concerns about buying Owon SDS8102? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: rsqdivr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 01:55:18 am
content: Hi all! Would you have any reservations about ordering/using one of the new Owon SDS8102 scopes? I'm an EE student and confused by all the specs. The brand history isn't as robust as others (Rigol, tek, etc.) but the memory depth and screen size are impressive. I value your input.Thanks

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 07:59:13 am
content: Quote from: rsqdivr on July 30, 2011, 01:55:18 amThen be a good EE student, and do what students are supposed to do: learn on your own what the specs mean. Especially since this is something which will help you in your subject and in your career as an EE. There is a lot of information on the Internet, you don't have to even visit your university's library. You can do it all from the comfort of your dorm.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 01:05:13 pm
content: Quote from: rsqdivr on July 30, 2011, 01:55:18 amOf course I would! It's a brand new product, and very limited experiences have been posted. It could have all kinds of hidden defects that are not obvious from the specs (eg. bugs), or not even meet all specs. Owon's past products haven't exactly gave me confidence to buy their products sight unseen. It may be a fine product, but I'd wait for other people to take the gamble and test it.

author: rsqdivr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 05:01:36 pm
content: BoredAtWork: I am a distance student so I don't have access to a scope except for the one I will buy. I know about the basic specs (bandwidth, sample rate, memory depth). I know I'd like to have 100MHz, >=500MSa/s, and better than the Tek 2.5kpts memory depth that my school's scopes have. This scope seemed to satisfy all those specs.My question was, as a "Sr. Member" who has the benefit of years of experience in the minutia of all the other specs posted, is there anything listed that gives you pause, that I may not be considering? Is there something missing or hidden that I should want to see? Is there some reason I wouldn't want a TFT screen? Don't you think I've done some amount of research other than to just pick this scope out of thin air, since it's not the cheapest one? It's not the easiest scope to find reviews on either which is why I asked on the forum. Not to be chastised.Thanks alm, your feedback was helpful.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 05:22:42 pm
content: Quote from: rsqdivr on July 30, 2011, 05:01:36 pmDon't confuse the number of posts with experience. Not saying BoredAtWork isn't experienced, but the fact that someone posts a lot doesn't automatically mean that they know what they're talking about, and the fact that someone doesn't post a lot doesn't mean that they're inexperienced. Maybe they're just too busy with electronics to hang around on a forum. This is why I dislike displaying post count so prominently.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2011, 07:20:23 pm
content: Quote from: rsqdivr on July 30, 2011, 05:01:36 pmso by this time you should already know that no one here even the admin of this blog have access to the scope you are asking. but hey, who knows suddenly someone jump and say "i have this scope and its great", or maybe you just get an empty thread. may i suggest you contact dso gurus aka tinhead and drieg, they may have precise answer for you. or even dealextreme, if you want to trust words from a supplier. dont mind BoredAtWork, he got some skill at welcoming newcomers.

author: sean87
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2011, 11:26:10 pm
content: Quote from: rsqdivr on July 30, 2011, 01:55:18 amThe specs are pretty fine, but I am also does not have enough info over build quality and reliability. Unless you buy this OWON scope with decent warranty, I would advice going with a well known with fine quality and very minor bug count, I mean entry level scope Rigol DS1052E and maybe try to hack it to 100MHz like myself and lots of other guys.

author: gregariz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2011, 12:32:30 am
content: Compared to what was around years ago, all these cheap scopes look pretty decent to me.My advice... it'll do what you want, buy it, be happy, by the time you figure out it can't do something you will have graduated and know what you want.

author: marmad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2011, 01:02:57 am
content: @rsqdivrI've ordered an Owon SDS7102; I'm waiting on it now - I'll try to post a review of it here once I get it. I thought long and hard about whether to get the 7102 or the 8102 - but at this moment in time, I thought the added specs of the 8102 did not seem worth the price difference between them.I'm getting the SDS7102 through an online shop here in Europe, with a 3 year warranty, for about $480 - which was cheaper than the Chinese seller on Ebay - and having local support makes a big difference when buying new technology. I read all I could find about Owon when I was first thinking about buying one of their scopes - they have kind of a poor rep some places online - but it seems to all stem from a couple of negative reviews. Many of the serious equipment sellers (such as Saelig) seem to carry their stuff, so I assume that there must exist a certain level of reliability.They don't seem to have had a big breakthrough product yet - but perhaps the SDS series will be that for them. I mean, seriously... $480 for a 100MHz, 1GSa, 10MPt scope, with an 8" 800x600 screen, battery compartment, VGA output, and USB 2.0? I just bought a Hantek DDS-3X25 AWG which is buggy like hell - but chock full of features - for about 1/3 the price I'm paying for the scope. If the Owon has even that level of bugginess plus functionality, I'll be satisfied.P.S. Keep in mind that none of the current SDS scopes have the LAN port as advertised many places online - Owon was unable to complete this feature in time, and it remains in development for the time being.

author: patb
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2011, 01:10:06 pm
content: I can't wait to see your review.

author: rsqdivr
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 05, 2011, 03:16:21 pm
content: @Gregariz Thanks for the input. After careful study and consulting with the school lab, I've decided to start off with the SDS6062 60MHz model. The school's lab only uses 60MHz teks and rarely uses the scopes beyond that for the undergrad stuff. So I figure I'll start off with this one (for $399) and once I have some experience under my belt, I'm not out that much money and can upgrade to a better model (if needed).@Marmad I agree, the specs seemed good and the price. The question will be how buggy it may be. My understanding is that the menu system has also been improved on the SDS line over the PDS line. I'm hoping that for what I'll need it for, it will do fine. Love to hear your feedback on the 7102.Cheers!

