EEVblog Electronics Community Forum

Products => Test Equipment => Topic started by: Daruosha on September 07, 2019, 10:49:05 am

Title: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Daruosha on September 07, 2019, 10:49:05 am
Just look at this "new" oscilloscope:

[attachimg=1]

They claim it's the best replacement for a CRO  :palm:

Check out the link yourself: https://www.owon.com.hk/products_1_channel_oscilloscope (https://www.owon.com.hk/products_1_channel_oscilloscope)

Owon always finds a way to surprise me  :wtf:
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: 001 on September 07, 2019, 11:02:01 am
Why it so deep? Is it to provide compatibility by dimensions with analog  scopes?  :-//
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: nctnico on September 07, 2019, 11:05:59 am
 :palm: Look what it says in the description: ideal scope to keep using educational material written for teaching to use analog scopes. How is that going to help a student? At the first work place there will be a DSO with which the student will be totally unfamiliar with.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Hydrawerk on September 07, 2019, 01:18:57 pm
This is crazy as hell. Analog oscilloscopes are dead nowadays. They are not produced any more. (Well, MCP seems to be the last producer... http://www.mcpsh.com/pr.jsp?_pp=0_305_183_-1 (http://www.mcpsh.com/pr.jsp?_pp=0_305_183_-1))
Analog oscilloscope is like a CRT television. There is no point to work with it at school in 2019.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Daruosha on September 07, 2019, 01:40:24 pm
This is crazy as hell. Analog oscilloscopes are dead nowadays. They are not produced any more. (Well, MCP seems to be the last producer... http://www.mcpsh.com/pr.jsp?_pp=0_305_183_-1 (http://www.mcpsh.com/pr.jsp?_pp=0_305_183_-1))
Analog oscilloscope is like a CRT television. There is no point to work with it at school in 2019.

It's a DSO, it has run/stop mode   :-DD
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Hydrawerk on September 07, 2019, 03:30:32 pm
It is quite cheap... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000067361714.html (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000067361714.html)
But 20MHz is shit nowadays.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Calvin on September 07, 2019, 03:48:12 pm
Hi,

couldn't get that stupid thing to work .... am used to push buttons on my CRO  |O :-DD

jauu
Calvin
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Alex Eisenhut on September 07, 2019, 05:08:04 pm
Cute. If it was 50$ with free shipping I'd get one just for giggles. It's adorable.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: colorado.rob on September 07, 2019, 08:31:02 pm
They are probably going to sell a ton of these to schools in places like India and the Philippines.

I spent a good deal of time a couple years back helping newbies on a popular C++ web site.  So many of the questions would be from engineering students in these countries which could not get modern C++ examples to work because their coursework was based on an ancient Borland C++ compiler, a compiler that was older than the students.  It was very frustrating for both the students and the people trying to help them.  "WTF is conio.h?  Why is that in your code?"

I'm sure Owon are not idiots.  There's a market for this sort of thing or they would not be building them.  And it saddens me to think that.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: BravoV on September 07, 2019, 11:49:51 pm
When in need, a scope, even inferior, is better than no scope at all, simple logic that some people will never understand.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: GregDunn on September 08, 2019, 01:41:33 am
For $150 you can go to a flea market or even the Bay, and get a superior scope to this!  Perhaps even a DSO.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: MadTux on September 08, 2019, 11:14:04 am
At least it has a handle, to chuck it into nearest dumpster....
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: nctnico on September 08, 2019, 11:32:11 am
When in need, a scope, even inferior, is better than no scope at all, simple logic that some people will never understand.
You are not getting the point. The whole problem is, is that it is aimed at the educational market. Sure Owon is not to blame because they just make what customers want to buy.

I also disagree that CROs are only used in lesser developed countries / areas. A couple of years ago I visited a local EE school and much to my surprise they had a bunch of CROs for the students to use  :palm: . Their reasoning was that they where easier to teach.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: 001 on September 08, 2019, 01:15:35 pm

I also disagree that CROs are only used in lesser developed countries / areas. A couple of years ago I visited a local EE school and much to my surprise they had a bunch of CROs for the students to use  :palm: . Their reasoning was that they where easier to teach.

