OWON SDS7102 Complete Review

A review of the Owon SDS7102.
Hi-res photos of the inside posted here: www.eevblog.com/forum/product-...

[@mark_madel]

Thanks again Kyle; your kind words are greatly appreciated - and I'm glad I could help,

[@mark_madel]

Good to hear. It all depends on what you need a DSO for - the Owon SDS is fine for many things.

[@BarriosGroupie]

This is a competent, calm, fair review

[@erikjohnson2976]

Great and comprehensive review. Thank you.

[@fredrik.larsen]

I bought the same unit and so far I'm happy. Some times when I fiddle a lot with menu controls it hangs up, but I just restart it no big deal. Build quality is basically what I expected for the price, but it feels good enough. The display is great, with very little glare. Btw, mine has LAN but not VGA. I use neither.

[@MrBillyspilly]

Hey Mark, This is a really cool review. Thank you for sharing it. One thought on your assessment of UI. Your preference for menus at the bottom that toggle through selections: Your idea makes total sense...for experienced users. Having the second dropdown on the right side of the screen may be helpful for newbs (like me) though. Reason being: When one is groking something complex like this for the first time, having all choices in a submenu appear on the screen can be helpful. Aweome tour.

[@Gilvin]

wow very detailed review, thanks for the sharing, i'm about to buy this one already, thin, functional.

[@MrBillyspilly]

Your video was indispensable both for my decision to buy and in learning to use the Owon. You got me off to a running start. I felt most fortunate to find your video because while your expertise is rather obvious and imposing...mostly you pair the communication down to a level less advanced people (like me) can understand. You are a seasoned communicator. I'm capturing wave-forms for brushless DC motors and it works like a charm. Thank you.

[@GautamKumarGoswami]

The two probes (those come with 7102) are of 10:1 /1:1 type or just 1:1 type ? And their model/cat. number ? I understand this DSO price is low & affordable to many like me but after watching YT videos, I think the inside story is really inferior & toy like finish with chip plastic granules & low grade components - specially the rotary encoders. On the other hand Rigol has far better inside stories. Initially I thought that I would go for Rigol DS 1054Z but recently heard that it has many software bugs. I do not have reqd money for Rohde & Schwarz or Keysight or Tektronix. I am confused - do not know what I will do now. Any friendly advice will be very helpful for me.

[@mark_madel]

The original review was done in 3 parts in Aug. - Sept. 2011. I just recently re-posted it as a single video to try to ensure that viewers thinking of buying one of the SDS scopes would see both the pros and cons. I know that Owon has made some improvements to the hardware (and firmware) although I think most of my original complaints remain valid with the latest version. I still think it's a good value for money if you need a DSO for basic repair work - not so much for design and debugging.

[@Leitoitoito]

hey! hi, i need to know if with this model can view wave form in the computer in real time. thanks!

[@cmkessell]

Hi Mark, That's an excellent and very useful review as I'm thinking of buying one. Do you know what firmware revision was installed in the unit you tested? Chris

[@mark_madel]

Glad I could help. Just be aware that the Owon is not a very choice for design and debugging of digital electronics (because of the slow wfrm/s update rate) although it's absolutely fine for general purpose repair work (especially onsite work - because of the battery). Watch my Hantek review for more info about this issue.

[@Techn0man1ac]

Рад за Вас, отличная покупка.

[@mark_madel]

Thanks, Kyle!

[@korytnacka7english]

Thank you for posting this video and sorry for what I have done.

[@Gilvin]

After a bit of studying I will buy Rigol DS1052E i think. I'm a BIOS engineer and most of the hw issues are I/O debug, thinking DS1052E will be enough for me to use at work. Again, thanks for sharing!

[@dercncplaner]

is it good to store curves and data on external storage?

[@paulrunell7821]

would this be ok for automotive diagnostic because there 50 pounds now would it be ok for looking at can signals thanks

[@jopio333]

What is that video converted you were talking about: 24:10.? Can I see, with this converter, my vga output in my main windows 7 screen? How? greart review.. Iĺl have this Owon and it is a great tool.

[@JukaVKcro]

Hay Sam, which scope did you chose, i have same problem as you :)

[@jimmbbo]

Mark - Very thorough review... thanks! After years of working on DC systems in cars and airplanes, I am a virtual newbie with digital electronics, and decided to explore it as a hobby to understand more of the "new world" its creating... Since I am unlikely to go beyond the simple hobby stage, do you think that either this or the Omon SDS5032E would be adequate?

