Owon Oscilliscopes

[KingSolomon]

Hi, I am looking for my first oscilloscope and noticed that Owon makes quite good value scopes. What is the general opinion on Owon scopes? Should I get a keysight or rigol instead? I know that lecroy re-badges some Owon scopes. I want a sub 1000 usd scope with at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator. Thanks for your help!

[2N3055]

Hi, I am looking for my first oscilloscope and noticed that Owon makes quite good value scopes. What is the general opinion on Owon scopes? Should I get a keysight or rigol instead? I know that lecroy re-badges some Owon scopes. I want a sub 1000 usd scope with at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator. Thanks for your help!

LeCroy rebadges Siglent scopes.
Owon scopes are buggy and weird. They look good on paper but are not like that really. They do kinda work and if you can get one very cheap, they are better than nothing.
But there is a reason why people generally avoid them.
Go with (order is random, not a preference) Siglent, Rigol, GW Instek, MicSig, or brand names if you can afford.

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is literally millionth time this same question was asked here and was answered gazillion times. It always ends up in fanboys debate with no conclusion.

Find a vendor you trust, allocate how much money you have, look at what is available for money you have from brands I mentioned before, pick one and buy it.
If you get bored doing electronics in few years it's good not to spend too much money. If you keep on doing electronics, in few years you will have to buy something more advanced anyways...

[tautech]

I want a sub 1000 usd scope with at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator. Thanks for your help!

Consider getting 2 instruments with that budget.
A SDG1032X 30MHz 2ch AWG that when paired with a SDS1104X-E can offer 3ch Bode plot analysis and still have one AWG channel free.

Example but paired with the single ch AWG module that's available as an option for X-E scopes:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds1204x-e-released-for-domestic-markets-in-china/msg1435854/#msg1435854
2ch example using 3 of 4 channels a few days later:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds1204x-e-released-for-domestic-markets-in-china/msg1436912/#msg1436912

The SDG1032X standalone AWG suggested offers better output capability than any inbuilt AWG in a scope as they are typically limited to ~5V max output and generally don't also offer the range of functionality of a standalone unit.
Study some datasheets.

[rf-loop]

I want a sub 1000 usd scope with at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator. Thanks for your help!

Consider getting 2 instruments with that budget.
A SDG1032X 30MHz 2ch AWG that when paired with a SDS1104X-E can offer 3ch Bode plot analysis and still have one AWG channel free.

Example but paired with the single ch AWG module that's available as an option for X-E scopes:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds1204x-e-released-for-domestic-markets-in-china/msg1435854/#msg1435854
2ch example using 3 of 4 channels a few days later:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds1204x-e-released-for-domestic-markets-in-china/msg1436912/#msg1436912

The SDG1032X standalone AWG suggested offers better output capability than any inbuilt AWG in a scope as they are typically limited to ~5V max output and generally don't also offer the range of functionality of a standalone unit.
Study some datasheets.

And just tiny sidenote: after these days SDS1104-1204X-E  Siglent have today improved SFRA what is now BodePlot II and it is really far over older BodePlot version. There is afaik nothing on the market what can competite with this in this price class. Not even close.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/siglent-sds1x04x-e-bodeplot-ii-(sfra)-features-and-testing-(coming)/msg2453655/#msg2453655

[nctnico]

The suggestion to have an external waveform generator is a good one because the internal waveform generators inside oscilloscopes are quite limited. And a function generator doesn't need to cost an arm & a leg. The Feeltech FY6900 is a nice (dual channel) entry level model for less than $100.

Other than that 2N3055 post says it all.

[JoeO]

In addition to 2N3055's excellent post, the question that should be asked of the OP is "What do you want to do with the scope?"   

If, for example, all you want to do is fix audio equipment, you don't need to spend a lot of money on a scope.

[Fungus]

Not to beat a dead horse, but this is literally millionth time this same question was asked here and was answered gazillion times. It always ends up in fanboys debate with no conclusion.

I don't think there'll be much debate here that Owon is an anagram of "no-no".

I want at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator.

What for?

[2N3055]

I want at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator.

What for?

I wouldn't know, sorry. That is OP's quote..

[Fungus]

I want at least 100 mhz, four channels, and a waveform generator.

What for?

I wouldn't know, sorry. That is OP's quote..

Oh, I messed up the quotes.

