REVIEW - Owon SDS7102 - A look at the SDS series from Owon

[tony3d]

Thanks. I'm having a blast just learning.

[lemon]

I didn't know that China has a problem with YouTube. Today send e-mail with actual video files.
Please, who has OWON oscilloscope with such problem, send to support of OWON also.

Hi inlet and everyone.
I have SDS7102V and i have same problem with inverting channel. My version is 3.0.
I realized what is the point. Scope is doing invert of wave shown on the screen. So, if the waveform is moved up, and cut with the edge of the screen, inverted waveform will be cut also.
So, as long as whole waveform is on the screen invert will be correct, otherwise invert will be cut.
This may help owon to fix this problem.
Here is short video about this. https://www.dropbox.com/s/gzstblo60y50d7z/2013-11-07%2000.02.43.mp4

Have any respond from the Owon's support, about this?

Owon's support promised for 4 weeks to produce the new firmware.

Hi everybody.
No, Christmas cookies from Owon to us. There is no any fw update, until now.
Where is the Owon's support promised?

[lemon]

New Oscilloscope PC Software version 2.8.20 from the Owon's main site.
No any reference for improvements about, no any changed log.

It is strange! As I am looking today for any software update in their site, it seems the same PC Software (2.8.20) with a new date of 12 Dec' 2013!

[TomC]

Owon has done that before, same release number but different date. I seem to remember that in some cases the later date had new fixes/features. So will have to check and see if this is the case this time. It would be nice and much more professional if they would provide a summary of changes upfront. The way it is now is like solving a new riddle each time.

[Carrington]

Guys I sold my SDS8102V so goodbye forever OWON.

[TomC]

  Hope you'll still visit and reminisce!

[TheBay]

Guys I sold my SDS8102V so goodbye forever OWON.

What are you getting instead? I was about to buy one of these but I do not like the "Clicky" buttons!

[bob808]

I forgot to tell you that I got my replacement SDS6062 (no V this time, I agreed with the seller as he had this on stock).
This unit worked very good, I had no issues with it. It served me well while repairing a Tektronix 465 scope that I got from ebay. The Tek had some issues at faster sweep speeds and with the help of the guys over at TekScopes Yahoo group and the Owon I could trace the problem to a bad transistor
I think I did the noise measurement when I got it and it checked out ok, it didn't show any extra noise than this price range digital DSOs might have.
And also, for basic measurements it seems OK. At least for a beginner. Overall I'm very happy with the product, I did lots of screenshots and it allowed me to see the main problems of my project so I'm not complaining.
I guess it's a decent tool for the money and I wouldn't expect stellar performance out of it but for most basic stuff it gets the job done with no major issues.
After the problems with the first unit I also decided to get a Tek 465 analog scope for backup and analog feel/work 
I could recommend this to beginners as long as they buy it locally from a seller with good warranty support (and stock). It's the same thing with all the other chinese producs - you might get a dud or you might get a better spec (in some areas) than other reputable brands at lower price (larger screen, memory depth etc) but lousy quality. But hey, if it works it's a good deal This off course applies if you don't have the cash for something better or you want a larger screen with battery option and the ability of differential measurements if you don't have an isolation transformer (can be done with either two channel oscilloscope anyway but I don't know how precise). If you can afford it get an older analog oscilloscope for cheap off ebay (60-100Mhz) and a DSO. Both have their advantages/disadvantages. I can certainly appreciate the on screen measurements of the DSO 

[Carrington]

Hope you'll still visit and reminisce!

Sure! I will try to help with what I can.
Thank you very much for your support.

[Viktor]

Hey guys
I need a scope to write and analyze very long analog signal. I think SDS7102V with VGA port is exactly what I need for my 500 USD budget. But some old H/W revisions had GND noise problem. Where can I get this scope without any bugs, problems?

I asked this seller about serial number and firmware version, he replied:
Serial # is around SDS71021344421, firmware version is V3.2, we offer free firmware upgrade, thank you.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181185202887

[jaxbird]

Hey guys
I need a scope to write and analyze very long analog signal. I think SDS7102V with VGA port is exactly what I need for my 500 USD budget. But some old H/W revisions had GND noise problem. Where can I get this scope without any bugs, problems?

I asked this seller about serial number and firmware version, he replied:
Serial # is around SDS71021344421, firmware version is V3.2, we offer free firmware upgrade, thank you.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181185202887

I've had min for quite some time now and been very happy with it, the large screen and overall performance is very satisfying. I think the noise issues were primarily on the earliest units, but I might just have been lucky in the Chinese budget oscilloscope lottery .. I got mine from Aidetek, possibly the same dealer as the one in your ebay link.

The best option would be to buy from someone you are confident will provide and honor a decent warranty period.

For slow measurements, the max time base is 100s/div, total 1500 seconds on screen.

