OWON SDS1102 low end 100Mhz oscilloscope

[maxwell3e10]

I got a XDS3062A from that sale on Arrow and have been pretty happy with it. It does have a few specific bugs:
When transferring data from scope to computer every millionths point is corrupted
When one channel is set to inverted and then turned off, the other channel is messed up when 1 GHz sampling rate is used
Large sharp square pulses have a 2% overshoot that decays over 2 usec.

Otherwise, I love the large crisp display, 12 bit resolution, low input noise, decent FFT. It doesn't feel like a low cost scope.

It would be nice to have more waveform measurements, such as standard deviation, and have measurements done on full waveform, but many other brands don't do it right either. Also decoding was not included, but it did come with a build-in function generator (pretty useful) and a multimeter (rather useless).
 

[Microdoser]

I got a XDS3062A from that sale on Arrow and have been pretty happy with it. It does have a few specific bugs:
When transferring data from scope to computer every millionths point is corrupted
When one channel is set to inverted and then turned off, the other channel is messed up when 1 GHz sampling rate is used
Large sharp square pulses have a 2% overshoot that decays over 2 usec.

Otherwise, I love the large crisp display, 12 bit resolution, low input noise, decent FFT. It doesn't feel like a low cost scope.

It would be nice to have more waveform measurements, such as standard deviation, and have measurements done on full waveform, but many other brands don't do it right either. Also decoding was not included, but it did come with a build-in function generator (pretty useful) and a multimeter (rather useless).

It shouldn't feel like a low cost scope at £550 especially considering you get only 2 channels at 70Mhz for that money.

[radiolistener]

it looks like very outdated scope. Today's oscilloscope for novice needs at least 24 megapoints memory.
And I think it's better to look for 2 GS or above with high res display, because 1 GS is outdated technology.

These days, 10 k memory is too small even for pocket multimeter.
Probably it produce a lot of aliasing at slow horizontal resolution. It will be confusing for newbies.

[maxwell3e10]

It shouldn't feel like a low cost scope at £550 especially considering you get only 2 channels at 70Mhz for that money.

I only paid $200 for it on sale, but even at the regular price of around $400 it is a good deal since any other high-resolution low input noise scope (like R&S) are well over $1000.

[Kosmic]

Arrow should do those sales more often. I would definitely spend a lot more 

[jackobo]

A bit a refresh to the topic,
Gentlemen, want to get this SDS1102 by OWON as my first oscilloscope.
Theres not bad price these days at banggood about 175 euro posted.
My goals:
To get to learn how to use Digital oscilloscope;
Repair mainly TVs, laptop and desktop MBs:
So in light of controversial opinions in the thread, would this Owon machine be enough to get to learn how properly deal with digital oscilloscope  or add extra 90 quid and get this Rigol DS1102Z-E from Batronix?
Many thanks in advance.

[Aldo22]

@jackobo: I would definitely go with the Rigol if you don't mind the extra charge.

In your price range I would rather take the 4 channel Hanmatek DOS1104.

If you want to pay as little as possible, imo even a Hantek DSO2C10 would be better, but only if you can get it for less than $150!
Unfortunately, the prices vary greatly and many people pay too much for the Hantek and are therefore rightly disappointed.

[jackobo]

@jackobo: I would clearly take the Rigol if you don't mind the extra charge.

In your price range I would rather take the 4 channel Hanmatek DOS1104.

If you want to pay as little as possible, imo even a Hantek DSO2C10 would be better, but only if you can get it for less than $150!
Unfortunately, the prices vary greatly and many people pay too much for the Hantek and are therefore rightly disappointed.

Thanks for replying, theres some complaints regarding this Rigol series in terms of factory miscalibrating as to vertical zero position and people werent able to calibrate with standard calibration, as being not an expert in it, hard to judge, if its common problem.
Hanmatek again following the forums, had 1:1 Owon clone only in older revisions, newer ones with 5 volt external power supply are absolute crap, besides at banggood Hanmatek even more expensive than original Owon SDS1102, which is weird to me.
Hantek, ohh a lot of negative feedback about those scopes, being cheap their only advantage,
The choice is whether 1102 or that Rigol, would appreciate inputs in favor on the Rigol or Owon SDS1102 would be enough for absolute scope beginner?

[Aldo22]

Hantek, ohh a lot of negative feedback about those scopes, being cheap their only advantage,

Well, at least there is feedback. Where there are many users, there is also a lot of (negative) feedback.
The Owon has hardly any feedback and the first answer in this thread is, exactly what you say about the Hantek:
"Yes, it is cheap. No other advantage." 

Take the Rigol.