[@mark_madel]

Sure, it's a totally reasonable and decently-built DSO for the price.

[@jimmbbo]

Mark Madel Thanks!

[@jopio333]

jimmbbo Im not a electro prof. I’m just making audio stuff and 4 me it is a great scope. The vga output and the big lcd is awesome

[@jimmbbo]

Thanks!

[@williematney713]

The trigger out can still be optically isolated, even though you see continuity between the shielding conductor of the jack, which you really want to. So, just because you read from the outer part of the jack, to the outer shell of another BNC jack only shows that all are connected to the same shielding ground. The signal from the center conductor of the trigger out can still be optically isolated from the rest of the scope circuitry. Madel as in Madel Electronics?

[@jamaticon]

great review, very useful.

[@J4e8a16n]

Hi, I am trying to display an ac wavwform from a microphone at the same time off its fft interpretation. I can get one or the other. Could you make a short video on this? JP

[@mark_madel]

Just to be thorough, here is part of the exchange I had with Owon 15.5 months ago: Me: "First, either my unit is defective - or the output does not seem optically-isolated as you claim. I measure 15kOhms between the 2 points of the BNC connector with power off to the scope." Owon: "Our product is not optically-isolated output like the Rigol DS1052E’s, but field-effect tube output."

[@samsman007]

Hello Mark. Would you happen to have ATTEN ADS1102CAL and Uni-T UTD2102CEL to review as well? I'm torn between ATTEN ADS1102CAL, OWON SDS7102 and Uni-T UTD2102CEL... Please help me (and probably others too) to decide.. :)

[@repasiv]

Hi, good review. You complain about not having the option to toggle trough more settings than 2 around 16:20. I am not sure that this has a reason. Could it be that with a wrong setting you would damage your instrument? It might be wise having the options separated.

[@user-cv1rh2zm2x]

Hey, Mark, how do you think of Siglent? Can you send us a review of Siglent SDS1102cml?

[@szabolcsmate5254]

Feeding back the trigger signal and using alternate trigger makes the wps numbers irrelevant. If you use an external frequency counter to measure the trigger out you get the real numbers which are - while still budget dso territory - much better. It actually captures 200-210 waveforms per second to 1k debth, 150 to 10k, 70-80 to 10M. The big problem is the persistence, which takes the numbers down to 20-30. XY mode is 95 wps. Also, as the GUI thread runs on the same CPU as the data processing, even having measurements or menus on the screen will slow down the capture rate. An other thing to keep in mind is that the captures are not spread out evenly. If you feed the trigger out into a second scope, you will see grouped spikes, capturing a burst of waveforms, then nothing until the CPU finished updating the screen, doing measurements and whatever else. These scopes are clearly not for runt signal captures. Just as they are not mixed signal scopes, and they don't have 1GHz bandwidth or 4 channels. Pick the tool for the job. By any means, for the money they are excellent value.

[@mark_madel]

***** Their waveform capture rates are terrible and they don't do intensity grading. While they might have been reasonable value for the money when I made this review 4 years ago, you can now buy the 4-channel Rigol DS1000Z with 64 level intensity-graded display and many more features (as well as capturing up to 30,000 wps) for less money, so, no, these Owon DSOs are no longer good value for the money.

[@szabolcsmate5254]

Mark Madel Haven't noticed it was from 2012. That was a much older firmware back then. One of the latest upgrades they made was improving the capture rate, but only to the numbers above. Not sure I understand your argument about not being good value. The Rigol DS1104Z costs near twice the price of the Owon and a completely different kind of beast. Might be even better value, but in a different league. 10M per channel full speed deep memory for £270 (5/2015) is awesome. Mind you, deep memory is more important for me than capture rate. If I had the budget and/or I really needed its features I would buy the Rigol DS1000Z for sure.

