New Guy From Mill Creek

Come here to introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, and tell us your
experience with our automotive products.
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tgaddy
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2018 2:26 pm

New Guy From Mill Creek

Post by tgaddy »

New to the site. Toolmaker by trade. I've been working on cars all my life, DIY. Ready to take it to the next step.
I bought a cheap scope online, (hantek 1008) to do some dabbling. Pure confusion that Scope. The software is horrible. I did buy the appropriate leads, amp clamps, and Secondary probes, including the COP, but spent way too much time with the afore mentioned software and clunky freeze prone hardware.
So I started looking at Pico. Downloaded the software. Going through the videos.
I get it.
Nothing worth having is ever cheap.
However, as a DIY'R I'm having trouble justifying the layout for the newest hardware. I'm looking for some guidance on some used equipment that would be automotive compatible but not break the bank. specifically looking at Pico.
This company is dedicated to getting it right, not just draining your wallet.
Thanks, Terry!

Steve Smith
Pico Staff Member
Pico Staff Member
Posts: 1581
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:22 am

Re: New Guy From Mill Creek

Post by Steve Smith »

Hello Terry and welcome to Pico, thank you for posting

I loved your comment "Nothing worth having is ever cheap"

Isn't that the truth and never more applicable than in our trade.

Most certainly the 2 Channel PicoScope 4225 will get you safely on your automotive journey, which can be purchased as a stand-alone scope or as a Starter Kit.
https://www.picoauto.com/en/products/au ... t/overview

As for used PicoScopes, they are out there but always a risk if we don't know the source or reason for sale.

The 4 channel 3423, and 4423 are both great scopes and most are held onto by previous owners even though they may have purchased the current model.

As a used scope and if you can find one, I would go for the 4423 as here you have 4 Channels with 100 V max input and frequency coupling.

I hope this helps, take care......Steve

tgaddy
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2018 2:26 pm

Re: New Guy From Mill Creek

Post by tgaddy »

Thanks Steve. Problem solved.
I'm now the proud owner of a Pico 4425. What a blast. As a DYI'r There are a million questions about the actual operation of a modern internal combustion engine. With no way of proving a theory, you are just stumbling in the dark. Bad equipment is like a flashlight in the dark when what you really need is some Sunlight. I can see clearly now. I'm still finding my way around this software, but it has proven to be very intuitive. I might also mention that the forum is first class. I've learned a lot there. Thanks to all who post there. I'll not contribute till I'm a little more comfortable. Listen before we speak so to say.
I have most of my probes calibrated through your custom probe menu. One thing I did have a question on is with the c
Compression Diagnostics. There seems to be no place for me to tell it what Probe That I'm using during the compensated test. It only recognizes the Pico transducer. Of course I put together my own using a 5V power supply and an off the shelf 500 psi transducer. I was able to just do an Amp trace and a pressure trace in the automotive software, then calculating the ratios between them. The percentages matched within 1 percent of what the uncompensated percentages were in the Diagnostic software. so I know my equipment is properly calibrated.
Will we in the future be able to select our probe in the Diagnostic software?
Time to quit Babbling. Thanks to Pico again for a truly wonderful product!
Terry

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