# Oscilloscope line adapter

> A protected coupling that lets an oscilloscope show the actual mains waveform and its harmonic content, replacing a proprietary dirty-electricity index with a measurable spectrum.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/meters/oscilloscope-line-adapter
- Collection: Instruments
- Record id: `meters:oscilloscope-line-adapter`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/meters/oscilloscope-line-adapter
- Also known as: line probe, mains waveform adapter

## Key values

- **Band covered:** conducted, adapter dependent
- **Quantities measured:** electric field strength, frequency
- **Typical price:** $100–$1000

## Detects

- Actual waveform distortion, transients and carrier frequencies on the circuit
- Which harmonic order a filter is or is not removing

## Cannot detect

- Radiated fields
- Exposure, in the sense of any exposure standard

## What to insist on

- Galvanic isolation and correct voltage rating for the mains supply
- Documented frequency response

## Related records

- [Dirty-electricity (line harmonics) meter](https://emfbase.com/meters/dirty-electricity-meter): Plugs into a socket and reports high-frequency harmonic content riding on the mains, the quantity used to judge dimmers, LED drivers, inverters and switch-mode supplies.

## Sources

- `sbm-2024` Institut für Baubiologie + Nachhaltigkeit (IBN) (2024). *Building Biology Evaluation Guidelines for Sleeping Areas (SBM-2024)*. https://buildingbiology.com/site/downloads/SBM-2024_EVALUATION_GUIDELINES_EN.pdf — ngo, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.