Products > Test Equipment
OWON SDS1102 low end 100Mhz oscilloscope
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SpecialK:
I can report that XDM3051 bench multimeter and ODP6033 triple power supply have been very reliable. I enjoy using them. I bought them from Arrow for less than $500 CDN combined during the same sale I believe.

I have been usung a single channel P4305 power supply at work for the last 18 months I suppose.  It gets quite a lot of use, and seems to be hanging in there very well. 

To be honest, I'm hoping Owon builds an electronic load.  I can't seem to get my hands on a Rigol for a decent price or a Siglent at all in Canada.
Microdoser:

--- Quote from: Kosmic on October 17, 2020, 02:56:49 pm ---I'm not sure why a lot of peoples seem to be bashing Owon. On top of that it's not clear if they actually tried one or owned a Owon product or if they just propagate rumors.

On my side I also bought a XDS3202E for 150$ when it was on sale on arrow. I used it for some times now and I like it a lot. Never crashed or rebooted. I also didn't find any bugs or problems. They don't produce new firmware but the product is doing what it should anyway.

Build quality is good. I also got a Rigol DG831 and I would say that the build quality feel better on the Owon.

On the user interface side it could be better but you get used to it. It's definitely better than the Rigol DG831.

The frontend of the scope seem to be good. I measured the -3 dB point at 349Mhz (it's a 200Mhz scope).

The 200Mhz probes (OW3200) provided with the scope are generally good. Definitely better than the Rigol PVP2350 (350Mhz) I tested.

Now I only tried one product from Owon but I was generally surprised and satisfied.

--- End quote ---

I tried a DOS1102 and while what you say is true, it did what it claimed to without glitching or crashing in any way, it was missing a lot of features that I would think are basic for a digital scope.

If what you want is a digital scope that does not have much more capability than an analog one it will do that job and do it well but I have a feeling that an XDS3202E is a far different beast than an SDS1102.

Myself, I decided that for just £30 more, I preferred a scope that had I2C analysis, more than 'rise' and 'fall' (and video, wtf?) as trigger options, a 1mV-10V/div range instead of 5mV-5V/div, an intensity graded display and 24Mpts memory instead of 10K (just a few things that jumped out comparing spec sheets). I will also admit that the name 'Rigol' had some pull to it, especially after I saw the same scope advertised by two different companies which is something that does not inspire confidence in me. I also did not like the way that the only way you could see information like frequency was with a huge box 'O' text that covered the waveform.

I had no problems using the Owon/Hanmatek but I found myself wanting to do more with a scope than it could do, and I wanted to do that within 12 hours of getting it, and I could tell that after a very short while that wanting would turn into a great frustration.

It's not a terrible scope and I have no doubts it would be reliable for a length of time anyone would be happy with, it's just that in my opinion there are much better scopes out there in the same price bracket (£200-250 UK) and it has limitations that would quickly start to frustrate even a novice user and lead them to regret their choice in buying it.
J-R:
On the Owon you can add various measurements to the display at the bottom of the screen as shown by jebem's screenshot.  In that case it is in FFT mode with the cursor enabled so the measurement boxes have been shifted to the right temporarily.

Clearly we have one person who wanted something at nearly the lowest price possible, while the other person wanted specific features and was willing to pay a small amount more for it.  Both are valid points I think.

Personally, I doubt I will buy any more Owon products.  Or even Rigol or Siglent.   HP/Agilent/Keysight seems to fit me better going forward.  But I'm happy I got the Owon at that price.  Very helpful in my case.
jebem:
Again, this is a low end scope, make no mistake. I clearly stated that in my initial review here.

