On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 16:10:27 -0800, Eric R Snow wrote:

I been havin' fun with my TEK 465B 'scope. But now I want to do something
serious. Check the output of a couple generators. I have a 1X/10X probe.
Do I just set the 'scope to the right volts/div, the probe at 10x, and
touch the probe to the hot wire?

Yes, AFTER you set your vertical sensitivity to something sane.

Should the ground clip from the probe be
connected to the generator ground?

If the generator itself is floating, then yes. I wouldn't recommend using
the scope's ground clip for anything like line voltage - it's 60 (or 50)
Hz, so the inductance of the ground loop will be swamped out by whatever
you're measuring, and the scope's ground should provide a "good enough"
ground return to the mains to get a reasonable view of what your mains
looks like.

Or, as has been suggested, but isn't recommended, is to "float" the
scope, by using one of those 3-to-2 prong cheaters, and leave the ground
lead open - but then the whole scope case and everything sits at the
potential of whatever you clipped your ground clip to.

Now that I think about it, it'd be best to put your scope in differential
mode, and use two probes without ground clips - the scope will show you
whatever it sees between the probe tips, and neither one needs to be
grounded, in fact, _shouldn't_.

Hope This Helps!
Rich