The Owon HDS160 Multimeter Is Also an Oscilloscope That Can Measure Current

The Owon HDS160 is a combined multimeter and oscilloscope, at least that is what is says on the box. It comes packed with a black pouch, a Quick Guide in English, a specifications sheet, a red and a black multimeter lead and a USB-C cable. A standard oscilloscope probe is not included.

Owon HDS160 Multimeter Specifications

Looking at the spec sheet, we see that its multimeter specifications are pretty good:

• DC & AC voltage: from 60 mV (1 µV resolution) up to 1000 VDC or 750 VAC (both with 100 mV resolution). AC voltage measurements feature three frequency ranges: 20 Hz to 45 Hz, 45 Hz to 65 Hz and 65 Hz up to 1 kHz.
• DC & AC current: Current (DC & AC) from 600 µA (10 nA resolution) up to 10 A (1 mA resolution). AC current has a single frequency range from 20 Hz up to 1 kHz. Note that currents of 10 A may not exceed a measurement duty cycle of 20% (i.e. less than 2 minutes during a 10-minute interval)
• Resistance from 600 Ω (10 mΩ resolution) up to 60 MΩ (1 kΩ resolution)
• Frequency from 60 Hz (1 mHz resolution) up to 60 MHz (1 kHz resolution) for sine or square waves with an amplitude of at least 1 V RMS.
• Capacitance from 6 nF (0.1 pF resolution) up to 60 mF (1 µF resolution).
• It can also measure duty cycle from 0.1% up to 99.9% (0.1% resolution) and test diodes and continuity. Continuity testing has an adjustable threshold, which is a nice feature.

Variable Accuracy

As these values show, the maximum count is 60,000. (There is also an HDS120, which has a maximum count of 20,000.)  The accuracy is variable across the different ranges, meaning that you must consult the spec sheet every time you want to take really precise measurements. In practice however, this will not be necessary for every-day use.

A Basic Oscilloscope

The oscilloscope is a basic affair. It is a single-channel device with an analog bandwidth of 1 MHz and a sample rate of 5 MSPS. The time base ranges from 2.5 µs to 10 s per division (there are twelve horizontal divisions) and the vertical scale goes from 30 mV up to 500 V per division (six vertical divisions), which is actually a rather high upper range for an oscilloscope. Uncommon is the vertical current range from 100 µA up to 5 A per division. Indeed, this oscilloscope can measure current without requiring a special probe.
 

Triggering is standard, i.e. auto, normal and single on rising or falling edges. Automatic measurements comprise Vmax, Vmin, Vpp, Vavg, Vrms and frequency.

The oscilloscope does not have a BNC connector for a standard probe, which explains why such a probe is not included in the box. As a matter of fact, the mulitmeter leads double as oscilloscope probes.

After reading the above it comes a bit as a surprise to see that the Owon HDS100 series is marketed as oscilloscope and multimeter, with oscilloscope coming first. Actually, a multimeter with oscilloscope display would be a more accurate description, or graphical multimeter if you prefer.

Using The Owon HDS160

After pressing the power button, the HDS160 switches on quickly and is immediately ready for use as a multimeter, even if you powered it down in oscilloscope mode. The large rotary switch so typical for multimeters has been replaced by pushbuttons. Selecting a measurement type is done by pressing one or more times one of the four function keys (not the F keys).

By default, the meter is in auto mode, but as soon as you press the arrow up or down key, it switches to manual mode. In voltage mode, the manual range does not go below 6 V where it goes down all the way to the lowest range value in all other modes. In voltage mode, you must select the mV range first by pressing the F1 key.
There is no warning when switching to current measuring mode. However, the range adapts automatically when the probe is plugged into the A or µA/mA socket, so there is some kind of detection mechanism. (This only works with shrouded banana plugs.) You can manually switch between subranges using the F keys.

In current mode, the HDS160 emits a short beep every 10 seconds, which can get on your nerves quite quickly. Luckily, it is possible to switch these audible warnings off in the settings menu. (This does not deactivate the warning beep that sounds when the device is about to switch off automatically in power-save mode.)

Oscilloscope Mode of the Owon HDS160

Pressing the DMM/OSC button instantly activates oscilloscope mode. The user interface is intuitive and clear. Pressing Up/Down adjusts the vertical scale, Left & Right control the horizontal scale. Press the COMP/Trig button to access the trigger menu. Set the trigger level with the F3/F4 keys, not the Up/Down keys. The MAXMIN/MEASURE key brings up the automatic measurements (all together).

Screenshots

No matter what mode you are in and what the display is showing, you can take a screenshot of it any time simply by pressing the save button (with a floppy disk icon… Now, I am old enough to know what that is, but what about users born after 2000? No wonder it is hard to decipher hieroglyphs).
 

To view the screenshots, you must connect the HDS160 to a computer. For this a USB-C port is available on the right side concealed behind a sliding cover. Trying to naively slide the cover open is not possible. Well, actually it is, but you must remove the leads first from their sockets. This is due to the safety mechanism that blocks the sockets when the USB port is accessible and that avoids damaging your computer when the multimeter is connected to a dangerous voltage or so. Nice feature.

Accuracy

As far as accuracy goes, I do not have any calibrated precision references around to test the Owon HSD160 against. Therefore, my accuracy testing was limited to comparing the device to what I consider my best multimeter, a Fluke 189. Well, I can be short about this: the HDS160 produced virtually identical readings as the reference meter on any of the voltages, currents, resistors and capacitors that I tried. The values were so close that I couldn’t tell which one of the two multimeters was the better one. In my lab, that translates to “good enough for me”.

Conclusion

Expecting yet another low-cost combined oscilloscope-multimeter device, I was pleasantly surprised by the Owon HDS160 because that’s exactly what it isn’t. In reality, the HDS160 is a practical multimeter with a graphical display featuring a few oscilloscope functions.

Measuring currents with an oscilloscope is complicated if you don’t have a special current probe at your disposal. With the HDS160 however, it is a piece of cake. Tracing a signal through a circuit is easy as you don’t have to fiddle with separate multimeter leads and oscilloscope probes. With the HDS160, you measure a voltage or current in multimeter mode and if you want to see if it evolves over time, and if it does, how, just press the DMM/OSC key and don’t swap probes.
 

Its safety features help ensure a long lifespan, which can be further extended by replacing the removable 18650-type battery. This also allows you to quickly ‘recharge’ the device in the field by swapping in a spare — provided you remembered to pack a charged one.

Now, if only it had two channels…