That said, it is not that "basic" and limited in features.
For those interested, please read the user guide available from Owon official website. 
Some of them, verified by myself on the scope by doing some measurements, not just reading specs here and there (that is the starting point, though):
- On Acquisition modes, it offers Sample, Peak detect, and Average, Vector or Dot types, Persistence OFF, 1, 2, 5 and Infinity, XY Mode, Counter Off/ON.
- On Measure it offers up to 30 different types.
- On Cursor it offers Voltage, Time, Time&Voltage, Auto Cursor.
- On Utility, Display backlight from 0 to 100%, Graticule with 3 types, Menu time out from 0 to 30 sec.
- On Vertical inputs, AC/DC coupling, 5mV with 20MHz limited BW, 50mV with full BW, Inverted Off/On, Probe 1X/10X/100X/1000X, MeasureCurrent Off/On, Limit bandwidth Off (full 100MHz on 10X) / ON  (20MHz on 1X)
- On Math, it offers Sign +, -, *, /, and FFT (both channels, six common algorithms, Vrms or dB, Horizontal/Vertical adjustments, Cursors)
- On Trigger it offers AC/ON coupling, Single/Alternate, Edge or Video (yes, some people still enjoy PAL/SECAM/NTSC (!) ), Auto/Normal/Single modes,  two ramp slopes with adjustable level, Holdoff from 100nS to 10.0 sec

And before someone ask, yes, it can use a USB pen at the front to save waves and screenshots, and yes, the scope has a second USB port at the rear to talk to a PC, where the Windows remote capture and control application available for downloads from Owon official site works nicely and smooth, no lockouts or hangs or funny stuff in there. And yes, that application runs fine on Windows 10 as well. For those having this scope and not able to install the Owon app due to initial error messages, just rename the zip file to remove the chinese chars, and as for the Windows scope driver installation just follow the supplied instructions.


The best prices I can find delivered to Portugal free of additional import taxes are from AliExpress where some Chinese suppliers have European Union warehouses in Germany, UK, France and Spain.
AliExpess Spain location offers free shipping to Portugal as well, after all we are in the same Iberian Peninsula. Currently there are a few suppliers delivering the OWON SDS1102 for 190,40 EUR shipment included and no additional taxes.

The other alternatives, with better specs, are far more costly from my base location.

For example the Rigol DS1102Z-E that I had in my shortlist as well, is not available from any European locations, starts at around 230 EUR to 270 EUR all from China located warehouses, meaning that I would have to wait at very least 2 or 3 months (I have this experience importing other goods from there) and then pay custom import duties and VAT on top of that.

And the XDS3202E  would cost at least 331 EUR + custom import duties on European Union.

For my needs, the Owon SDS1102 serves me well.
If I need to capture data for analysis, then I will buy an USB logic analyzer. These can be found at really low prices with decent specs.

And here is my humble SDS1102 acquiring a 110MHz 78mV rms sinusoidal wave from a vintage Heathkit IG-102S running at its top limit fundamental frequency, where the advertised feature of being able to work at 220MHz (2nd harmonic) is confirmed by the FFT humble analysis of the Owon.






Microdoser:

--- Quote from: jebem on October 18, 2020, 08:50:38 am ---For example the Rigol DS1102Z-E that I had in my shortlist as well, is not available from any European locations, starts at around 230 EUR to 270 EUR all from China located warehouses, meaning that I would have to wait at very least 2 or 3 months (I have this experience importing other goods from there) and then pay custom import duties and VAT on top of that.

--- End quote ---

Yes, it is available from an EU location.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089WHC4MK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00

Rigol DS1102Z-E Digital Oscilloscope 2-Channel 100MHz.1 GSa/s, 24 Mpts, 8 Bit, free trigger/decoding

Delivered from Rigol EU, based in Germany so no import taxes anywhere in the EU.

£234.32 & FREE Delivery Arrives: Oct 24 - 28

All I am saying is that because Amazon has such a great return policy, and I took up the offer of a £500 credit card at the same time, I ordered both. I tried them both out and sent back the Owon/Hanmatek.

My opinion is based on using them both side by side hands on in the same environment. When sat next to my DS1102Z-E, it seemed basic and lacking in features that were on the scope next to it. Of course there were some areas where the Rigol lost out, moving a waveform vertically using the control knob was less smooth and the probes did not seem as well built.

Other people may have different needs of course. I wanted the scope that would grow with mine rather than restrict them.
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