Funny enough I was just bickering with someone on this forum that x10/x1 probes being switched to x1 with say 500v on them by accident is a relatively low risk thing. So far I've been "lucky" and never accidentally switched a probe.
With the post there are two things I strongly disagree on:
Lack of auto-detection is a self-inflicted wound from the oscilloscope makers - for example LeCroy has this big ring around the oscilloscope port, you put a resistor between that and ground and the resistance tells it the probe's multiplication - this sounds easy and could certainly be done generically, it's not because LeCroy have actively prevented other manufacturers from using their scheme (I believe Tektronix has/had their own similar thing too.
I like LeCroy oscilloscopes but seriously they're dicks for patenting and preventing others from having a LED the oscilloscope can control (so for example the yellow trace has a probe with an RGB LED set to yellow on it) - good simple idea and for no good reason they wont share it.
We all make custom probes by cutting a BNC cable every now and then and sure there'd be some floating around but that there are none is entirely self inflicted.
I found this laughable:
Environmental Impact Reduction: By eliminating the need for additional switch components, the production of fixed x1 and x10 probes can contribute to a reduction in electronic waste, aligning with global sustainability goals and promoting responsible manufacturing practices.
Yes like that switch and adjustable capacitor that combines two devices into one. That is total lipservice/greenwashing.
If there are legit reasons (and I accept there might be) "greenness" isn't one of them, and lack of auto-detection
shouldn't' be one of them (but I agree it is).
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I strongly disagree with x1/x10 probes being somehow "evil" - they're useful. Sometimes I go help friends of friends and stuff like that and in my suitcase goes a (well padded) oscilloscope, 4x x1/x10 probes and a good x100 probe (and if there will be high voltage a big high voltage probe)- they are useful and they have a place.
As for the training issue - if you can't teach someone what x1/x10 is - c'mon what hope is there?