The 2 Series MSO Brings Portability and Power to the Automotive Industry

“The modern automotive industry is rapidly evolving, and automotive engineers and technicians need to have the right tools at their fingertips to identify problems quickly and easily. There are many diagnostic tools that can analyze the performance of different vehicle systems on any given day, but these instruments almost always include an oscilloscope, which can Display different voltages to help automotive technicians troubleshoot various electrical components under the hood.

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[MSO2 accompanies you on the road and takes you to fly]One of the series: not losing the performance of the workbench, the 2 series MSO brings portability and power to the automotive industry

The modern automotive industry is rapidly evolving, and automotive engineers and technicians need to have the right tools at their fingertips to identify problems quickly and easily. There are many diagnostic tools that can analyze the performance of different vehicle systems on any given day, but these instruments almost always include an oscilloscope, which can Display different voltages to help automotive technicians troubleshoot various electrical components under the hood.

Oscilloscopes were first used for ignition system analysis in the automotive industry in the 1970s. Since then, the oscilloscope has grown into an essential tool for any workshop, and today it is used to troubleshoot sensors and alternators, perform stress tests, and more. Today, the demand for increasingly advanced vehicles means that the complexity of vehicle systems is only increasing, making high-end, purpose-built oscilloscopes even more important.

Seeing the growing demand for more advanced tools in many industries, Tektronix recently introduced the 2 Series Mixed Signal Oscilloscopes (MSOs), its most compact and portable oscilloscopes to date. Combining desktop performance in a portable oscilloscope, the 2 Series MSO helps unlock new user experiences that make field debugging easy, precise and repeatable.

This blog post will explore the many ways in which the portability of the new 2 Series MSO and the improved manageability of this oscilloscope will improve the testing experience for automotive customers.

Take your oscilloscope on the road

While oscilloscopes have become an everyday necessity for many automotive professionals, that doesn’t mean the process of using them has always been easy. Oscilloscopes are powerful test and measurement instruments traditionally intended primarily for use on fixed engineering benches. This can make performing some diagnostic tests very difficult, if not impossible, as achieving the necessary readings often requires driving the car in the field and hooking up an oscilloscope. Below is an example of a major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) located in Europe.

Problem: A company engineer working on vehicle electrification is using a traditional benchtop oscilloscope to analyze a test vehicle. This oscilloscope can meet their needs when working in the lab, but its size and weight outweigh the safety of working in the field. They also needed to be able to actively use the oscilloscope while the car was moving, and the low-power inverters in the test vehicles had little capacity to keep the equipment working, making achieving the necessary readings rather difficult.

Test a race car with a battery-enabled oscilloscope

Solution: Tektronix provided the 2 Series MSO to the OEM customer’s engineers for immediate field use. The differences in size, weight and ease of use are obvious, and engineers can now safely place their oscilloscopes next to their front seats. Engineers love its up to 8 hours of battery operation, which makes it possible to keep the oscilloscope powered while recording important test data.

The portability of the 2 Series MSO is just one of a long list of key features that will positively impact the automotive industry and beyond. Next, we’ll focus on the remote control capabilities of the new oscilloscopes and how TekScope and TekDrive software can take customers to a higher level of collaboration and productivity.