oscilloscope, setting gains

The o-scope kamberkash refered to on partsexpress seems to have only one probe. That also seems to be the case in the "in use view" picture on partsexpress.com. I've only used a few o-scopes at school but how can you get a reading without a reference? ThanksAlexandre C.

2002 Nissan Maxima 6spd

Kenwood KDC-X891 HU

Kicker SX650.1 & SX400.2 amps w/SXRC Remote

Soundstream VGW-12 subs

Huh? Can you elaborate on that, just a little bit? Your question really makes no sense to me, whatsoever...It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

haemphyst wrote: Huh? Can you elaborate on that, just a little bit? Your question really makes no sense to me, whatsoever...

who are you directing this comment to, Haem?

Sorry... aleckxs. What's he talking about, with "getting a reading without a reference" and such... Only one probe is necessary, but I don't see anything called "in use view". That 'scope works, and for the money, works VERY WELL. Like I said, I have one, and I use it regularly. For audio frequencies, both RCA and amplifier outputs, it has plenty of range with a 10X probe. Granted, it's not a 5 kilobuck-desktop-1GHz-quad-trace-storage scope, but for what anybody would need it for in car audio, it's a tough tool to beat.

kamberkash wrote: thanks for an explanation and not a simple yes or no. say i use an oscope to set the gains, and i use a sine wave at 60hz. i would set the gains so there is no clipping, but would this change with different tones? or does the frequency even matter?

And generally speaking, no, the frequency won't make any kind of difference. Clipping will happen at the same voltage (plus or minus a couple of volts) regardless of the frequency. Clipping voltage is a manifestation of the rail voltage within the amplifier, so it will be independent of the frequency. CURRENT demands will change slightly, based on the frequency, thus the "plus or minus a cople of volts" caveat.It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Some older o-scopes required use of an external reference voltage signal to set the "zero" for a given trace.  That requirement went away with modern internal referenced scopes, oh, about 20 years ago.Support the12volt.com

Hey Aleckxs if you look really close at the "In Use View" picture that I found on the partsexpress page, you will notice that they do have the ground of the probe connected to the circuit board.  The probe of the unit is a typical scope probe with the ground wire that clips to the ground of the probe.  My Fluke 123 also requires a ground but it is a seperate wire.  This one is built into the probe.

i am an idiot wrote: Hey Aleckxs if you look really close at the "In Use View" picture that I found on the partsexpress page, you will notice that they do have the ground of the probe connected to the circuit board. The probe of the unit is a typical scope probe with the ground wire that clips to the ground of the probe. My Fluke 123 also requires a ground but it is a seperate wire. This one is built into the probe.

Aaaah ok! That's the answer I was looking for. I didn't see that, but I can see it well in this picture: Thank you!Alexandre C.

2002 Nissan Maxima 6spd

Kenwood KDC-X891 HU

Kicker SX650.1 & SX400.2 amps w/SXRC Remote

Soundstream VGW-12 subs

Looks like it is time for me to buy some new Scopes with all of the new Hi-Tech modern internal referenced scopes.  I think I have wasted a lot of time grounding my scopes for the last 20 years.   Wish I knew a make and model so I could get me one.