Hello

Come here to introduce yourself, who you are, and what you do
Post Reply
JamesW
User
User
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:36 pm

Hello

Post by JamesW »

Hi, I'm James, a dealer Auto Technician from West Yorkshire. I am using a Pico 2000 series as a supplementary scope at work and also for fixing electronics at home (laptops, sound docks etc). I like the look of the Pico Automotive specific scopes but need to save a little longer for one of those!

Martyn
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4491
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:15 am
Location: St. Neots

Re: Hello

Post by Martyn »

Whilst we can't stop you using the 2000 series scope in an automotive environment, it is not something we recommend, and will probably result in damage to the scope so please take extreme care.

The engine bay is subject to high electrical noise and high-voltage spikes, which can cause damage to unprotected devices. The automotive oscilloscopes have features such as higher overvoltage protection, resettable fuses, floating inputs for non ground referenced measurements, which make them better suited to this environment.
Martyn
Technical Support Manager

JamesW
User
User
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2018 7:36 pm

Re: Hello

Post by JamesW »

Hi Martyn, thanks for the reply. I have mainly been using the scope for intermittent convenience/infotainment faults where I know the risk of voltage spikes and overload is minimised. The persistence mode is particularly helpful for diagnosing intermittent aerial faults from bad coaxial connections that only happen whilst driving. I know the limitations the scope has to my application and it would defiantly be handy to have a much deeper memory for CAN capture and the ability to scope flexray. I do believe VWG are finally going to be adding Pico products to their manufacturer approved equipment this year so we will be able to invest in the automotive scope and have our manufacturer warranty claims approved when using Pico scopes as diagnostic aids (they currently only support the AVL scope for warranty). I would certainly like to invest in the auto scope myself, but as it is not my business it makes more financial sense for the company to buy it!

Kind regards, James

Post Reply