I'm wondering the same thing but specifically in regards to the Uscope, the Basic Kit is obviously basic. However in my situation and experience the Master kit is unnecessary for my skill level (which is none).
Anyway which one is the best bang per buck? The Universal Secondary Ignition Test kit seems like the right route, does ignition and injection waveforms supposedly.
With all of that being said you WILL NOT insult my intelligence by telling me "obvious info", go ahead and pure down the knowledge and experience with these tools. Thanks!
Well I'm probably not the best guy but I can kick in a little.
I bought the first one. It works great on COP stuff like Ford 5.4's where you want to look at firing patterns.
When my Snap-on's broke, I bought the second one. It reads plug firing patterns on stuff that has spark plug wires. Works better than the SnapOn ones did and is definitely more durable.
The third is just a trigger. For use on old school distributor setups. Put the trigger on number one spark plug wire. Then your ignition pickup like the second one on the coil wire. Then you can set your scope up to parade all the plug firing signals in the correct firing order. The trigger tells the scope which is number one, you input the firing order , and they're displayed in order. That way you don't have to scratch your head over which one of the bunch is acting up. My SnapOn scopes have this capability built in. I've no idea how Uscopes work at all but I'm sure there are applicable presets or something. If not you can still use your brain to figure out which is which. The preset way is just quicker and easier.
The trigger is also good on older engines when you do a relative compression test and want to figure out which cylinder is which on your pattern.
These days with so many different coil layouts it really is impossible to recommend one model to cover all engines on some COP coils it is just about to get a usable trace off a secondary without plug wire extensions
Where you have plug wires the the Hantek HT25 is the most cost effective it is a simple clip on capative type comes with a BNC connector which if yor scope isn't BNC you can buy an adaptor for off eBAY or Amazon.
www.amazon.com/Hantek-HT25-Auto-Ignition...ds=hantek+ht25&psc=1
Hantek also do a probe style for COP ignitions confusingly called the HT25COP but that isn't such a money saver as it is at comparable price to more reputable brands such as Wyze or Pico.
Personally because I one a few years ago, for COP I use a relatively inexpensive Auto-Ditex Coil On Plug Sensor which I bought a few years it works better on some coil types than other and isn't as versitle as a Wyze style probe .
Like Bonehead I keep an inductive clamp that came with a automotive multimeter that had an RPM scale but as everything I see these days is COP I have never found any need to use it.
" We're trying to plug a hole in the universe, what are you doing ?. "
(Walter Bishop Fringe TV show)