[jackobo]

"Yes, it is cheap. No other advantage." 

Take the Rigol.

Yes, but after that statement there was a nice grounded reply by Jebem, whio to be honest sounds very persuading. But If theres more pluses towards Rigol, of course I'd make an effort to save extra 90 quid for the thing I'd be using time by time )))

[ebastler]

My goals:
To get to learn how to use Digital oscilloscope;
Repair mainly TVs, laptop and desktop MBs:

Frankly, many things happening in (digital) TVs as well as on notebook or desktop mainboards will be out of reach for either scope. Clock rates for CPU and RAM are way too fast, as are the modern serial buses (PCI, USB, SATA...).

You can still use an entry-level scope to check out the power supply, as well as slower serial buses in a TV (I²C, maybe SPI if used). And of course you can use the scope as a learning tool.

For frustration-free learning, the Rigol is probably the better choice than OWON or Hantek -- if only because it is more popular, so it is easier to find advice online.

Actually, I would strongly encourage you to spend even a bit more and get a 4-channel scope; they give you much more flexibility. Maybe you can find a good deal on a used Rigol DS1xx4Z or Siglent SDS1xx4X-E. I would expect that quite a few hobbyists are getting ready to replace theirs by the new generation of 12-bit entry level scopes, Rigol's DHO800 or Siglent's SDS800X HD, and may try to sell their old 8-bit scopes.

Those 8-bit 4-channel scopes are also still available new, but I would not recommend them since they seem too expensive vs. their new 12-bit siblings. When looking for used models, they should sell for significantly less than the current new price. If you can afford one of the 12-bit models, that' an even better choice of course. But these (only available new today since they were only released recently) may be outside of the price range you are comfortable with.

All mentioned 4-channel scopes, 8 and 12 bit from Rigol and Siglent, are easily hackable to higher bandwidth by the way.

[Aldo22]

Yes, but after that statement there was a nice grounded reply by Jebem, whio to be honest sounds very persuading.

Yes, such "reconciliation threads" also exist for the Hantek ;-)
The OWON is a bit outdated in terms of memory depth, for example (10k vs 8M for the Hantek) and scales (5 mV/div vs 2 mV/div / 5ns/div vs 2ns/div ) and you'll be pretty much alone with it, as I cannot recognize any "community".

Apart from that, it's always a question of price.
Would I buy a Hantek for $300 or more? No way, but for $130 it offers a lot.

But If theres more pluses towards Rigol, of course I'd make an effort to save extra 90 quid for the thing I'd be using time by time )))

As I said, the Rigol is clearly more recommendable if you don't mind the price.

[rhb]

I bought Hanmatek  branded versions via AliExpress.  Both are quite satisfactory.  The FFT update rate is fast.

$135 + tax delivered for a competent 2 channel 140 MHz DSO?   Looks good to me.  It's Tek 465 with waveform storage.

I'd recommend either as a budget bench scope.  Bang for buck for ham radio the Owon HDS272S is the best.  But has small screen.

Can the Hanmatek scopes be hacked with OSHW?  That would get really interesting.

[grawutsch]

I could get the Owon SDS1102 for 199€. I want to learn and look into stuff, mostly analog guitar pedals and some arduino stuff.
Is this wasted money and I should go e.g. with a Rigol DHO80* or am I just fine? I want to avoid buying multipe devices and I want to avoid buying the cheapest on Aliexpress.
400€ for a DHO802 is a lot of money even if I know that these are entry level scopes...

[rhb]

The Hanmatek label version is commonly $135 US from Hanmatek's AliExpress store.

They can't do any bus decoding, so not useful for serious MCU stuff.  Tek 465 with trace storage and FFT is the best description.

Have Fun!
Reg

[Aldo22]

I could get the Owon SDS1102 for 199€. I want to learn and look into stuff, mostly analog guitar pedals and some arduino stuff.
Is this wasted money and I should go e.g. with a Rigol DHO80* or am I just fine? I want to avoid buying multipe devices and I want to avoid buying the cheapest on Aliexpress.
400€ for a DHO802 is a lot of money even if I know that these are entry level scopes...

As far as I can see, the Owon SDS1102 is a boring outdated scope that has no community.
Maybe it's quite nice to use and doesn't cause much trouble (I don't know, I don't have one), but in terms of features and specs, the Hantek DSO2C10 is far superior among cheap benchtop DSOs (vertical range, selectable memory depth (4K, 40K, 400K, 4M, 8M), 14 trigger modes, AWG, external trigger, basic protocol decoding....)

My advice: If you want to pay less than $200, take a Hantek DSO2C10 (not a "better" version), if you want to pay more than $200, take a Rigol or Siglent.