How to make oscilloscope auto trigger on current spike and pause

[Rasil1127]

HI
 i have an HP 54510A oscilloscope. i want to catch a current spike in my circuit but i dont know how.. i dont know what mode this is called but i want the scope to capture the current spike and pause data acquisition. maybe its called auto triggering single shot mode?? the oscilloscope has a single shot mode but its a button whenever i press it i can pause the oscilloscope and check the waveform but i want it to pause on its own when theres a rising edge for example. does anyone know how i can do this? or what this mode is called? the scope has extra bnc connector for external triggering do i have to use this to get what i want? thx.

[tautech]

Like any trigger, its ability to provide a stable trigger is dependant on its Level.
Single shot and a trigger level your signal will surpass will provide the conditions to capture the waveform.

[Fungus]

HI
 i have an HP 54510A oscilloscope. i want to catch a current spike in my circuit but i dont know how.. i dont know what mode this is called but i want the scope to capture the current spike and pause data acquisition. maybe its called auto triggering single shot mode??

What you want is "single shot" trigger, definitely not "auto" triggering.

There's a way to set the trigger threshold level. When the input voltage passes that level it will trigger and if the 'scope is in single shot mode it will stop and show the trace until you reset it.