Asked a senior tech at my shop why he still uses a multimeter over a scope on simple jobs

He said half the time a scope just shows you noise you don't need, and it hit me different because I'd been overcomplicating every single diode check for the last 6 months since I got my Fluke 87V.

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecooper26d agoTop Commenter

Keep thinking about that senior tech's point because honestly a scope can make you chase ghosts. Like when you're just trying to see if a diode is forward biasing or not, all that noise from the scope just confuses things. A multimeter gives you a clean yes or no answer in two seconds flat. The scope is great for finding a bad capacitor or a missing clock signal but for basic component checks it's overkill. I mean I still bring out the scope for anything timing related or when I'm trying to trace a weird intermittent glitch. But for simple diode checks or continuity stuff the multimeter is way faster and you don't have to interpret a bunch of extra crap.

riveradams26d ago

Or maybe both tools miss what you aren't looking for.

oliviagrant12h ago

Got a multimeter from my dad back in the 80s, still have it and it still works. He told me once that the best tool is the one you actually trust to tell you the truth. A scope can show you all sorts of interesting little wiggles and bumps on the screen but half the time you end up chasing down noise from the power supply or a loose probe ground. I remember spending a whole afternoon once trying to figure out why a circuit was acting up, turned out I just had a bad connection on my scope probe. Multimeter gave me a straight answer in about ten seconds flat after I finally gave up and pulled it out. Different tools for different jobs is what I always say.