[Viktor]

I'm asking here because on some(3.5?) h/w revision Owon fixed that bug with PSU GND noise. I' m choosing between SDS7102V and Atten ADS1102CML(1 Megasample memory depth).

[TomC]

I'm asking here because on some(3.5?) h/w revision Owon fixed that bug with PSU GND noise. I' m choosing between SDS7102V and Atten ADS1102CML(1 Megasample memory depth).

As far as I know, the GND noise issue was resolved June of this year. Several members have bought scopes since then and had no issues. I bought my scope during January this year and ended up with the ground noise issue. After upgrading the PSU and some other mods everything is OK now. The serial number you were quoted is recent enough it should have the upgraded hardware.

[Viktor]

Anyone bought from Saelig? Do they sell buggy SDS7102V?

[Carrington]

Anyone bought from Saelig? Do they sell buggy SDS7102V?

I recommend you this site: http://www.silcon.cz/index.php?route=common/home
Is completely trustworthy.

[TomC]

Anyone bought from Saelig? Do they sell buggy SDS7102V?

I bought from Saelig, at the time, like everyone else, their scopes had the GND noise issue. However, other than that, the product was delivered promptly and response to e-mails was fast. Recently they had the SDS7102V for $365, sort of a black Friday special. A member one page back bought from them and was very happy with his new scope.

[Viktor]

What is the most recent firmware version? What about serial numbers(let's say november 2013)?

[Carrington]

What about serial numbers(let's say november 2013)?

Is SDS71021319xxx? I don't remember, look at the last pages of this subject.

Read this:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/review-of-owon-sds7102/msg279444/?topicseen#msg279444

[scopeman]

Hello,

I needed a knock around scope that had a battery powered option, so I bought one of the SDS7102V's from Saelig during their sale. Hard to beat at that price. I added the optional battery. It came with a free soft sided carrying case and the standard two 1X/10X probes. It has version 3.2 firmware (checksum 1DCC3238) and does not suffer from the noise issues noted by others.

It also does not suffer from the strange problems associated with zooming in and back out on a 10M single shot capture after stopping that my work SDS6062 has. I wish they would release a firmware update for that scope as well.

I have had the scope since last Thusday and although it's no LeCroy for $365.00 it is quite a good little scope. Sure it has some shortcomings as Dave has pointed out (many fixed in this newer firmware) but what do you want for 365.00! I would really like to have a quad trace version of this scope as an entry level scope.

I am guessing that Owon probably is coming out with a higher performance line and that is why these scopes are being blown out so cheap!

As far as the vendor have found that Saelig is a very good company and stand by their products.

Also they are a US supplier so you get the US warranty. It seems that their pricing is as good as anyone out there when you figure everything in.

All the best,

Sam

[Viktor]

Unfortunately Saelig can't ship the scope to Russia... By the way, SDS7102 costs around 650 USD in Moscow offline shop.
I think I would buy it on ebay or aliexpress. Should I  also buy a battery?

[echen1024]

Unfortunately Saelig can't ship the scope to Russia... By the way, SDS7102 costs around 650 USD in Moscow offline shop.
I think I would buy it on ebay or aliexpress. Should I  also buy a battery?

Well it depends. Will you be using it to debug high voltages? In that case, get a proper, isolated scope. Otherwise, if you just want to carry it around for use in the field, then yes, go for it. Otherwise put that money towards a good DMM or something else.

[Viktor]

I found EDS102C/V on taobao:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.23.1mbuPl&id=13859092514
It's seems to be the same as SDS7102V. Am I right?

[AndrejaKo]

It should be mostly same, but that version only has user interface in Chinese, as far as I remember. I'm not aware of any straightforward way to install western firmware on it, I think that is was possible. Someone wrote a story about that in this thread many many months ago.


As for the battery, I found it very handy when I needed isolated scope for low voltage use, such as scoping output of certain types of audio amplifiers. It's a bad, but easy way to avoid ground loops and can work with devices which use push-pull configuration. I had my scope since June 2012 and the battery run time is still within specification. Ultimately, you'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth spending money on the battery or not.

@scopeman
Yes, Owon already presented a new, more powerful, series on their website called TDS and we had a thread about it as well. As far as I can see, it still isn't available for puchase. There are currently 3 versions of it: 100 MHz with 1 GSa/s, 100 MHz with 2 GSa/s and 200 MHz with 2 GSa/s. It's supposed to have much higher screen update rate compared to SDS's 25/35 waveforms/s.

[Viktor]

So, I purchased SDS7102V on ebay for 430 USD. I could buy it on taobao for around 300 USD, but I never bought anything on taobao and I don't have chinese bank account/credit card to pay. Plus I have paypal buyer protection.

[TomC]

So, I purchased SDS7102V on ebay for 430 USD. I could buy it on taobao for around 300 USD, but I never bought anything on taobao and I don't have chinese bank account/credit card to pay. Plus I have paypal buyer protection.

That's a fair price! Good luck! Let us know how you like it.