Siglent Bench DMMs SDM3065X, SDM3055 and SDM3045X

[Kleinstein]

AFAIK the scanner option needs to be factory installed. Chances are they need to add some connector to the PCB. So just having the scanner card would not be enough.

[Martin72]

Exactly.
I just open my SDM3065X 
No chance for it - Why ?
Will post the pics later, then it's clear why..

[Martin72]

Made a couple of pics, here a few in compressed form.
There´s simply no preparation inside for a scannercard, whether mechanical or electrical.*
Further pics from the LM399H, DAC is a AD7175 (24bit), the circuitry around the LM399H is surrounded by ICs from analog devices, as far as I could see, complete in A-grade (which is not the "better" variant, in this case).
Finally I´ll take some pics with my flir from the LM399H.

Martin

*) The surcharge for the SDM3065X-SC compared to the normal model is nevertheless very reasonable, it is about the same as the unit price of the scanner card.

[Martin72]

Further pics (thanks to the limit of 5000kB...)

[KungFuJosh]

Now you need to compare to a unit with the SC. 😉

[bateau020]

A quick review of Tony Albus's teardown shows that it is a matter of some extra wires and (2) connectors, a small backplane PCB, some hardware, and a hole in the chassis. The firmware is the same, so might be possible to do a retrofit.



Skip to 4:56 and 6:47.

[tautech]

I had forgotten that the Siglent meter has an optional scanner card. Seems to cost as much as the meter? 
Can you just design your own card and the software is already built in?

EDIT: Ah, seems it's only US$275
https://www.testequity.com/product/38941-1-SC1016
Still that could be cheaper with a DIY or 3rd party solution.

Correct, when it is an accessory however installed in a new DMM with the supporting HW its cost is under $250.

From US website.
SDM3055           $ 499
SDM3055-SC      $ 745
SDM3065X         $ 745
SDM3065X-SC    $ 995

[EEVblog]

I had forgotten that the Siglent meter has an optional scanner card. Seems to cost as much as the meter? 
Can you just design your own card and the software is already built in?

EDIT: Ah, seems it's only US$275
https://www.testequity.com/product/38941-1-SC1016
Still that could be cheaper with a DIY or 3rd party solution.

Correct, when it is an accessory however installed in a new DMM with the supporting HW its cost is under $250.

From US website.
SDM3055           $ 499
SDM3055-SC      $ 745
SDM3065X         $ 745
SDM3065X-SC    $ 995

So you can't buy the standard meter without card but with the mounting hardware installed to install your own card later?

[tautech]

I had forgotten that the Siglent meter has an optional scanner card. Seems to cost as much as the meter? 
Can you just design your own card and the software is already built in?

EDIT: Ah, seems it's only US$275
https://www.testequity.com/product/38941-1-SC1016
Still that could be cheaper with a DIY or 3rd party solution.

Correct, when it is an accessory however installed in a new DMM with the supporting HW its cost is under $250.

From US website.
SDM3055           $ 499
SDM3055-SC      $ 745
SDM3065X         $ 745
SDM3065X-SC    $ 995

So you can't buy the standard meter without card but with the mounting hardware installed to install your own card later?

Correct.
The SC HW has never been preinstalled to support it.

This whole topic I explored some years back and my Siglent sales manager even collared some of the bits for me but to make the HW rack was to be at best a knock up job so decided it was better to get them as SC models.
From the pricing above the SC 5.5 digit model is ~50% more so not a great outlay for the additional functionality.

[tautech]

Rather than focus efforts on retrofitting the scanner card best advice is to get the model that has it factory fitted then work on a breakout like this, linked in the OP POI list:



Files and discussion here and in previous posts:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-new-bench-dmm-sdm3055/msg3071580/#msg3071580

[EEVblog]

Rather than focus efforts on retrofitting the scanner card best advice is to get the model that has it factory fitted then work on a breakout like this, linked in the OP POI list:



Files and discussion here and in previous posts:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-new-bench-dmm-sdm3055/msg3071580/#msg3071580

Damn, that's nice.

[coromonadalix]

things i haven't seen so far, is a meter with the added expansion card support inside,  where does it connect ?

[Martin72]

A quick review of Tony Albus's teardown shows that it is a matter of some extra wires and (2) connectors, a small backplane PCB, some hardware, and a hole in the chassis. The firmware is the same, so might be possible to do a retrofit.

If it's nothing more, then it's still okay....

At least one IC is missing, then the mentioned connectors...
(Pic is a snip from the video, two pics of my sdm3065X)

[Veteran68]

I've been following this thread for awhile now since I'm planning to pickup the SDM3065X at some point. I was particularly interested in the recent discussion on the voltage reference and the fact that it's not hand selected like the higher-end brands, and thus subject to drift until a burn-in period is reached. My thinking is when I get one, I'd leave it on for a few months, testing for drift along the way.

My question is, there are some LCD panels that can still suffer image retention (usually not as severe or permanent as with plasma or OLED, but can still take some time to clear up). Is this a concern with Siglent's displays? Mine might go for extended periods without being used. Do they have any sort of screensaver built in? I have other Siglent gear but have never left it on for more than a day or two, so not sure how their displays handle this type of prolonged scenario, especially for those static areas of the UI that wouldn't be changing often.

[tautech]

Damn, that's nice.

Sure is and some might say member pipe2null went OTT with his design however he wanted to incorporate multiple capability into his breakout project.

