes and meters. I once had an old simple digital one-channel > scope that would kill engines when I tapped into the vane airflow > sensor wire (on Toyotas). I measured the input impedence of that unit > and found 4.3 Mohms. If I had not experienced that phenomenon for > myself, I would have thought 4.3 Mohms to be sufficient -- but you can > see it caused problems with that particular low current (and > unregulated) signal. > > Toyota MDT in MO Thank you to those that replied. I do appreciate the help. Does anyone know if the automotive dedicated scopes have a database of known good screen captures, so that you can quickly compare your current screen capture to a known good screen capture for comparison? Thanks again. B. Taylor |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Counter Sales (Automotive) | TRB | Technology | 0 | February 16th 05 06:54 PM |
Counter Sales (Automotive) | TRB | Technology | 0 | February 16th 05 06:49 PM |
Automotive Community | ANT | General | 0 | September 1st 04 04:40 PM |
Automotive Art Gallery has opened | Michael Knab | Antique cars | 0 | February 14th 04 11:51 AM |