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    The Trainer #140: Capitalizing on DSO zoom capabilities for efficient diagnostics

    Sept. 1, 2023
    Selecting the appropriate time base for your DSO's capture is one of the keys to diagnostic success.

    Ask any diagnostician, and they’ll tell you that capturing the correct information for analysis is key to making sound diagnostic decisions. But viewing the data appropriately is what it takes to make those decisions efficiently and without oversight.   

    Just because the vehicle symptom is present when a capture was acquired, it doesn’t necessarily mean the cause of the symptom will be visible when reviewing the acquisitions. Setting your scope up for success means proper data acquisition.  

    Today’s episode will focus on the time base of the digital storage oscilloscope and the role it plays in capturing data appropriately for diagnostic decision-making. Using a multiple-channel scope allows for multiple signals to be acquired simultaneously, and that data should tell a story. However, just like a book, if you are too close or too far away, it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to read that story.

    The adjustable time base will allow for either a bird’s-eye view or a zoomed-in view of the captured data. Both of these are necessary in the diagnostic process and will offer either a trend view to see repetitive patterns or a more detailed view to see the nature of the fault occurring. This allows for that story to be told in a clear and concise manner. Stick with Motor Age magazine’s Technical Editor Brandon Steckler as he walks you through the scope time base, how to properly set it up for success, and see what today’s episode of the Trainer is all about.  

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    About the Author

    Brandon Steckler | Technical Editor | Motor Age

    Brandon began his career in Northampton County Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he was a student of GM’s Automotive Service Educational program. In 2001, he graduated top of his class and earned the GM Leadership award for his efforts. He later began working as a technician at a Saturn dealership in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he quickly attained Master Technician status. He later transitioned to working with Hondas, where he aggressively worked to attain another Master Technician status.

    Always having a passion for a full understanding of system/component functionality, he rapidly earned a reputation for deciphering strange failures at an efficient pace and became known as an information specialist among the staff and peers at the dealership. In search of new challenges, he transitioned away from the dealership and to the independent world, where he specialized in diagnostics and driveability. 

    Today, he is an instructor with both Carquest Technical Institute and Worldpac Training Institute. Along with beta testing for Automotive Test Solutions, he develops curriculum/submits case studies for educational purposes. Through Steckler Automotive Technical Services, LLC., Brandon also provides telephone and live technical support, as well as private training, for technicians all across the world.

    Brandon holds ASE certifications A1-A9 as well as C1 (Service Consultant). He is certified as an Advanced Level Specialist in L1 (Advanced Engine Performance), L2 (Advanced Diesel Engine Performance), L3 (Hybrid/EV Specialist), L4 (ADAS) and xEV-Level 2 (Technician electrical safety).

    He contributes weekly to Facebook automotive chat groups, has authored several books and classes, and truly enjoys traveling across the globe to help other technicians attain a level of understanding that will serve them well throughout their careers.  

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