Second o-scope, opinion?

[live2fish88]

Hey guys. I have an owon two channel oscilloscope that I bought to tune the gains on my subwoofer amplifier. I don't like how there are so many cords and a cumbersome laptop to fit into a vehicle. This o-scope will be mainly for automotive diagnosis, the owon I can use in the house for other electronics. I'm looking at the Autel MP408. I own the Autel MS906TS scan tool which it hooks up to. Is this a decent o-scope to start out with, learn on and not be disappointed in once I fully understand?

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on o-scope usage and it interests me, but I'm still not fully grasping the use and application... I feel stupid to say the least. Do you have any resources or real life applications I can learn with that you can recommend? I pick up things fast and have an engineering type of mind, so once I catch that "one" detail, I'll be able to apply things much easier...

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm looking specifically at this setup as it's portable, works with my automotive scan tool and is "affordable".

[rernexy]

.....
 I own the Autel MS906TS scan tool which it hooks up to. Is this a decent o-scope to start out with, learn on and not be disappointed in once I fully understand?

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on o-scope usage and it interests me, but I'm still not fully grasping the use and application...
.....

If you are going down the YouTube route, search for videos specifically on automotive diagnosis with automotive oscilloscopes/scantools.

If you can still cope with paper based books then "Automotive Oscilloscopes: Waveform Analysis" https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Oscilloscopes-Waveform-Graham-Stoakes/dp/0992949262

Since you are just starting, then whatever automotive scope is affordable to you is the "right" one for now. You need a bit more experience before looking at the likes of PicoScope, if at all.

An important thing with automotive scopes is to have a good selection of probe accessories. Most sellers of automotive scopes seem to provide them. With "normal" electronics you put the circuit board (or entire device) on your desk, then power it with a supply that is also on your desk, then probe it with an oscilloscope that is also on your desk. For automotive probing you are doing work in-situ. You'll end up sticking sharp probes into the back of connectors for wiring looms, or searching for that one wire in a wiring loom to pierce. All while crouching or lying down under the driver side footwell. And we haven't even considered stuff in the engine bay yet. Hence the importance of probe accessories.

[Fungus]

These are awesome oscilloscopes, they're portable, you can see the screen remotely on your smartphone and there's a special automotive version:

http://www.micsig.com/html/31.html

The automotive version costs more than the normal version but you get the special firmware and a lot of extra probes/adapters with it.

[Fungus]

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on o-scope usage and it interests me, but I'm still not fully grasping the use and application...

In the real world, very few electrical signals are a simple constant value (voltage), they're constantly changing. An oscilloscope lets you see how the signal is changing over time.

DSOs are better than the old green 'screen oscilloscopes because they let you record the signal then zoom in/out for a closer look.

[live2fish88]

So is the Autel a good start or should I look elsewhere? I can get it for just over $300 usd.

[wizard69]

So is the Autel a good start or should I look elsewhere? I can get it for just over $300 usd.

That is an extremely difficult question to answer.    Consider these issues:

• We do not know what your automotive background is.
• Many of us have limited auto diagnosis experience
• There is a lot of value in the included accessories, probes, transducers and such
• It might make sense to buy those probes for your general purpose scope.
• These days it can be help to be able to probe serial bus's.   I'm not sure if this scope has that ability.
• There is a large number of general purpose, battery operated, scopes out there.   Some of these may be worth more to you over the long run.

I suspect in a situation like this you really need to develop enough knowledge to answer your question yourself.   We likely could come up with 100 ways to say yes it is a good start and 100 ways to say no.    For the most part automotive scopes don't need to be engineering marvels for work on internal combustion engines.    The performance demands just are not out of reach these days, the real value comes down to software, accessories and ruggedness.  Oh and maybe more importantly screens that work in a variety of lighting conditions.