When you break down a DSO (Digital Storage Oscilloscope) to its most basic level, it is a voltmeter that takes sample measurements very quickly and charts the points on a graph. When I explain this to non-technicals, I use medical analogies because everyone seems to have at least a basic understanding of those. For example, when a non-technical asks me if a PicoScope will tell a technician where the problems are, I reply that it will do so, just as an X-ray machine will tell a doctor that you have a broken bone. When a non-technical asks if a Picoscope will talk to this car or that, I make the reference that it’s as universal as a blood pressure cuff is for different humans.
The tool does not communicate. It does not query information from the vehicle’s computer and wait for a reply. It measures the raw electrical data much like an EMT would check for a pulse regardless of your ability to speak.
The thing about tools that capture data and display it primarily as an image is that it takes time and practice to develop the skills to interpret that image, much like it takes time and practice for a doctor to read the results of an MRI.
Picoscope Training
When a client purchases a scope kit from Autonerdz, the first thing they receive is admission to our Picogroup training and support resources. Some clients need us to help them acquire the software and install it onto their computer. We do this using Remote Desktop viewing and control software. While this is happening, the client is at their computer and is able to see everything that we are doing. We also talk with them about what we are doing and walk them through how they can do it for themselves in the future.
We offer training in several different forms. We take phone calls, answer emails, and use computer screen share software daily. We make videos and post them to our forums and to places like our YouTube channel. Check out this video about time base and sample rate in the Picoscope 7 Automotive software (https://youtu.be/2e72klw-bio).
Some clients need help interpreting a waveform they have captured. This is where our forums come in. By creating a thread and posting their capture(s) on the forums, our other clients can help them learn to interpret the data they have collected. Sometimes this happens in the form of a request for a known good waveform from a similar vehicle.
The Autonerdz Community
As clients become more familiar with the forums and what sort of information is kept there, they realize they have access to over 120,000 posts within almost 11,00 topics spanning nearly 20 years. This includes industry news, case studies, known good waveforms, and other intensely educational content. Why reinvent the wheel when you can pick the brain of several thousand veteran Picoscope jockeys?
Group Therapy is a regular event where our clients can congregate online to discuss things like new software features, share case studies of vehicles that they themselves have diagnosed, ask for help interpreting a waveform, and generally learn from each other as much as they do from us.
We believe so strongly in supporting our clients that we go out of our way to come up with ways that we can improve their user experience. A great example of this is our custom Picoscope software add-ons. We have created and continue to refine software that injects quality of life improvements into the Picoscope Automotive software.
So what does this mean for you?
Put simply, it’s the best support you’ll ever find regarding the use and sales of a PicoScope.