[@mark_madel]

***** My original 3-part review is from August 2011 (just after the DSO was introduced) - this 'compilation' is from 2012. But the firmware makes no difference - the underlying technology is out-of-date. I would never consider buying an inexpensive DSO without intensity-grading anymore. And your value comparison only makes sense if you don't consider the fact that the Rigol DS1000Z series has already been hacked ever since it was first introduced. That means ALL of the special locked features (100MHz bandwidth, 24M full speed deep memory, all protocol decoding, segmented memory, etc) are FREE for any owner that wants to spend 10 minutes of his time generating the unlock key (in other words, compare the price of the base model DS1054Z to the SDS7102). I repeat: it's ridiculous to buy the Owon at this point in time unless you just want to cripple yourself - you would be buying 5-year old technology which has been superseded by the other Chinese companies: Rigol, Instek, Siglent, etc.

[@denisfrancoeur5971]

Is it possible with Owon SDS7102 to see both cursors on the display at the same time. It will be very useful to see both x and y deltas together

[@mark_madel]

Hi Denis - I haven't owned the SDS7102 in many years, so I don't remember anymore. You'd be better off either asking someone that currently has it, or by checking the instruction manual online.

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

No only V or T not both at the same time

[@serverguy2]

I can't imagine that writing either a large amount of memory heap or a small amount takes any difference in time. I have written such routines and a round robin write takes the same amount of time no matter how large the buffer is. And the routine is simple and fast. Does not require copying memory, which seems to be what they are doing since it slows so considerably when capturing to a large memory size. If, of course, I understand what is going on with the trace memory function.

[@mark_madel]

Mikey MoMo Of course it takes more time to write more memory - but under most other circumstances (e.g. inside a computer), that extra time is negligible. But DSOs are real-time machines working with capturing, decimating, and displaying data in micro or nanoseconds - while missing as little as possible of the incoming data. Since each of those steps requires processing power, the more clever (and usually expensive) DSOs offload the work to different processors - but many of the low-cost DSOs (such as this one) use one processor to try to perform all of the steps.

[@espenbgh2540]

I'm sure the pass fail test with the glitch you are showing is correct, if it's the half squarewave you refer to which seems to me more as a part of the signal all in all which the mask also shows. I'd suggest you try with a real glitch on a single signal sine, triangle or Square,

[@SjoerdBeukers]

looked liked! but it does not have vga out does it?

[@SjoerdBeukers]

Oh cool haha.. and what scope do you have now?

[@J4e8a16n]

Hi, How about the Owon software (oscilloscope and logic analyser) tutorial? JP

[@mark_madel]

It COULD be.... but it isn't. I had the scope open and checked (you can see hi-res photos at the link listed above). I also had a conversation with Owon about it - and they admitted that both their advertisements and the manual were incorrect on this point (i.e. false). Did they change the false ads and owners manual? Not for a very long time -- I think they finally dropped the claim about 10-12 months after I called them out about it.

[@mark_madel]

I'm afraid not easily. A few people at EEVBlog looked into it with little success. Although Owon, IMO, did not write very good firmware for what is, essentially, very good hardware - they did manage to 'protect' it well . What I don't understand is why instrument manufacturers don't create open-source firmware (or a good FW SDK) and then allow users to modify or embed their own FW with the stipulation that it voids the warranty.

[@cadiscase]

Would you show how to record a waveform and store it n a thumb drive please ? Thanks for considering. The manual was confusing about how to do this.

[@mark_madel]

Sorry, I don't have the Owon DSO anymore. I could show you on my current DSO (Rigol), but I'm not sure that would help you.

[@rmanpojo8485]

If still needed I can make a small video clip and place it here. Let me know.

[@niceguy60]

Mark Madel Christ man how do you go from a Rigol to a Owon than back to Rigol again

[@mark_madel]

niceguy60 The Chinese brand has nothing to do with it. I'm pretty sure it's explained in the reviews, but to summarize - I went from a DSO with a phone-sized screen to one with a decent-size screen but a slow as molasses update rate (this one) to one with a decent-size screen and a fast update rate..

[@riscy00]

I wonder how the 10M memory benefits the FFT operation compare to other scope with shorter memory. I also wondered how he 10M memory benefits the use in operation, does it capture SPI data longer than 10-40K memory? Nice review although....would like see more of practical use. SPI /CS to trigger and SPI clock and data on CH1 and CH2 for example

[@alien8r33d]

The battery is identical to the box you removed and is screwed in in the same manner. In fact the box you removed is simply an empty battery case.

[@SjoerdBeukers]

There is a 3rd reason for a vga output to be important. I heard someone with limited eyesight (marmad EEVBLOG) hooked it up to his 32" lcd tv and was able to operate it successfully.