In fakt it looks intersting for my simple purposes
But two things are "minus" - the deep dimension is WERY strange (no reason to buid deep enclosures without CRTs now) and display is poor for 2019  :-//
Now any cheap $50 tablets provided with 6-10" colour displays
The one reason to buy one cheap scope is to DISPLAY waveform
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: SilverSolder on September 08, 2019, 01:24:33 pm
It doesn't seem completely crazy to start students off on a very basic scope with no "frills"...   it may make sense to learn how to ride a bicycle before you have a go at a 1,000cc motorcycle!
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: nctnico on September 08, 2019, 02:51:54 pm
It doesn't seem completely crazy to start students off on a very basic scope with no "frills"...   it may make sense to learn how to ride a bicycle before you have a go at a 1,000cc motorcycle!
That is why some DSOs have educational modes in which some advanced features are turned off. That is a much better way then the other way around. And there is always the 'default' button to take the DSO back to a pre-defined setting.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: 001 on September 08, 2019, 06:14:35 pm
It doesn't seem completely crazy to start students off on a very basic scope with no "frills"...   it may make sense to learn how to ride a bicycle before you have a go at a 1,000cc motorcycle!
That is why some DSOs have educational modes in which some advanced features are turned off. That is a much better way then the other way around. And there is always the 'default' button to take the DSO back to a pre-defined setting.

Basic idea of abstract scope is to plot curve U=f(t) only
Marker measurments and signal recording is pretty whistles of digital technology but it unnesessary for some LF applications like simple biasing of common audio amplifier or power supply ripple testing
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tautech on September 08, 2019, 10:10:02 pm
It doesn't seem completely crazy to start students off on a very basic scope with no "frills"...   it may make sense to learn how to ride a bicycle before you have a go at a 1,000cc motorcycle!
That is why some DSOs have educational modes in which some advanced features are turned off. That is a much better way then the other way around. And there is always the 'default' button to take the DSO back to a pre-defined setting.
Basic idea of abstract scope is to plot curve U=f(t) only
Marker measurments and signal recording is pretty whistles of digital technology but it unnesessary for some LF applications like simple biasing of common audio amplifier or power supply ripple testing
Once you have a scope you always want/need more functionality, Single shot, Stop and USB recording of waveforms are mandatory features these days.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: snoopy on September 09, 2019, 01:56:59 am
How is that going to help a student? At the first work place there will be a DSO with which the student will be totally unfamiliar with.

You need to understand China to know why there's a market for CROs.

In China, the government has absolute power over public universities, and that power extends to the ministry of education. Unfortunately, those people running MoE (thus dictating textbooks) are pretty old minded.

As such, textbooks used in public Chinese universities are heavily outdated. Borland C is literally used (or at least, was, when I did my C 101 in 2010), and due to the lack of compatibility of Borland C on modern Windows, VC++ 98 was commonly used instead (maybe still now).

People are willing to patch cracked VC98 to work with Windows 10 rather than using the free VS2019. Most Chinese university kids (before being exposed to real projects) never used VC++ 201x or gcc.

The same goes to electronic education. When I did mine, we used a Kenwood 25MHz CRO (that's when I bought my first DSO, Owon VDS7102). Similarly, we used an ancient Pentium 4 running Windows 98SE for WinSPICE, and real hardware 8086 emulator for computer architecture & interface.

Universities with less government funding support and more enterprise funding support (mostly in the southern part of the country) use significantly more modern and advanced educating tools than northern universities. Put it simple, they don't have to give every bit of shit to whatever MoE wants since they don't want much from it.

As much as a believer of totalitarianism myself and I enjoy the efficiency of technology/economy development from it, I have to say such a system really doesn't do well when it comes to education.

The old, "senior" people just have way too much power, and many of them pretend to know everything and want to regulate everything (think of Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter).

I've got a copy of Borland Turbo Pascal somewhere if they want it. It comes on 5 and 1/4 floppy and runs under MSDOS ;)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: SilverSolder on September 09, 2019, 03:04:04 pm
It doesn't seem completely crazy to start students off on a very basic scope with no "frills"...   it may make sense to learn how to ride a bicycle before you have a go at a 1,000cc motorcycle!
That is why some DSOs have educational modes in which some advanced features are turned off. That is a much better way then the other way around. And there is always the 'default' button to take the DSO back to a pre-defined setting.
Basic idea of abstract scope is to plot curve U=f(t) only
Marker measurments and signal recording is pretty whistles of digital technology but it unnesessary for some LF applications like simple biasing of common audio amplifier or power supply ripple testing
Once you have a scope you always want/need more functionality, Single shot, Stop and USB recording of waveforms are mandatory features these days.

