Oscilloscopes...

[Tracy]

You have a real job outside diving???

Primarily, I drive around and drink coffee in random parking lots around Michigan. On the weekends, I drive around and drink coffee in random marinas around Michigan.
There is a lot of overlap in my two jobs.

 

[broncobowsher]

Unless you are troubleshooting incandescent lights, I can't think of a single use for a test light on anything made in the last 20 years.
There is one in my toolbox, I still use it for cylinder cutout testing on old distributor ignition systems, that is pretty much the only use for it at this point.

I last used it for chasing battery cables. I put the ground of the test light on a positive lead and started going down the line of the ground cable. Don't need to look at the meter, just how bright the light bulb is. Got to a cable end where the light dropped out. Back up one step, it's on. Found the bad ground way easier and quicker then running a meter and doing actual voltage at each point. I didn't care if it was 12.63 or 12.61V. I cared when there was a sudden change.

Before that, it was diagnosing a points ignition system. Is there power to the coil? Do the points open and close? Had it to a bad coil and didn't even have to look for a fresh set of batteries for the meter. Knowing what you are doing with an incandescent test light is super useful. It puts a small load on the circuit, something that a digital meter will show as good that isn't. The brightness is your volt meter. Continuity is down by checking for power on either side of the suspected connection, or if ground side, you clip the ground of the test light to a power source. No screen to read. Takes a second to verify it is functioning correctly. Can't misread a mV reading for a V reading. Yes, I love my test light.

 

[rhwestfall]

Why not a continuity tone on a simple VO?

 

[The Chairman]

There is one in my toolbox,

I have a few. The new LED style are awesome for sussing out wiring issues, in terms of opens and shorts. DVOMs are slow and require one eye on the meter, which might need to be meters away.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Who uses one in their equipment diagnosis and/or repair?

I just bought a Hantek TO1254 Tablet Oscilloscope for automotive, shop, as well as ag use and am wondering if anyone has used one on Scuba? I've gotten several probes for amps, ignition coils and so forth, and while I'm not hopeful of a positive response here, there's always hope.

View attachment 857226​

What's the stated depth rating for use?

 

[broncobowsher]

Why not a continuity tone on a simple VO?

I can do it with the circuit installed and live. Under normal loads. Don't have to take stuff apart to isolate the continuity test from outside influnces. Many times the act of taking apart something will change it. The wiggle wires and it start working again for a little bit. Careful probing without wiggling can narrow down that bad connection. That way you can actually fix the problem and not just wiggle it away for a little while.

 

[The Chairman]

Yes, I love my test light.

I use an automotive logic probe. It can show ground or hot easily. One is just an LED and another two also show Volts along with the LED. When I'm feet in the air and my head is under the dash, the lights really work for me.

My scillyscope will allow me to see charging patterns under load for both cars and zero-turns. Faulty diodes and diode triodes will all become clear to me using that. I also bought an induction probe for high-v spark plug patterns. It can also be used for CAN devices, including a Dakota that's sitting on my property that will not start. There is no power getting anywhere and all the fuses check out. Dash? Other CAN issue? Other than a test circuit I bought to get used to it, I have yet to use this oscilloscope in the wild. It's been freakishly hot out there, and I hate the heat.

I first started working on cars in 1969, before those fancy electronic ignitions were pervasive. Points, condensers (caps), and the low cap coils were my bread and butter. 0.25" to 0.32" were the common point gaps, but dwells were more precise. I saw the advent of electronic ignitions in 71 (?) and onboard computers in 81. DIS came along soon enough and I left the industry early in 1999 capitalizing on the Y2K madness. That's when NetDoc Inc was founded. I don't miss cars. I was a part of that world from 69 to 99: 30 years of sweat and busted knuckles. I don't miss it for the most part. The most part.

What's the stated depth rating for use?

Not even in the rain.

 

[The Chairman]

Many times the act of taking apart something will change it.

When it comes to grounds, it often fixes them. Early Ford computers were prone to floating grounds. They were really prone to bad battery connections and weak batteries too. Peeps would change the battery, not realizing that the diode triode in the high output alternator had been compromised. A shop oscilloscope would have sussed that out quickly. It was far more expedient to replace the alternator, but better for the customer to replace only the faulty parts.

 

[TrimixToo]

I use an automotive logic probe. It can show ground or hot easily. One is just an LED and another two also show Volts along with the LED. When I'm feet in the air and my head is under the dash, the lights really work for me.

My scillyscope will allow me to see charging patterns under load for both cars and zero-turns. Faulty diodes and diode triodes will all become clear to me using that. I also bought an induction probe for high-v spark plug patterns. It can also be used for CAN devices, including a Dakota that's sitting on my property that will not start. There is no power getting anywhere and all the fuses check out. Dash? Other CAN issue? Other than a test circuit I bought to get used to it, I have yet to use this oscilloscope in the wild. It's been freakishly hot out there, and I hate the heat.

I first started working on cars in 1969, before those fancy electronic ignitions were pervasive. Points, condensers (caps), and the low cap coils were my bread and butter. 0.25" to 0.32" were the common point gaps, but dwells were more precise. I saw the advent of electronic ignitions in 71 (?) and onboard computers in 81. DIS came along soon enough and I left the industry early in 1999 capitalizing on the Y2K madness. That's when NetDoc Inc was founded. I don't miss cars. I was a part of that world from 69 to 99: 30 years of sweat and busted knuckles. I don't miss it for the most part. The most part.

Not even in the rain.

Point gap by the side of the road is 5 IBM cards or 2 matchbook covers. At 2 matchbook covers you *might* get a little ping under hard acceleration, but 5 IBM cards won't give you too much advance. With either an IBM card or a matchbook and a screwdriver, Bob wuz yer uncle.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

I’m building a kludge to watch IP dip using my Fluke scope while testing CE.