author: somlioy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2011, 10:34:08 pm
content: @marmad May I ask what store you ordered that Owon scope from? Considering to get the 7102 my self, so it would be great if you were able to post a review!

author: tinhead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2011, 10:55:21 pm
content: Quote from: marmad on August 04, 2011, 01:02:57 aminteressting, Owon told me 450$ per unit (+VAT+ ship.)

author: marmad
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 08, 2011, 11:34:50 am
content: Quote@tinhead: I'm not quite sure I get you... do you mean that the $450 is including VAT and shipping? Wholesale price? Retail price directly from them? BTW, you might be interested to know, the scope looks easy as pie to open up. Mine has no "warranty" sticker or impediment of any kind on it that would deter opening it. As far as I can see, it's held together with 4 screws and the usual tabs - being careful, it looks like to can be opened and closed without anyone the wiser. If I decide to keep it past the 7 days (see review thread below), I will consider tearing it down.Quote@somlioy: Eleshop.nl - here in the Netherlands. They just had a group buy of the SDS7102 on Samenkopen.nl which I missed by a few days, during which I could have gotten the 7102 for € 319.20 (excl.VAT). But when I emailed them about the group buy, they said I was just too late, but they could still offer me one for € 348.75 (excl).Edit:Realized the rest of this post should be a new Review thread - so I moved it there:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4412.0

author: tinhead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2011, 10:18:53 am
content: lol Sergey ...>Please do me a favor to keep the price of SDS7102 as a secret.

author: elecdevel
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 16, 2011, 06:27:34 am
content: Hello!I bought the SDS7102, SDS8102 and battery two weeks ago at develissimo.com. I did not do a lot of tests in detail right now, but the products look very promising. The resolution and quality of the display is impressive. And so far it was a very good decision to go with this products. I think owon did a good job with the sds series. The price-quality ratio seems to be very good.Regards,elecdevel

author: Rossco
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 04, 2011, 10:01:00 pm
content: So after owning this a couple of weeks do you give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down?. From what I have read the Owon devices need work on their firmware. What are the week points of the SDS8102? I am trying to figure out which is better, the Owen or the Atten. I don't see on Owen's website that they provide firmware updates for their scopes.

author: arekm
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 20, 2012, 07:46:32 pm
content: Is SDS8102 very close to SDS7102 in terms of hardware or is this very different thing? Also I wonder if 8102 has any drawbacks when compared to 7102?

author: krenzo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2012, 12:11:43 am
content: This thread is very old.Look in this thread for answers.

author: aghp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2012, 07:26:54 am
content: Quote from: DaveXRQ on June 21, 2012, 12:39:51 amNo it is not same. How you think they do 2GSa/s with same HW what is in SDS7102. No way.It is NOT just a FW trick. It is different HW. But yes, there is also lot of same. Afaik, only mainboard is different. Power supply, keyboard, display, adapter board (what connects power supply, mainboard and display together) are same.Of course 7102, 8102 and 8202 hawe also lot of same on the main board but front end is different (analog + ADC)8102 and 8202 deep memory is NOT full speed as in 7102. Deep sampling buffer memory (100k - 10M/channel) maximum is still 1GSa/s. (1-10k sampling buffer memory is full speed)7102 ADC is ADC08D500 clone and 8102 and 8202 have ADC08D1000 clone. (not exact clone but functionally same)Starting from V2.6, 7102 analog front end BW -3dB point is typically clearly over 150MHz. (measured some units 160 - 170MHz 5mV - 100mV/div and typically littlebit more with higher voltage bands. )(Version 2.5 and partially 2.4 (and if it is updated from version 2.4 it need be version 2.5.1.6) have -3dB point over 220MHz and typically 235 - 265MHz. This high BW is nice but it need know and understand that specially with 2 channel use this BW corner freq is too high becouse maximum samplerate with simultaneous 2 channel use is 500MSa/s per channel. If signal under test have unknown high freq components over Nyquist freq it leads aliasing becouse they are not filtered before ADC input. For Experienced user this is not so big problem becouse many times he have skills to regognize (and also avoid) aliasing and avoid go to wrong measurements or thinking what he is seeing.)With 8102 get faster samplerate but only using 1k or 10k memory. It is all what 8102 give more.Roughly 7102 = 8102 exept front end specially ADC and clocking. 8102 = 8202 exept front end analog part diffrencies.Somewhere you find this samplerate table also for SDS8102/8202.If reallyneedthis higher samplerate then SDS8102 and if really need this small advantage in analog BW over today 7102 version then 8202.All other things are functionally same.8202 give what 8102 give plus littlebit more wide analog part of front end (around same BW as V2.5 SDS7102)

author: tinhead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2012, 11:21:14 am
content: Quote from: DaveXRQ on June 21, 2012, 09:17:44 amyou don't have to correct yourself, just don't write bullshit in first place.Quote from: DaveXRQ on June 21, 2012, 09:17:44 amwrong, while sampling with 2GS/s the memory is reduced to 10k max only,the "terrible" amount of memory is only while sampling with max 1GS/sQuote from: DaveXRQ on June 21, 2012, 09:17:44 amwrong, the front end is the same in all models. This is because it has been designed to work (at least ) up to 300MHz.From simulations it can for sure work up to 500MHz. One of the ICs in the frontend have (user) selectable low pass,therefore same hardware can be re-used for different models.