Of course.  But if you are organizing the course material for thousands of students where the curriculum consists of learning the basics of AC circuitry,  the best scope is the one that "doesn't get in the way" with too many settings that can be messed up by the students.  This product totally fits that bill, and of course you or I would never buy one! :-)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: borjam on September 09, 2019, 03:09:52 pm
"WTF is conio.h?  Why is that in your code?"
In Spanish, reading "nio" as "ño": cunt, twat. A very popular curse. "Coño, I burnt my finger!"

Explanatory enough.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Dwaine on September 09, 2019, 03:46:58 pm
We need a Dave tear down.  You will see these show up in high schools.   We’re the budget dictates what students learn.

Anyone buy one?
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: 001 on September 09, 2019, 04:01:08 pm

Anyone buy one?
It looks 100% good for me except case dimensions and small display
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: bd139 on September 09, 2019, 04:05:25 pm
I bet there's bugger all inside it. It looks like someone bought a few pallets of power supply enclosures and now needs something to put in it.

Honestly though I like the form factor. Looks like your hands and cables don't get in the way of the screen, a perpetual PITA with other form factors. Also you can probably wedge your engineers and students in tighter spaces :-DD

But Video here. It's a piece of shit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcDg4u2haPQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcDg4u2haPQ)

TI83 of scopes?!

Edit: oh look a power supply...

(https://imgur.com/A9qNzLg.jpg)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Gyro on September 09, 2019, 06:48:17 pm
Edit: oh look a power supply...

(https://imgur.com/A9qNzLg.jpg)

Now that's the one that bugs me... PSUs with crap UIs. Screens crammed with numbers, keypads, arrow keys, etc.

Give me coarse, fine voltage and current limit knobs, simple voltage and current readouts, and well behaved regulation instead!


Just because you can doesn't mean that you should.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: CDaniel on September 10, 2019, 04:33:47 am
Some people would like all the information on that power's supply screen and more buttons  , including myself , I don't think this has anything to do with that crappy oscilloscope and the "thinking" behind it ...
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: artag on September 10, 2019, 02:53:32 pm
Why it so deep? Is it to provide compatibility by dimensions with analog  scopes?  :-//

It's tall. If it were also shallow, it would fall over :)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: EEVblog on September 10, 2019, 11:08:12 pm
Cute. If it was 50$ with free shipping I'd get one just for giggles. It's adorable.

I might have to get one for shits and giggles  ;D
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: EEVblog on September 10, 2019, 11:11:03 pm
If they made it 100MHz/1GHz, like the old Tek TDS200 series, and it was that current US$150 price, there might be a niche market for such a slim benchtop single channel scope.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: EEVblog on September 10, 2019, 11:12:04 pm
If they made it 100MHz/1GHz, like the old Tek TDS200 series, and it was that current US$150 price, there might be a niche market for such a slim benchtop single channel scope.

Wait, I just realised it doesn't have a single shot mode?  :palm:
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: bd139 on September 10, 2019, 11:22:36 pm
If it were a TDS200 class unit even if only 50 megs I’d have bought it. But it’s not. It’s poo.

I really like the form factor. It’s like the old Japanese scopes.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tkamiya on September 10, 2019, 11:30:33 pm
I wonder how it will work in X-Y mode?  Spec says up to 1MHz on both channel but what about the refresh cycle?  If that's good enough, I may actually have a use for it.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: StillTrying on September 10, 2019, 11:37:22 pm
They've missed off the focus, astigmatism and beam finder controls. :horse:
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tautech on September 11, 2019, 12:38:57 am
If they made it 100MHz/1GHz, like the old Tek TDS200 series, and it was that current US$150 price, there might be a niche market for such a slim benchtop single channel scope.

Wait, I just realised it doesn't have a single shot mode?  :palm:
Which one would imagine will reverse your previous interest:
Cute. If it was 50$ with free shipping I'd get one just for giggles. It's adorable.

