The Owon SDS1102 100MHz Digital Storage Oscilloscope - Pt.2 - In Use

Before even starting acceptance testing, the first thing I did with this 'scope was to change the fuse in the kettle-lead plug for a 3A. Even this is big for the actual rating of the 'scope, but a damn sight safer than leaving a 13A fuse in there!

So with a safer fuse rating fitted, I powered up the 'scope, and set up my Geiger circuit as a test source.

Having folded out the two feet from underneath the scope, which weights about 1kg, and attached the scope probes, I first carried out the compensation adjustment to the probes, before connecting them to test points on the Geiger circuit.

In use, the 'scope is reasonably intuitive. Most controls are where you'd expect them and work as you'd expect them to work. The buttons have a reasonably positive action to them.

Blocking oscillator and flyback

Please forgive the poor colour rendering on the photos! I've used the same set of test points and measurements that I did with the DSO138 kit. So the first photo shows the trace of the blocking oscillator and the flyback pulse, the second is the flyback pulse expanded to show the inductor ringing.

Inductor ringing

The photo below shows the blocking oscillator with the FFT mode enabled, the top trace being the time domain, and the lower the FFT frequency domain.

FFT frequency domain function

Another option is to open a measurement window, which gives statistics of the signal being monitored. The menus, as with most menu driven devices, take a little getting used to. Most are accessed from a dedicated button on the main panel, then the options selected by the buttons beside the display.

Channel measurements option

And finally, both channels enabled, showing the G-M tube cathode connection, and the blocking oscillator. Here the side menu is shown as well for the Trigger options - the 'scope being set to trigger on rising edge 'normal' mode. The trigger signal in this case being the radiation event pulse shown in the middle of the screen.

Blocking oscillator lower trace, cathode pulses upper trace

All in all, so far, I'm quite happy with it. One thing missing though which would have made it very portable, is a DC supply connector! Despite its compact, lightweight portability - it still needs mains power.