Probes

What it does

You use Probes in PicoScope 7 Automotive to set the probe (test lead, current clamp, ignition pickup and pressure transducer etc.) connected to your PicoScope’s input channel. You can select a probe from the pre-defined list or use Custom probes to create, add or delete alternatives.

The selected probe indicates to the software how to scale and display your waveforms and defines the measurement ranges you have available in the Vertical panel.

You must select an appropriate probe when you connect a BNC probe to your PicoScope Automotive oscilloscope, otherwise you may see incorrectly scaled waveforms with the incorrect measurement units. PicoScope 7 Automotive automatically identifies and adapts to PicoBNC+® probes, although you are free to apply a Custom probe to a channel connected to a PicoBNC+® probe if you want to change the captured waveform’s scaling etc.

How it can help you

You cannot make sound diagnostic decisions if your captured waveforms are incorrectly scaled and have the wrong units as you cannot compare them to reference waveforms. The Probes panel helps you to quickly configure your PicoScope oscilloscope so that your captured waveforms are accurate and can be reliably compared to other known good (or bad) waveforms.

How to use it

Open Channel Options panel and select the Probes tab. Then select the probe (and mode, if applicable) from the list or use Custom probes to create, add or delete alternatives.