[@yellowcrescent]

COM/VGA? lol. I think they probably use the same case for multiple scopes... some (lower end) scopes come with a DB-9 for RS-232, while their "higher end" scopes come with a DB-15HD for VGA. Anyway, thanks for the review! I've been interested in Owon's line of Spectrum Analyzers and Data Analyzers...

[@mark_madel]

Rigol DS2072 - I have a review of it also posted.

[@pangea011]

thanks for the video, but I saw that calibraste the unit before using. Fabian de Argentina

[@mark_madel]

No, that's one thing that it's missing - which is a bit of a shame - but it has a much bigger, sharper, and more readable screen than the older Rigols. Plus (and as a programmer - this is a big plus), unlike the Owon or the Hantek, it has the standard SCPI command set for interfacing to a PC - so you can write your own output routine - which although not exactly the same as hardware VGA out - can do similar things.

[@mark_madel]

Sorry, I don't. I currently have a Rigol DS2072. But I think you can find info about those other scopes at EEVBlog. Good luck.

[@rubensvitorinojunior2596]

owon x Huntek,what the best?

[@martinguitarhd28]

would this be ok for automotive use?

[@mark_madel]

+martinguitarhd28 Sure, but this DSO has been around awhile already (the review is 4 years old) so it's likely you can find something better/cheaper. For automotive use, it might also be worth looking at USB DSOs that hookup to a computer (laptop, tablet, etc) and upload the captured trace.

[@andrewwmacfadyen6958]

I use a an SDS7102V with battery for automotive work and find it excellent for car work. It is much quicker to set up and capture wave forms than a virtual USB scope. The only negative aspects I have found are the battery life between charges isn't as good as expected, lack of vertical scale for use with a 20:1 attentuator which is commonly used in automotive work and the poor widows software. You can save waveforms as data or image files to a USB memory stick. The V model will connect to a VGA monitor or to a computer USB or LAN to a computer however the SDS windows software is pretty poor.

[@alexanderpummer5842]

it is one instrument, which was made for ingenieurs by programmer, one needs to much attention for the usage of the instrument

[@mark_madel]

That's me :)

[@korytnacka7english]

Uh, sometimes it does not work. Just type to google words "Evaluating Oscilloscopes for Best Waveform Update Rates" and you should find an useful pdf.

[@OneCoolDude08]

The only reason I would never buy an Owon is the slide issue. The thing weighs about the same as a deck of cards and has buttons Chuck Norris can barely press. Yeah there are things you can do, but I just want something I can pull out of the box and use!

[@Zenseivideo]

is it hackable?

[@J4e8a16n]

I bought an Owon sds7201. The probes melt on a hot transistor.

[@DavidLeeMenefee]

Don't like the scope but good review anyway.

[@repasiv]

Course Volts/Div is okay in my opinion... I do not need 13,78 Volts/Div :)

[@Zenseivideo]

I do believe that project is underway :) I remember reading something about not long ago. Found this clip though it's not really the same /watch?v=g_C-L97l_XI

[@kd5ozy]

cheezy!

[@korytnacka7english]

Well, type "com" instead of "commm".

[@fairlightbolney3928]

AVOID! Mine lasted just over a year then CH2 died.

[@xavieraxiak6866]

tactile monetary switches, yuk!

[@BrianG61UK]

Which he inexplicably describes as membrane switches!

[@xavieraxiak6866]

I guess they could be metal domes over a membrane printed circuit. Same end result though, way too tactile.

[@drdma1]

Purchased the SDS7102 in 2013. There was a factory problem with the motherboard: the DSP stopped working after 10-20 minutes. The manufacturer replaced the unit. The new unit worked properly for 3-4 months when the rotary encoders began to make problems (contact issue...). After 3-4 years disassembled the unit and cleaned the rotary encoders. It worked for 2-3 months properly when the problems began again. Also ordered replacement encoders from Aliexpress (not awaiting much of them...). Still not installed the new encoders; it is a hard work to remove them from the PCB again etc. Today upon powering up the SDS7102 the left channel is reading 10000+ Volts. Didn't get any voltage spike etc. It seems the motherboard failed again? ONE THING IS DEFINITIVE: I'LL NEVER BUY AGAIN A SUCH CRAP CHINESE SH***T. It costed half price of a HAMEG or Tectronix, but never worked properly. :( It's time to throw it into the trash...