This video is great practical introduction to getting some raw data on the screen without having some fried processors for breakfast. To see and do is one of the quickest ways to get up and running, leaving some space for a bit of experimentation.
WAOOOOO...... You just saved me about 1,000 dollars. please keep us informed in your videos of wave form and different sensors just with a 2200 series when you have time. i was just looking around on videos and saw this one and great input on your part. Thanks
Awesome video, finally someone takes the time to explain. I have being watching videos about how to use the pico escope and nobody explains it good as you, definitely subscribing, thanks
Hi many thanks for your video. Just what i was looking for i have the same scope. I have just brought the pico attenuator 10:1 ta197 think it max voltage is 300v . The test leads what came with the scooe has a switch 1x and 10x So with the attenuator in series should i have the switch on 1x or 10x think 1x is up to 200v and the 10x is up to 600v ?
Hayward's Automotive Ok I didn't know that. Price range of new picoscope is way over my budget. This old pico will have to serve me for long time. I hope you are recovered and well. It's always good to hear from you. Cheers my friend.
I could not accept the fact after our conversation that something was rolling around in there so I sent it back and purchased a Solus Ultra. As it turned out it was just as you said a piece of plastic broke off where the screw went in.
Hi Ramon, have you tried the x1, x10, x100, x20 probes that are located at the top of the Probe Library that you see at 7:02 ? You might be surprised! :)
Excellent topic. I find this a little confusing since if the injector is not in the circuit you only get a small square voltage wave with no spike. The dangerous spike happens as a result of the coil, when its magnetic field suddenly collapses. So, attenuator needed when the coil is in the injector circuit but not needed for the signal voltage by itself when not connected to the coil. The other area I scratch my head about is for inductive current clamps. When measuring voltage on the primary side of an ignition coil you certainly need an attenuator, for the same reasons. However when measuring primary current with a current clamp, the voltage delivered to the scope is dramatically reduced to just a few volts. No spikes. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe an attenuator is needed for that, and the transient big voltage spike doesn't seem to do anything to the current clamp because minimal current is generated. Likewise, when using PICO's capacitive pickup for secondary voltage of ignition wires, those devices have a built in attenuation so no attenuator needed there, either. I'd be interested in comments about that, it's not well discussed anywhere I've found.
spelunkert, Here is my initial thought on what you mention: You measure directly the inductive fly back voltage when you're physically connected to negative side of the coil's primary. While working with an amp clamp this tool measures inductively the strength of the magnetic field that is caused by the current flowing thru the coil, nothing else. Once the current flow thru the coil is interrupted the field disappears and there is nothing to measure anymore. There is no such thing happening like an inductive CURRENT kick which would make the amp clamp reading go high. It's just the magnetic field vanishing and so does the clamp reading.
Yes, I see it the same way when measuring primary ignition coil current with a clamp. Even though there is a sharp voltage spike, the resulting power is the product of current and voltage. At the instant of the voltage spike, current has already gone to ground so the product is small. I'm pretty confident the scope is safe, but I've wondered about the clamp since the transient spike is much higher than the rated voltage on the clamp. I'd be interested to hear from anybody who has fried a clamp when measuring primary ignition current....
spelunkerd I never damage my current clamp by measuring current, but I did melt one down buy keeping it too long on BMW engine. Still works but it's little bit crooked LOL.
Quick question can I use the 20:1 attenuator on my 60 A Current Clamp to do a relative compression test? Pico software requires that you use a 600 A Current Clamp, but to my way of thinking if I use the attenuator the 60 A Current Clamp could measure 1200 A. Is this correct? Thanks in advance.
Hello Sir. I am simple minded...please clarify the difference between the x20 probe and your customized 20:1 attenuator option? Are they not functionally the same, or have I once again missed something fundamental?
Yes this is basic picoscope. Works fine for most automotive testing. I don't know what is difference in all of them. You can look it up on pico website. Thank you.
Plague Plague I use snap on and this OTC adapter and output voltage is very low. I am not sure about other inductive clamps. To be safe I would check output voltage and I would only use probes with ground wire (some probes don't have that. Could be potential problem if spark plug wire is open). I hope this helps. Thank you.
What are the draw backs of using a attenuator? What kind of problems are created when using attenuation when it is not needed. For example using a 100:1 attenuator to read a watch battery. Will it be just as accurate as a reading without attenuation?
The Pico manual states: "The minimum and maximum voltage range between products.varies For example, the. PicoScope 4223 Automotive Scope has a minimum voltage range of ±50 mV and a. maximum of 100 V, while± the PicoScope 6404 has a minimum of 20 mV and ± ...." So, imagine viewing a signal which had in reality a total range from let's say 0V to 20mV, then you add in a 100:1 attentuator, you are then only sending a range from 0V to 0.02mV to the scope. Depending on how fine a resolution the scope can really read / display, you might end up using only a fraction of your available 8 bits resolution (or 12bits on the automotive), to display the wave. Or another way to think of it is, using just a portion of the screen with regards to the vertical axis, for example, 5% above and 5% below the zero line. Its a bit like buying a 4k camera, then setting it to take photos at 640 x 480 pixels
Good morning, Sir. When I put the Attenuator on and try to check battery voltage, it remains arround 0 v, but I get battery voltage when I remove the Attenuator. Would you say that the Attenuator is junk?
just what it says lol, multiply whatever value x20 times with the x1 output, or just use the software to do the calculation, in theory with this scope and 20:1 attenuator you can safely measure up to 400v (20x20).
