[sdiy] DSO recommendation please

[Tom Wiltshire]

Hi all,

Back in April I asked for a recommendation for a cheap digital  
storage oscilloscope. Although I got lots of advice, I couldn't make  
my mind up at the time, so I sat on it for a bit.

However, the other day I finally made a decision and bought a Owon  
PDS7102T scope for £470. This is a dual-trace, 100MHz scope. I also  
looked at the 6062T, which is the next model down and quite a bit  
cheaper (£350 on ebay). The "T" designation represents a TFT display,  
which I wanted over the STN display that the cheaper "S" models have.

The other shortlisted contender (Thanks Tony R) was the Rigol  
DS1102E, which has a smaller screen but a bigger sample memory, and  
is otherwise pretty similar.

The criticisms I've seen of the Owon scopes (and I've done a fair bit  
of research whilst trying to make my mind up...) are that the build  
quality is low and plasticky and that you can't see the screen unless  
you're exactly in front of it. I have to say that neither of these  
seem fair with my scope. I haven't seen the STN screen, but the TFT  
one is lovely; big, bright, and easy to read from a fairly wide  
angle. The build quality is fine too. Yes, it *is* plastic, but it  
doesn't feel like anything will break off. Buttons have a good  
positive action, encoders are firm. If I wanted serious build  
quality, I could have stuck with my 1965 Marconi - they don't build  
'em like that any more.

All in all, after a few days it looks good. We'll have to see if I  
still feel the same way after a year or several years. It's a rather  
different tool, and I'll need to learn how to get the best out of it.

One word of warning if other people are thinking of getting one: The  
earlier versions of the Owon PDS scopes didn't have an FFT function  
amongst other less important things (earlier firmware) and there are  
a number of places (particularly on ebay) still selling old scopes  
for cheap. If you want the recent functions that are mentioned on the  
Owon website, you need to make sure that's what you're buying. In the  
UK, Rapid, CPC, and EMCLR have good prices and the newer scopes.

Tom

PS: I also decided not to get rid of my analogue Instek scope until  
I'm convinced I don't need it. We'll see.