Which Pico Should I get? Want to Measure Alternator Coils

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djl5053
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Which Pico Should I get? Want to Measure Alternator Coils

Post by djl5053 »

Hi Guys,

I posted this question to the regular Pico Forum. They suggested I post it here. The only auto application I have is that I want to measure the Stator Coil Voltage on a 10SI alternator. I see the Auto Scopes have the 200V input range. Just curious if I can get by with another lower cost scope or do I need the 4425 plus Amp Clamp?

I used a Pico at Penn State a few years ago. Now I want to get my own. Here's a list of what I could use it for. I don't want to shell out the big bucks for an Auto Scope if I don't have to.

1. Measure the Stator coils of 10SI Auto Alternator
2. Need amp clamp to measure output current of 10SI Alternator
3. I do PLC work I'm curious so I could measure input and output transients on 24VDC
4. I work with DC pulse trains from Magnetic Flow Meters. I want to look at signal. 600 Pulses/ Min. I'll look up other pulse specs later
5. I'm going to Build a Linear Alternator. I need to measure Voltage current off of my homemade stator coils.

Based on the list above I think I need an Oscope in my life. I just have issues justifying the cost. If someone can tell me with confidence the Auto scope is what I need I will buy it.

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STC
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Re: Which Pico Should I get? Want to Measure Alternator Coil

Post by STC »

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Last edited by STC on Tue Jan 24, 2017 12:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PicoKev
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Re: Which Pico Should I get? Want to Measure Alternator Coil

Post by PicoKev »

djl, (a name would be nice :D )

I am not convinced that you need an automotive scope. I suspect that Hitesh passed you over here because you are referring to alternators!

Stick with Hitesh he is a good guy and is an absolute genius on all things Pico on the T&M side.

Go back to Hitesh and tell him exactly what you want to measure Voltage, frequency and max current levels.

10si alt's are dinosaurs in comparison to the systems we measure over here so that job should not be difficult.

PLC stuff is much more in the realm of T&M

Your flow meters will only require a basic scope

With regard current measuring you need to decide what levels you want to measure and over what time base as that may be a job for a data logger. Any decent quality DMM will read current via a clamp if all you want is the min/max numbers so you may not actually need a scope for that.

Bear in mind that not all current clamps are equal they may look physically similar but the spec's can be worlds apart.

Hope that helps in your quest - talk to Hitesh and you will get great advise.

Kev.

Hitesh

Re: Which Pico Should I get? Want to Measure Alternator Coil

Post by Hitesh »

Hi djl,

Thanks for posting here as suggested.

Something you may wish to consider is that if you do intend to run diagnostic tests (e.g. as per any of the Automotive Guided Tests) on top of the other tests, then the automotive scopes would give you the flexibility to do this in terms of being able to use the automotive software, use the waveform library etc.

@PicoKev, thank you for the kind words but I'm simply a member of a team who looks to provide a good level of service to our Customers :D :wink:

Regards,

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