I might have to get one for shits and giggles  ;D
Yep, for a DSO not to have Single triggering is just plain dumb !  :--
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: med6753 on September 11, 2019, 12:57:30 am
I think it's just plain stupid. If you want an analog scope, buy an analog scope. And if it's broke, learn to fix it.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: med6753 on September 11, 2019, 01:06:08 am
If it were a TDS200 class unit even if only 50 megs I’d have bought it. But it’s not. It’s poo.

I really like the form factor. It’s like the old Japanese scopes.

No, the form factor is like the old Heathkit scopes.  :-DD

(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/640x480q90/922/kIlxvy.jpg) (https://imageshack.com/i/pmkIlxvyj)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Muttley Snickers on September 11, 2019, 02:32:33 am
It's a silly scope.   :-BROKE ::)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: AG6QR on September 11, 2019, 03:03:35 am
I don't think this has anything to do with that crappy oscilloscope and the "thinking" behind it ...

Compare the Power Supply's case to the Oscilloscope's case.  They re-used the mechanical design of the power supply case to make the oscilloscope.  They produced a new control panel, but the position of the screen, the layout of the ridges on the sides of the screen and below the screen, are identical.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: EEVblog on September 11, 2019, 05:22:56 am
I don't think this has anything to do with that crappy oscilloscope and the "thinking" behind it ...

Compare the Power Supply's case to the Oscilloscope's case.  They re-used the mechanical design of the power supply case to make the oscilloscope.  They produced a new control panel, but the position of the screen, the layout of the ridges on the sides of the screen and below the screen, are identical.

It'd be interesting to know how quickly they knocked out this design...
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: Hydrawerk on September 11, 2019, 11:20:21 am
I think that Tektronix TDS2000 and its derivatives are standard school scopes for years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K04bHJJQQA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K04bHJJQQA)
Yes, it is basic, but OK for school.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: TurboTom on September 11, 2019, 11:26:41 am
I want it with a round screen! Round, like "real" CRTs. Please, Owon, would you make one with one of these smart watch TFTs?!  :P  >:D
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tunk on April 13, 2020, 06:06:21 pm
Martin Lorton has just released a video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETpFanotxA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETpFanotxA)
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: bd139 on April 13, 2020, 06:15:40 pm
I only skipped through the video quickly but that's not a bad little scope. It's a digital analogue scope basically! If it was 25% cheaper I'd probably buy one :-DD
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: J-R on April 14, 2020, 01:54:47 am
I picked up one of the Owon handheld scopes for under $100 a while back and would consider it far more useful.  Martin mentions the fast bootup time for the AS101, but I think being able to hit an auto button on a DSO eliminates that advantage.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: free_electron on April 14, 2020, 03:30:44 am
Their reasoning was that they where easier to teach.
translation : the teachers didn't have to learn anything newer ...
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: SilverSolder on April 14, 2020, 03:52:09 pm
Their reasoning was that they where easier to teach.
translation : the teachers didn't have to learn anything newer ...

It seems a reasonable argument, that by removing extraneous functions you get the students to focus on the basics and not ask questions about "luxury features" that mainly benefit experienced users?
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: JPortici on April 14, 2020, 04:14:38 pm
Didn't owon use to make CRT scopes in that form factor?
it wouldn't surprise me if that was the exact same scope, just with a different video board
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: ralphrmartin on April 14, 2020, 05:01:02 pm
You are all missing the point about the form factor - the students can't readily stick one under their jackets and walk off with them.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tkamiya on April 14, 2020, 06:43:41 pm
I was noticing refresh rate on XY feature was rather impressive.  Maybe that alone justifies purchasing one.  I can't get anywhere near that on my digital scopes.

Besides that, I really don't see a point.  Folks who are proficient on analog scope will have very shallow learning curve going to digital.  Folks who never touched analog one won't have issue adopting simpler digital kind either.
Title: Re: Latest innovation by Owon: AS101
Post by: tunk on February 07, 2021, 01:21:02 am
Here's a review and teardown:
https://chinese-electronics-products-tested.blogspot.com/p/as201-benchtop-oscilloscope-tested.html