My $40 usb scope beat a $900 test box on a flaky sensor issue

Last Tuesday I was chasing an intermittent temp readout on a turboprop at the hangar in Boise. The shop's expensive diagnostic rig kept saying the sensor was fine, but the gauge would still drop out mid-flight. So out of frustration I hooked up one of those cheap USB oscilloscopes I keep for hobby stuff, ran it for a few minutes while wiggling the harness, and caught a glitch on the ground line that only happened when the bundle flexed past a certain point. Turned out a pin in the connector was barely backing out, not the sensor at all. I mean, I get that the big box has its place for full system checks, but for chasing ghosts like this it was useless. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that outshines the fancy gear for a specific kind of fault? Would love to hear if I'm not the only one who keeps a $40 scope in the box now.

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