Cheap Oscilloscope? Voltcraft DSO-3062C

[Armageddon]

Which Owon software do you use with it? Also, your reason is deep memory plus 1Gs and?

SW:

The sotware is nothing spectacular, but neither is the SW in other brand, except for those that support NI-VISA.

  -[Windows APP]: http://www.owon.ca/software/pc/OWON_Oscilloscope_Setup.rar  
  -[Driver Windows/Firmware Upgrade]: http://www.owon.com.hk/down-en.asp?bigclassname=software_upgrading
  -[Driver Linux]: http://en.sourceforge.jp/frs/g_redir.php?m=jaist&f=%2Fowondriver%2Fowondriver%2Fowondump-0.3%2Fowondump-0.3.tar.gz

Reason:

I do not know what your needs are. I did not want to spend much money, but also wanted something decent. So I chose the SDS8102.

Uses a single ADC (MXT2001 is a adc08d1000 clone), it has a good sample rate (Max. 2Gsps), and ENOB (~7.3 bit) is specified for frequencies as high as 498MHz (see datasheet).

The AD9288, used in other brands, is not specified even more than 50 MHz, although, using five AD9288 with 2 ADC per AD9288 running at 100MHz    
either one, it can get 1Gsps. But is not the same thant one ADC or two in the same chip (interleave distortion).

The SDS8102 have 10 Mpts of Memory (only 10Kpts @ 2Gsps), and I am sure that it BW is greater than 100MHz, because it has a good/tolerable analog stage.
Even if, to be realistic, using two channels at once and, only for nonrepetitive signals is not interesting use it to measure over 1GHz/10. And that is why for me with a BW of 100MHz is more than good.

Owon has technical service, other brands not have technical service and/or firmware updates (for example Voltcraft, for all I know).
A few days ago I had a chat with a OWON technician,to clear some doubts, he clarified all kindly to me.

Owon have been concerned to correct the failures of hardware and firmware, at least so far.

However, I do not mean that the SDS8102 is the best (on this same topic I posted about their poor internal construction), or that everyone need an oscilloscope.
So that If you need an oscilloscope and have budget for a Rigol DS2000 series (~1000€), Hameg HMO2022 (~1800€) or Agilent (>2000€), then buy one of this or another that you like.


Since the Voltcraft DSO-3062C is outdated and here we discussed about several brand/model oscilloscopes. What do you think if we change the title of the topic?

Sorry for my bad English.

[sarah90]

So that If you need an oscilloscope and have budget for a Rigol DS2000 series (~1000€), Hameg HMO2022 (~1800€) or Agilent (>2000€), then buy one of this or or another you like.

I totally agree here. Be sure to check out this convincing review of the DS2072: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAY1GQEjrfc  It is about 700 euros excluding VAT, but shipping included.

[Armageddon]

sarah90, I like more this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdMQZfDRKU

[sarah90]

sarah90, I like more this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRdMQZfDRKU

As much as I like R&S and their equipment, I think they could have done a little better here than just showing a poorly calibrated probe and the possibility to use cursors for measurement. The cheapies discussed here can all do this.

[Armageddon]

As much as I like R&S and their equipment, I think they could have done a little better here than just showing a poorly calibrated probe and the possibility to use cursors for measurement. The cheapies discussed here can all do this.

LOL, true but are RohdeundSchwarz and they can afford, not need more. 

[sarah90]

LOL, true but are RohdeundSchwarz and they can afford, not need more. 

Yeah, the arrogance of the top. 

[Armageddon]

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).

Here are two good explanations of it:

cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-7885EN.pdf
www2.rohde-schwarz.com/file/1ER02_1e.pdf

To give you a concrete example of the difference between the Owon and Rigol's rates:

Scope’s blind-time percentage
= 100 x [(1/U) – W]/(1/U)
= 100 x (1 – UW)
where
U = Scope’s measured update rate
and
W = Display acquisition window = Timebase setting x number of divisions (which is 20 on the Owon and 15 on the Rigol).

For example, at a 100ns/div timebase setting:
The 30 wfrm/s update rate of the Owon means a blind-time of 99.994% - in other words, it's only showing .006% of the real-time waveform.
Assuming the Rigol does 50,000 wfrm/s at this timebase setting, the blind-time is 92.5% -  i.e., it's showing 7.5% of the real-time waveform.

What does this mean in terms of glitch hunting? According to the formula, then the average time for catching a repeating signal fault (let's say 10 glitches per second at 100ns/div) with a probability of 99.9%:
Owon: ~3 hours and 12 minutes.
Rigol: 9.2 seconds

So for design and debugging digital electronics, the best/cheaper I think is a Rigol DS2000 series.

[sarah90]

I think there is a cut off point around 500/600 euros. If you want to spend less, go for the hantek/voltcraft/rigol-1000/owon for the lowest price you can get and hack the most out of them. Above 500 euros go for the rigol 2000/hameg or better. They are simply another class and with another price. If you need the scope for your work, skip the cheapies or use them as an extra piece of kit with no strings attached.

[Armageddon]

I think there is a cut off point around 500/600 euros. If you want to spend less, go for the hantek/voltcraft/rigol-1000/owon for the lowest price you can get and hack the most out of them. Above 500 euros go for the rigol 2000/hameg or better. They are simply another class and with another price. If you need the scope for your work, skip the cheapies or use them as an extra piece of kit with no strings attached.

As I said before: "Guys, all these cheap oscilloscope seem toys."

Problems that appear small are large problems that are not fully understood. (Santiago Ramón y Cajal)

[sarah90]

As I said before: "Guys, all these cheap oscilloscope seem toys."

Boys need toys 

[Armageddon]

Interleave distortion! See attached.

Welec W2000A 4 ADC per channel @ 250MHz to get 1Gsps: http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/welecw2000a/wiki/Hardware

This really is arrogance of the top: http://www.welec.de/english/05_products/products_02_W2000_TDS2000.htm

[metal]

Armageddon, what does the chart you attached mean?

[Armageddon]

Armageddon, what does the chart you attached mean?

See this: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5989-5732EN.pdf

[Armageddon]

Three interesting revisions of the three most talked oscilloscopes in this thread:

  -[Owon SDS-X102]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqcEi6ru4ZM

  -[Hantek DSO-5000B]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7UgKJ8M7LY

  -[Rigol DS-2000]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAY1GQEjrfc


Note: Much of the information that I've shared here has been obtained from other Internet sites and, amounts to a summary that I hope will serve to clarify doubts and learn.


More theory, summarized: http://gpete-neil.blogspot.com.es/p/scopes.html

[mhemara]

If you look for cheap test platform, you can take a look @ DSO203 (2 Ch. Oscilloscope+ 2 Ch. channel logic analyzer+ Function Generator) for about $140~$150. It is also an open source project 
I got one from "Aliexpress.com" and I really enjoyed it.



Wiki:
http://www.seeedstudio.com/wiki/DSO_Quad
Complete review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV-zXsmeBLA

[sarah90]

If you look for cheap test platform, you can take a look @ DSO203 (2 Ch. Oscilloscope+ 2 Ch. channel logic analyzer+ Function Generator) for about $140~$150. It is also an open source project 
I got one from "Aliexpress.com" and I really enjoyed it.

Nice gadget for the money. The controls seem a bit awkward though.