Owon HDS120/HDS100 1ch DSO+DMM, 1MHz/5MSps (September 2024)

[tunk]

- 1MHz bandwidth, 5 MSps
- 30mV~500V/grid
- 2.5us~10s/grid
- looks like there's no BNC, just DMM banana jacks
- 4.5 count DMM
- 2.8" screen, 320*240
- size 188*93*41.5mm
- around US$60

https://owon.com.hk/products_owon_hds120_oscilloscope_multimeter

[Aldo22]

The device looks good for the price, but as far as the specs are concerned, I don't know why I would buy it.
AN870 (or ZT-255) are more precise multimeters with more amp range for less money.
The scope with 5 MSps and 30mV/Div minimum?
Even the pathetic DSO-TC2 has a 10mV/Div range and can just about display a 3mVpp signal (picture).

Is this more for electricians?

[csuhi17]

The device looks good for the price, but as far as the specs are concerned, I don't know why I would buy it.
AN870 (or ZT-255) are more precise multimeters with more amp range for less money.
The scope with 5 MSps and 30mV/Div minimum?
Even the pathetic DSO-TC2 has a 10mV/Div range and can just about display a 3mVpp signal (picture).

Is this more for electricians?

The Owon has a slightly larger display and fewer vertical divisions.
The DSO is 8 divisions and 2.4" The Owon is 5.5 divisions and 2.8".
I don't know how much your 3mV signal would be visible on it or whether the automatic measurement would be able to measure it.
Without tests, we do not know how accurate and sensitive the measurement is.
How many MHz signals do you want to measure with those test leads?
Your DSO has a BNC connector, this one only has a plain DMM measuring lead.

Based on the pictures, this one has a better display and has a few good features that are not found in multimeters of a similar price category.

If it had been released earlier, I would have bought this instead of Fnirsi and Zoyi.
The Zoyi is good despite its faults, but for a few quick measurements this Owon would be more suitable.
Unfortunately, the description is a bit incomplete.


I searched a bit and found that this is the best among Multiscopes of a similar category, with NON-BNC connectors.  I found 2.5MSa/s, 300mV-200V/Div and 500mV-?V/Div.  the display of those looks bad, I don't think it makes sense to compare it with the cheapest oscilloscopes, it would have been unnecessary to make this one along with the other HDS.

[Aldo22]

The Owon has a slightly larger display and fewer vertical divisions.
The DSO is 8 divisions and 2.4" The Owon is 5.5 divisions and 2.8".
I don't know how much your 3mV signal would be visible on it or whether the automatic measurement would be able to measure it.
Without tests, we do not know how accurate and sensitive the measurement is.

The screen resolution alone is not enough.
Even if you assume that the whole 240px would be for the grid, you get 4px for 3mVpp. In practice, it is more likely to be 3px. That's not really enough to display a signal shape.
With the DSO-TC2 it would be 9px at a full 240px. That's not much either, but at least you can guess whether it's a sine, triangle or square.

But don't get me wrong, I really don't want to praise the DSO-TC2. Rather the opposite. I'm just surprised that this Owon can do even less in certain respects.

[csuhi17]

Some info.
It is much lighter than the other versions of the HDS, and a little smaller in size.
The inside was full of flux, I had to clean it, and it had already been manually repaired by Owon.

The part of the multimeter is very similar to that of the previous Owons.
The only innovation is MIN/MAX/AVG.
It measures RMS well only up to 1-2 kHz.
The update is approx. 3 measurements per second.
The lower bar is updated together with the numbers, that is, it only shows the range.

1 MHz is in the "V" range. From 1V to 500V /Div
The fastest time base is 2.5 us, which can still be comfortably used for a 500kHz signal and it seems stable.
But above it, the signal will be so dense and jumps at the peaks.
In the "V" position, all voltages seem to be in the 1MHz range.

In the "mV" position, the situation is different. "30mV, 100mV, 300mV" /Div.
For 30mV/div already at 15kHz, the 100mVpp sine is only 74mVpp.
For 100mV/Div at ~150kHz
300mV/Div also has a limit of ~150kHz.
Above it, the amplitude of the signal decreases significantly.

You cannot move the trigger to the right or left.
The only way to move the signal laterally is when recording is stopped with the play/pause button or single trigger. with F1 and F2.
There is no signal outside the screen, you can only save as many waves as are visible on the display in each timebase.
You can enlarge the stopped signal by 5 time bases.

It can also trigger on very slow signals. 0.1Hz "Auto button"

I think its display is better than that of similar gadgets.


The above example really cannot be fulfilled by this, at least a 6mV signal must be visible in the 30mV/Div.


It seems that there will be another version, at least the description may indicate that.
in the continuity test, it is highlighted separately that it cannot be adjusted for this version.
However, it is present in the menu, but I cannot change it.
There is also the OWON CMS101 clamp meter, which will slowly be available soon. with some plus feature

[csuhi17]

From 2.5 us to 50 us, the length of the saved wave is 600 us.
Above that is the wave you see on the display.

The inscription has been erased from one of the chips, I was not able to make it visible even with the technique seen on the forum.

[suntide]

I think a key difference is HDS120 can measure the wave by test probe rather than BNC connector, it would be much easier for electricians to work in field. I bought one, though the bandwidth is much lower than ZT-703S.

[Aldo22]

I think a key difference is HDS120 can measure the wave by test probe rather than BNC connector, it would be much easier for electricians to work in field. I bought one, though the bandwidth is much lower than ZT-703S.

