Is this trace good enough? RIGOL DS1052E digital bench scope? Ignition secondary

I only have a RIGOL DS1052E electronics bench scope to use. I assume I can do the job for most car related scoping jobs.

Trying to look at my wasted spark coil pack. I traced the secondary by simply touching the probe to the spark plug wire. I think I managed to get a decent trace, but I do not think it's 100% accurate.

I don't think that it's normal or typical at the start when the voltage first drops to charge to coil, then very quickly it is back up to 12-14volts again. Most diagrams show that "dwell" section as a gradual rising line. Mines all noise and ringing then it back up. In like less that 1ms that can't be right, right?

And the other part that I query is the spark burn time, look how much of a whoopie it is. I think they are normally more horizontal.

So I think I probably need a proper secondary ignition pickup probe cable?

Thoughts?

Okay looking at your capture it looks like the spark you have caputure isn't a spark at the end of the compression stroke but a wasted spark at the end of the exhaust stroke.

Also I think you might be confusing primary and secondary wave forms. With primary ignition voltage wave form you are looking at a DC voltage, because the ignition coil is in effect a transformer the secondary voltage effectively has the DC voltage stripped out leaving only an AC signal
www.scannerdanner.com/scannerdanner-prem...l?q=ignition+primary

Secondary (HT) waveform from (double ended) wasted spark coil pack



Secondly the design of individual ignition systems and coils can have a major effect on what the secondary spark looks like on the scope for instance we have threads on the forum where its was discovered an aftermarket coil pack and the original manufacturers coils produced very different looking secondary wave forms but both were 100% serviceable. Also using a normal osciloscope lab probe hel on or near the secondary insulation is really risking the getting the input circuit of your scope spiked by 40+ kv. At the very least use a 10,000 : 1 attenuator.