That alternator you just bought has six high-current rectifier diodes in it, plus a bunch of solid stare circuits in the regulator. When I was a training manager for Snap-On Sun we sold a handheld lab scope that would run two real-time scope patterns at the same time, on a split screen. It was used to monitor things like fuel injector pulse width and various other signals that any auto technician worthy of the name needed to do good diagnostic work.
In 1957, my father's shop purchased the first ignition scope in Nashville Tennessee. I grew up using it on virtually every tune-up, then spent a lot of years using a lab scope in USAF electronics shops. I spent over 30 years teaching auto mechanics students to interpret scope patterns, and a lot of them are shop owners now. Yes, scopes are very relevant to the people who know how to use them.
Jerry
