Young man !!!!
Asking me about tools is the same as phoneing me and having to listen to me waffle on for hours about the fault or Porsche in general :floor:
Long post coming i feel ..
Pico scope .. excellent bit of kit but not cheap .. you tend to start at about 1K then go up from there ..
There are several things you would use a scope for depending on the age of the car ..
If we are talking air cooled then pretty much only for a non start and to check the CPS sensor which to be fair there are other ways of checking so not really usefull .
When we come to the later cars though .. 997 onwards then some items are not just a 12V on / off they use something called a PWM signal .. this is a varing voltage / ampage so kinda like a throttle but with electricity .. the more you give it the faster the item will run .
Its also between 20 - 80 % as below or above that indicates a short on the wiring .. ie short to positive = 12 volts constant so a flat line and nothing is an open circuit .
I have to admit though i dont use a scope very often , most times i have other ways of checking but the newer the car then the more need to have and use a scope .
Im not sure for a Diy you would find much use for it ..but if like me you like to collect tools then go for it
Now then .. a scope is not really of any use when traceing things like battery faults / battery discharge or just general A to B circuits .
For this its a volt meter .. now to give you some idea .. i actually have 5 voltmeters .. x1 is an analog meter so its a needle that moves .. this is mainly for the older cars that have a fault code read out thats a blink code .. a digital meter is a bit hard to use for this but an analog is perfect .
Ok the other 4 .. one is sentimental and not really used (it was £500 when i bought it and i cant throw it away after 20 years ! ) .. anyways thats a Fluke meter .. some of the best in the business to be honest .
I have a cheap £20 one but it can take 20 amps which is why i got it .. nothing worse than checking for a drain and the alarm trips .. it will blow the normal 10 amp fuse in meters and that tends to be about £15 per fuse .. i have to pay for that so you see the problem !!!
My latest is a snap on one .. not cheap but things like Hz and duty cycle can be usefull .. think PWM .. duty cycle
I also spent a good chunk of money on an attachment for it .. i can now check amps upto 30 !! bear in mind if a Cayenne alarm trips its about 26 amps so for these cars its a god send .
Anyways .. to the point .. if im looking for a battery discharge i use an amp hound ..
A scope is of no use on this problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM5qV6ge2vA
Very easy to identify which fuse the drain is on useing this .. then its onto the wiring diagrams to nail it down further .
Its also excellent at finding blown fuses so some times i just use it for that and quickly run over the fuseboard as a fast check .. no need to search diagrams and waste time as this is quicker .
This is kinda my secret weapon at work as no one else has one and it makes life SOO much easier
Us Mechanics have to buy our own tools .. so not every one will invest to a great degree ... my kit has to be in the region of £20K by now !