A test probe is a physical device used to connect electronic test equipment to a device under test (DUT). Test probes range from very simple, robust devices to complex probes that are sophisticated, expensive, and fragile. Specific types include test prods, oscilloscope probes and current probes. A test probe is often supplied as a test lead, which includes the probe, cable and terminating connector.
Typical passive oscilloscope probe being used to test an integrated circuit.
A pair of simple test leads
A tweezer probe for surface mount components
A passive oscilloscope probe with a switch in the probe handle that selects 1× or 10× attenuation
Electronic test equipment
Electronic test equipment is used to create signals and capture responses from electronic devices under test (DUTs). In this way, the proper operation of the DUT can be proven or faults in the device can be traced. Use of electronic test equipment is essential to any serious work on electronics systems.
Tektronix 7854 oscilloscope with curve tracer and time-domain reflectometer plug-ins. Lower module is a mainframe of the series Tektronix TM500 and has a digital voltmeter, a digital counter, an old WWVB frequency standard receiver with phase comparator, and function generator.
Keysight commercial digital voltmeter checking a prototype
Voltcraft M-3850 portable multimeter
A multimeter with a built in clamp facility. Pushing the large button at the bottom opens the lower jaw of the clamp, allowing the clamp to be placed around a conductor (wire). Depending on sensor, some can measure both AC and DC current.