To quote him:
I ended up rolling 4 separate projects into it:
- SDM3065X-SC scanner card breakout (the bottom half, plus green earth ground binding post to DMM case, plus BNC is the Ext Trig brought to front)
- Breakout for a cheap PC power supply (I've been meaning to do this for a while, just didn't get around to it previously)
- Metering for cheap PC power supply rails to OLED displays (don't have the metering circuits done, but the screens look pretty...  Heh)
- SCPI server via ESP8266 to dump Metering data to network (not done, but screen looks pretty...  Heh)

[Mortymore]

Picture of the SDM3055 board, taken from here:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-new-bench-dmm-sdm3055/msg637615/#msg637615

[tautech]

I've been following this thread for awhile now since I'm planning to pickup the SDM3065X at some point. I was particularly interested in the recent discussion on the voltage reference and the fact that it's not hand selected like the higher-end brands, and thus subject to drift until a burn-in period is reached. My thinking is when I get one, I'd leave it on for a few months, testing for drift along the way.

Early in this thread Vref drift was discussed and those that checked it found drift closely matched Vref datasheet spec.
Now we have a good user cal menu, adjustment tweaks can easy be made if users have suitable accurate references.

My question is, there are some LCD panels that can still suffer image retention (usually not as severe or permanent as with plasma or OLED, but can still take some time to clear up). Is this a concern with Siglent's displays? Mine might go for extended periods without being used. Do they have any sort of screensaver built in? I have other Siglent gear but have never left it on for more than a day or two, so not sure how their displays handle this type of prolonged scenario, especially for those static areas of the UI that wouldn't be changing often.

I can only say in the ~8yrs these DMM's have been available there are zero reports of display burn or fading.

Just last week a customer ordered another SDM3045X to now have 5 plus one SDM3055 in his repair shop. 
That speaks volumes of his satisfaction with them for his technicians needs.

His only ongoing cost has been replacement leads.

[tautech]

Picture of the SDM3055 board, taken from here:

Yep a pic I took but with your edits. 

[Mortymore]

....Do they have any sort of screensaver built in? ...

The SDMs have a screen saver built in, that can be disabled, or set at some steps from 1 minute to 5 hours
(utility [shift+dual] - system setup - Scrn Svr)

[bicycleguy]

Can someone tell me if the attached measurement wiring is within the SDM3065X-SC specs.

I'm assuming the H and L for all channels are isolated from each other and the fact the total V from pin 1 to pin 16 is 480V doesn't violate the cards 175V peak ?, 220 VDC switching, 500VDC insulation resistance or 110VDC per channel?

The card specs are attached

[tautech]

Can someone tell me if the attached measurement wiring is within the SDM3065X-SC specs.

It's not, quite incorrect in fact for the voltage measurements.
Please see the connection diagram: 2.Application of 16 Channels for (1) 2-Wired Application [1](DCV/ DCI/ ACV/ ACI 2WR/ 4WR/ CAP/ FREQ/ DIODE/ CONT / TEMP) on P5 of the datasheet

I'm assuming the H and L for all channels are isolated from each other and the fact the total V from pin 1 to pin 16 is 480V doesn't violate the cards 175V peak ?, 220 VDC switching, 500VDC insulation resistance or 110VDC per channel?

As outlined above and in the datasheet pin 1-16 total is irrelevant.
The channel specs are those that need to be adhered to.

Max AC Voltage 125V rms or 175V peak, 100kHz, 0.3 A switched, 125VA (resistive load)
Maximum DC Voltage 110V, 1A switched, 30VDC (resistive load)
Where (resistive load) = a current measurement.

[bicycleguy]

tautech,
Sorry, I should have omitted the pin numbers from the common header I used to simulate a scanner symbol.  The CH1H, CH1L,CH2H,CH2L ... would continue for all the channels with the 480V between CH1H and CH8L.

The question still remains.

[tautech]

tautech,
Sorry, I should have omitted the pin numbers from the common header I used to simulate a scanner symbol.  The CH1H, CH1L,CH2H,CH2L ... would continue for all the channels.

The question still remains.  You said no at the 1st paragraph and ok on the last?

The 500V insulation spec (1G Ohm) between channels also mimics the front panel spec, 500V max above mains ground.
All this seems clear to me from both the meter and SC datasheets.
Maybe they are best studied together. 

The 500V insulation spec appears in other Siglent products too, namely PSU's where/when several units can be placed in series for elevated outputs to a max of 500V above gnd.

[Veteran68]

Decisions, decisions...

Found another eBay bargain on the SDM3065X, new in box for $540 shipped (plus tax). Seller is a bit questionable -- 100% feedback but only 24 transactions and apparently sells random stuff (rice cookers, auto parts, bidets), definitely not an electronics equipment shop. So I don't know this if this one "fell off a truck" or they just bought some random salvage or what. The only photo is looking into the open box, and it does appear unused (though it's not hard to carefully repackage as new).



Part of me wants to take a risk and pull the trigger, but add the Allstate protection plan just in case it has a latent issue, the seller won't refund (the listing says no returns), and Siglent warranty support proves iffy considering the seller. The protection plan and sales tax would bring it to $632 delivered. Meanwhile with the eevBlog discount I can get it from Saelig, an authorized dealer, for $700 $749 delivered. $68 $117 savings is nothing to sneeze at, but it's also not much to pay for peace of mind with such a delicate instrument as this, although the eBay route does provide 3 full years of coverage against any malfunction.

Whatever should I do, my fellow test equipment junkies???

EDIT: Forgot sales tax on Saelig order

[KungFuJosh]

Hard pass unless they accept offers and you can get it for much lower. If it's used equipment, without a MANUFACTURER warranty, and it's out of cal, you're not going to have a good time.