I wouldn't see any advantage in that.
The sensitivity and bandwidth of this Owon are simply so poor that it doesn't need a “proper” connection.
If you really want banana jacks on BNC, there are quite solid adapters.
But you start to see the noise on even slightly more sensitive scopes (Attached image with adapter).

The advantage is probably that you can apply 1000V directly (1x). Right?

[electr_peter]

Advantage of DMM inputs for scope mode is that current waveforms can be measured directly by using 4mm jacks and no extra adapters & current probes - that's handy. Voltage measurement directly from input jacks is also useful.

Analog bandwidth
1MHz  (only ACV scale)
Maximum sample
5.0MSps
Voltage vertical sensitivity range
30mV~500V/grid
Current vertical sensitivity range
100μA~5A/grid
Time base range
2.5us~10s/div

Owon HDS120/HDS100 is a scopemeter (as evident from limited specs), not a real scope. If you need scopemeter, HDS120/HDS100 could work. If you need a scope, look for other Owon models (HDS200 or HDS300).

[csuhi17]

The advantage is probably that you can apply 1000V directly (1x). Right?

Yes and more...

Faster, safer use. it can do other types of measurements.

When measuring with a multimeter, if you are curious about the presence of a signal.
Then you don't have to take out the pocket scope separately.
In most cases, everything starts with a multimeter.

If you are looking near parts with mains voltage, e.g.: power supply.
With well-insulated test leads, you don't have to worry about the voltage going to GND on the reference point of the BNC connector.

If I managed to understand it well based on the videos made by others, then in most of the repairs, they are only interested in whether there is a signal or not. They are not testing signal quality.

As electr_peter wrote, this is not an oscilloscope.

[Aldo22]

As electr_peter wrote, this is not an oscilloscope.

But then you would have to redefine the term. 
This is the first time I've heard that a scopemeter is not (also) a scope.
Owon calls it: “OWON HDS120 Oscilloscope Multimeter”.

It's simply more of an electrician's scope, afaics.
I can see the advantage that you don't have to change the cable if you just want to “see something".
It is intended for higher rather than lower voltages and for lower rather than higher frequencies.
One advantage is that you can follow the curve of the current with the oscilloscope function.

But you rightly point out that you might not buy it as a typical oscilloscope.

[suntide]

Yes, it's much faster and safety to use a multimeter probe than the oscilloscope probe in mains related work. And another advantage is it can measure current waves, it can provide more information than only the RMS value.
One feature I want is to measure the harmonic of voltage and currents, to solve some power quality problems. I don't need professional Fluke 435, I just want to have a brief view of the harmonics in the mains.

[Fungus]

... solve some power quality problems.

eg. Could be useful for working on inverters to see how good their output waves are.

[Aldo22]

eg. Could be useful for working on inverters to see how good their output waves are.

Yes, it is an oscilloscope.
Which oscilloscope can't do that?
This is one of the first things I tried when I got my first "toyscope" DSO-TC2 (attached image).
The advantage of the Owon HDS120 is that you can apply 1000V directly to the inputs without paying attention to 1x/10x.
Other than that, I don't see much to convince me.

[Fungus]

Yes, it is an oscilloscope.
Which oscilloscope can't do that?

Up on a roof while installing solar panels? Quite a few of them can't ... why do you ask?

[Feuerbard]

45 bucks on taobao  now and  no present on aliexpress

[Pfriemler]

snapshot: ~65€ (shipping included) for most European users @ Eleshop: https://eleshop.de/owon-hds120-handheld-oszilloskop-multimeter.html
Got a GVDA188 to test for a day, looks similar to me, esp. as a lightweight and small always-with-me DMM. But no current scoping* - and no solder-free replaceable fuses  .
I am looking for a more portable solution (I love my Micsig STO1104C, too, but it's kind of bulky). Have a HDS242s in mind, but both will not fulfil some basic needs in repairing outside - I underestimated by now that it's quite handy to check accurate and clean voltages without the need to re-plug the cables (from bananas to BNC and vice versa). Maybe I just get both HDS120 and HDS242c 

No more experiences with this or a hint to similar devices?

*recently I built an adapter with switchable 1+10 ohms resistor and a piece of doublesided PCB to check current consumption by time for battery powered smarthome and audio stuff with my MigSic scope (readbable mA values with x1 /x.1). Will not miss that until I got me a portable solution...

[Pfriemler]

Pulled the trigger on both HDS120 and HDS242s just to update my multimeter collection...

Well, the HDS120 is a bit  - easy, indeed. I can confirm almost all of csuhi17's experiences. In mV scope mode with a sine wave 100mVrss, I have -5% @50 kHz, -10% @82kHz ... up to -75% @ 1MHz. In V mode with 2Vpp, it's -5% @ 500 kHz. I monitored the waveform with my MigSic and noticed a distorted square signal in mV mode. Why? I used my Brymen 789 (cap measuring frequ 512 Hz), a Peaktech capacity meter (819 Hz) and a Hantek 1833C (100Hz-100kHz) to check input impedance and capacity with different results, which I interprete as a input impedance of 11MOhm||30pF in Scope Volt mode and 5MOhm||900pF in mV mode. That's half the truth, because the signal thus is not distorted as much as the measured values decrease with higher frequency, so there must be an internal design fault, so to speak :-)

Another test: 1 pulse per second, roll mode 1s/div, the HDS120 detects then down to 4 ms width for sure. With 5s/div, the pulse width must be >14ms. (The HDS242s detects them > 9ms in "sample" mode and 10µs in "peak detection" mode.).
Overall accuracy is well within specs, the biggest deviation I got in Ampere range (-0,8%), mA socket is much better.

edit: my FW is V1.0.1.3.0 Built 24/08/06. No newer FW available at this moment.