Question still stands though... "What for?"

[Martin72]

Consider getting 2 instruments with that budget.
A SDG1032X 30MHz 2ch AWG that when paired with a SDS1104X-E can offer 3ch Bode plot analysis and still have one AWG channel free.

I would recommend that too, here (germany) there´s actual  a special offer for the SDG1032X and together with the SDS1104X-E it´s in the desired price range.

Both things I´ve owned before the MSO5, they´re really recommendable.

[maxwell3e10]

I think Owon scopes bad reputation is overblown. They do have some bugs and limitations, but so do most others. Owon scopes have two fairly unique features: high resolution 12-bit sampling and battery operation. Both of these have real practical implications by enabling certain measurements, not just "nice to have".  Micsig is also good for running on battery.

So it may not be the best "vanila" scope, but should be considered if the special features are likely to be useful.

[xavier60]

Not only the Owon HDS1022M-N that I purchased recently, other brand/models have a behavior that myself and some others find very annoying.
A displayed waveform will freeze on the screen for a second after trigger is lost.
Most irritating when probing DC rails. A random disturbance is first displayed frozen on the screen, then a whole second has to be waited for to see an active trace displaying the actual voltage level.
 The presence of this annoyance caught me totally off guard, so if you think that it's likely to annoying you, then check with the maker.

[J-R]

Expectations should be realistic.  I have the Owon HDS1021M-N that I picked up on sale for under $100.  I don't think these are worth much more than that and it's already a bit of an old product.  But I'm happy enough with it as a handheld for basic tasks in the garage/shop. 

[xavier60]

Expectations should be realistic.  I have the Owon HDS1021M-N that I picked up on sale for under $100.  I don't think these are worth much more than that and it's already a bit of an old product.  But I'm happy enough with it as a handheld for basic tasks in the garage/shop.

The behavior that I mentioned is not a performance limitation, it is a dumb design choice.
I also wonder if some bench models are the same.

[Fungus]

A displayed waveform will freeze on the screen for a second after trigger is lost.

What exactly is is supposed to do? Please tell us.

No trigger is no trigger.

[The Soulman]

A displayed waveform will freeze on the screen for a second after trigger is lost.

What exactly is is supposed to do? Please tell us.

No trigger is no trigger.

Show non-triggered noise?!
And certainly not a stable (non existent) waveform.

[Hydrawerk]

Owon was OK back in 2010 when they had a first scope with a big lcd. Nowadays you should go for GW Instek, Siglent or Rigol.  They are not perfect, but still much better than utter crap Owon.

[Fungus]

Show non-triggered noise?!
And certainly not a stable (non existent) waveform.

What if you're looking at RS232 data that's only arriving two bytes every second? Should it flash the data on screen for a single frame then show noise?

[nctnico]

Not only the Owon HDS1022M-N that I purchased recently, other brand/models have a behavior that myself and some other find very annoying.
A displayed waveform will freeze on the screen for a second after trigger is lost.
Most irritating when probing DC rails. A random disturbance is first displayed frozen on the screen, then a whole second has to be waited for to see an active trace displaying the actual voltage level.
 The presence of this annoyance caught me totally off guard, so if you think that it's likely to annoying you, then check with the maker.

AFAIK Tektronix invented this and some other manufacturers have copied it. I find it a handy feature because it keeps interesting information on screen for a bit longer before going back to auto-trigger. It allows to trigger on (relatively) rare events and keep an eye on a signal while there is nothing to trigger on. But yes, it is annoying at times.

[Fungus]

But yes, it is annoying at times.

I think it would be a lot more annoying if it didn't.

Lesser of two evils...

[xavier60]

My HP bench DSO holds for 40mS which allows it to stably display repeating events down to 25Hz. No problem with that.
A one second hold is way too long.
 I can see how this feature could be useful sometimes. There should be the option to disable it for the many occasions when it's definitely annoying and a hindrance to diagnostics.   
It will be used mainly for checking sensor signals on tractor transmissions. I will always want to know as soon as possible when a signal drops out.
For times when a waveform is needed to be kept on the screen after trigger loss, Normal and Single modes are for that.

[xavier60]

The  Owon HDS1022M-N has a slow update rate, looks to be about 10 times per second.
When a signal ends, this DSO is very unlikely to capture the tail of the signal, making the one second hold feature even more ridiculous
as it will rarely capture anything of interest.