Independent comparisons. We may earn from shop links. More info

How to use an OWON oscilloscope

Updated: 22 October 2026

The screen is a flat line or a smear, and the circuit is a battery or a 5 V rail. How to use an OWON oscilloscope is the sequence that gets one stable trace before anyone mentions a wall socket: tip and ground clip, 10x in two places, compensation if you can see a square-wave terminal, then trigger and coupling. Peter F. drew this from Rohde & Schwarz UK, Tektronix, and Keysight, on 21 October 2026. It is not a lab test, and it does not invent button names the listings do not print. The models are on the [OWON oscilloscope comparison](/hub/measuring-equipment/owon-oscilloscope). A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The screen is a flat line or a smear, and the circuit is a battery or a 5 V rail.

Our top picks

Owon Owon SDS215S

Best overall

Owon Owon SDS215S
6.5/10about £209.93
View offer
Owon Owon HDS2102

Best value

Owon Owon HDS2102
3.9/10about £180.00
View offer
Owon Owon SDS1022

Alternative

Owon Owon SDS1022
2.7/10about £181.00
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Connect the probe before you turn any knob
  2. 2.Set 10x on the probe and on the scope
  3. 3.Make the trace stand still
  4. 4.DC coupling first, AC when the offset hides the ripple
  5. 5.Stop before a mains conductor

Connect the probe before you turn any knob

A passive probe has a tip and a ground clip, and the screen is meaningless until both land on the same low-voltage circuit. Clip the ground to the circuit ground of that battery or 5 V rail, and put the tip on the point you mean to see. The SDS1022 box list includes two probes. The SDS215S and the HDS2102 listings do not itemise probes, so stop and fit a passive probe you trust if the box has none.

Set 10x on the probe and on the scope

Set the probe to 10x, then set the same 10x in the probe menu, or every reading is out by a factor of ten. Rohde & Schwarz’s UK note treats 10x as the usual choice because 1x loads the circuit more. Compensation is the square corner on the scope’s own square-wave terminal, if the instrument has one. The listings do not name that terminal, so use it when you can see it. A flat top is compensated. A spike is over-compensated. A rounded edge is under-compensated. Adjust with a non-conductive tool.
Owon Owon SDS215S

Testsieger

Owon Owon SDS215S
6.5/10about £209.93
View offer

Make the trace stand still

Auto trigger draws a trace even when the level is wrong, which is why a new scope looks alive and unstable. Keysight’s note treats auto as the starting point and normal as the mode that waits for a real crossing. Start in auto, move the trigger level until it sits inside the wave, then switch to normal when you want the scope to wait. Use single for one shot, such as a switch-on event. A 5 V logic edge triggered near 2 V should stand still before you touch coupling.

DC coupling first, AC when the offset hides the ripple

DC coupling shows the signal plus its offset, so a 5 V rail sits near 5 V. AC coupling strips the offset and lets a small ripple use a finer volts-per-division scale. Pico’s test is practical: AC is wrong when you need the DC level, and useful when a 50 mV ripple is buried on a 12 V line. A coarse scale hides millivolts, so judge ripple only after that change. The HDS2102 lists frequency, period, amplitude, maximum, minimum, mean, and peak-to-peak. Those digits do not replace a stable trigger.

Stop before a mains conductor

UK mains is 230 V at 50 Hz, and the ground clip on a typical bench scope is tied to protective earth. That clip does not go on live or neutral. A battery handheld does not create a permit to do it either. Why removing the protective earth is discouraged is on oscilloscope mains safety in the UK. If the circuit is a consumer unit or three-phase gear, a competent person takes over. Bandwidth and record length are on the buying guide.

Common questions

Where do I clip the ground lead on a battery circuit?
Clip it to the circuit ground of that battery, the same 0 V the rest of the circuit uses. Put the tip on the node you want to see. On a small board that is often the negative terminal of the battery or the ground pin of the regulator. It is not the earth pin of a UK 13 A plug.
Should the probe switch be on 1x or 10x?
Use 10x for a first trace, and set 10x in the probe menu as well. If the switch and the menu disagree, the volts on screen are out by a factor of ten. 1x loads the circuit more and is a later choice for a small, slow signal. Confirm what is actually in the box before you rely on a switch position.
How do I know the probe is compensated?
If the scope has a square-wave terminal, connect the tip and the ground clip there and look at the corner. A flat top is compensated. A spike is over-compensated. A rounded shoulder is under-compensated. Trim with a non-conductive tool. The listings do not name that terminal, so leave the trim alone if you cannot see one.
Why does the trace drift across the screen?
The trigger level is usually outside the wave, or the scope is free-running in auto with nothing to lock to. Move the level into the signal and try normal mode so the scope waits for a crossing. A drift can also be AC coupling on a slow DC change, or a probe whose ground clip is not on the circuit ground.
When do I use auto, normal, and single?
Auto draws even without a valid trigger, so it is the mode that gets a first picture. Normal waits for the level you set, which suits a burst you would otherwise miss between sweeps. Single arms one capture and stops, which suits a switch-on event. Start in auto, lock the level, then move to normal or single when the event is rare.
When do I switch from DC coupling to AC?
Stay on DC while you need the offset, such as confirming that a rail is near 5 V. Switch to AC when a small ripple is hidden by that offset and you need a finer volts-per-division scale. AC coupling removes the DC level, so a reading taken in AC is the ripple, not the supply voltage.

Related pages

Best OWON oscilloscope

Owon oscilloscope

How to choose an oscilloscope: bandwidth and memory

Handheld or bench oscilloscope: screen and battery

Oscilloscope mains safety in the UK: the ground clip

Sources

Public UK and manufacturer sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and the star line are the amazon.co.uk figures captured with these three listings. The price band is this set, not a market average.

  1. HSE INDG354: safety in electrical testing (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. HSE GS38: electrical test equipment for use on low voltage systems (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 16 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK: Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. Owon SDS1000 series table (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Owon HDS200 series table (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Owon SDS200 series (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. owon.co.uk: SDS1022 (retrieved 22 October 2026)