OWON VDS6102A PC Oscilloscope with 14-bit ADC, Wifi and USB support (Battery)

[pascal_sweden]

This oscilloscope has not yet been reviewed on this forum and on YouTube.

Maybe it is relatively new? Does somebody here know the release date?



The oscilloscope can be powered through USB with a USB-C battery power bank.

Signals can be transmitted over Wifi to your PC, Android phone, Android tablet, Apple iPhone or Apple iPad.

The ADC supports a 14-bit resolution.

More details can be found on the Owon company website:
https://www.owon.com.hk/products_owon_vds6000_series_pc_oscilloscope

[Gyro]

Yes, that's a new one. The UI is very familiar though.

Fancy being the first one to buy one and do a teardown? 


P.S. I assume that it's already shipping. The PC software is available for download.

P.P.S. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/104247/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=vds6102&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=2

[pascal_sweden]

I have emailed Owon and asked them if they are open to send me a new unit of the VDS6102A or VDS6152A (the 150 MHz version) for a review.

[pascal_sweden]

The Wifi module seems optional.
Wifi module connects via a regular USB port.

The power bank connects to the USB-C port.

8-bits mode: 100 MHZ bandwidth - 1 channel: 1 GSa/s - 2 channels:  500 MSa/s
12-bits mode: 100 MHz bandwidth - 1 channel: 500 MSa/s - 2 channels: 250 MSa/s
14-bits mode: 20 MHz bandwidth - 1 channel: 100 MSa/s - 2 channels: 100 MSa/s

http://files.owon.com.cn/specifications/VDS6000_Series_SPECIFICATIONS.pdf

[shaunakde]

I have emailed Owon and asked them if they are open to send me a new unit of the VDS6102A or VDS6152A (the 150 MHz version) for a review.

I assume they never got back? I emailed them to see if I could find the contact of local distributors, but I haven't heard from them either.

Meanwhile, I found an e-bay shop that does ship domestically in the US - if anyone was curious. The seller claims to be an official distributor (and I have no reason to think otherwise, prima facie).

PS: Bumping an old-ish thread because I am super curious about this product. The idea of being able to power a scope over USB is really interesting to me!

[pascal_sweden]

Any more positive experiences on this new USB oscilloscope?

[radiolistener]

8-bits mode: 100 MHZ bandwidth - 1 channel: 1 GSa/s - 2 channels:  500 MSa/s
12-bits mode: 100 MHz bandwidth - 1 channel: 500 MSa/s - 2 channels: 250 MSa/s
14-bits mode: 20 MHz bandwidth - 1 channel: 100 MSa/s - 2 channels: 100 MSa/s

I wouldn't be surprised if it's just a marketing "14-bit".

Looks like a decimation from 1 GS/s to 100 or 20 MS/s which leads to a noise floor reduction (SNR gain):
- 100 MS/s: 10*log10(1000/100) = 10 dB = +1.7 bits ENOB
- 20 MS/s: 10*log10(1000/20) = 17 dB = +2.8 bits ENOB

When you enable 20 MHz bandwidth option on a usual 8-bit oscilloscope you're also get such bits gain. Well may a little bit less than 14-bit, but I'm very skeptic that this scope can fight with performance of a real 14-bit ADC.

[modoran]

Maybe it has HMCAD1520 inside, there are other Owon products using this ADC chip. It matches the specs.

[rvalente]

Is that true 14 bit?

How could Owon get a 14 bit AD/ASIC if rigol/siglent/R&S/Keysight/Tek/Lecroy/Iwatsu does not have one in this pricing class?

So, I believe is just marketing BS, just like the XDS3202A


 

[radiolistener]

Maybe it has HMCAD1520 inside, there are other Owon products using this ADC chip. It matches the specs.

As I remember, old 14-bit model has the same precision as usual 8-bit oscilloscope from other brands. Yes, it used HMCAD1520 which is marketed as "8/12/14-bit with Precision Mode (14-bit)" by datasheet, but it doesn't help to get the real 14-bit performance.

[edsjac]

It would be cool to see a teardown of it!
The DScope U3P100 is on the pricing ranging. If someone has it, it would be nice to see a teardown and a comparison between these oscilloscopes.
It would be nice to see the hardware (FPGA, memory, ...), especially, the ADC circuitry of both these oscilloscopes.

U3P100 (US$299):
-bandwidth: 100MHz
-Sample rate: max 1GSa/s (the manufacture claim that is the real-time sample rate)
-Max. input voltage: peaks ≤ ±100V
-vertical sensitivity: 10mV/div
-DC gain accuracy: ±6%
-vertical offset ranges: 10mV/div ~ 2V/div
-record Length (real-time capture): 1M (2 channels enabled)
-record Length (single capture):   128M (2 channels enabled)
-SW: Win/Linux/MacOS
-2x USB 3.0 type-C
-size: 115x74x16mm

VDS6102 8bits (+-US$233):
-bandwidth: 100MHz
-Sample rate: max 1GSa/s (real or equivalent?)
-Max. input voltage: 40 V (DC + AC Peak)
-5MHz signal generator
-vertical Sensitivity: 2 mV/div - 5 V/div
-DC gain accuracy: 3% when ≥ 2 mV
-vertical Range: ±2 V (2 mV/div – 50 mV/div), ±20 V (100 mV/div – 500m V/div), ±40 V (1 V/div – 5 V/div)
-record length: 10M
-USB type-C
-LAN
-WIFi (optional)
-SW: Win/MacOS
- AC/DC adapter (5-15V)
-SCPI supported, LabVIEW supported
-size: 190mm×120mm×18mm

[jasonRF]

There is now a useful Youtube review of the vds6102a from a hobbyist perspective by Simple Electronics.  He shows that the scope works fine, and the software works pretty well for looking at waveforms and doing simple measurements. 

He didn't show the use of math channels, though, so I downloaded the software from the Owon site to see what math is included.  As far as I can tell there is nothing - not even simple subtraction, let alone an FFT.  This is a showstopper.  There is also no frequency response analysis even though it has a built-in 5MHz signal generator, but I could have lived with that.   

jason