If you buy the kit that includes two probes, they ship it with the second probe taped to the box containing the scope and wrapped in a mountain of bubble wrap. Unwrap it carefully and don't just cut the wrap off like I did, or you'll end up with a single probe kit plus 6 pieces of scope probe cable.
A guy I met on a flight, saw some of the videos I watch and recommended your channel. I wish I could find that guy. He knew me better than half my close friends.
If he recommended the channel, you probably will find him if you put the same comment in all the videos until he sees it. :) People will probably vote you up haha. Maybe Dave notices it and mentions you in a video or the amp hour haha
I can see a good use in the automotive field. Having a battery operated scope with live feed and trigger save can be a blessing for catching intermittent problems. Intermittent problems are the worst!
I totally agree with you. A device like that can be quite useful for any kind of test or repair which can't be done in the lab. Being able to see waveforms is great for debugging complex problems, but sometimes using a normal oscilloscope is just not possible
I do not know they survive that. I have seen a lot fried Fluke scopemeters used automotive. And those are pretty well protected. On the other hand, you can fry 50 of these against one Fluke. If you buy them 10 at one time you could probably get a discount.
@@pa4tim I do not think this one would fry more often but I do think it would do far worse on dropping and other mechanical abuse. Maybe the mechanics try to probe the high voltage part of ignition lmao
Dave, you may have been a little harsh in your evaluation of the Zoyi ZT-703S with regard to its stated 50MHz bandwidth. The scope comes shipped with the bandwidth setting (shown under the menu setting “Run Mode”) set to “Normal Mode”, which limits the bandwidth to a maximum of 30MHz. This is done to lower power consumption. To measure signals up to the 50MHz maximum, you need to change this setting to “High-Speed Mode”, although it states the power consumption will increase. I would like to see you re-evaluate this scope with the setting on High-Speed Mode and see if it does reach its full 50MHz bandwidth and maybe check the power consumption in this High-Speed Mode compared to Normal Mode and let us know how it compares. Thanks!
This, exactly this. Although to be fair, if I used this, I wouldn't know better either. Hidden modes like this are why we read the manual. Be honest though, the first thing we do is throw it out for simple use gadgets like this one, oh well I guess the 50MHz mode is hidden.
I remove the user manual, read it thru, then remove the device, check it to make sure they agree. Nothing broken, missing, etc. I can't imagine doing any other way. All tools require inspection and familiarization, for safety, and best-bang-for-bucks. If you don't your a fool.
@@snakezdewiggle6084 Sometimes I download the manual before I actually buy or before it arrives and read it through to know all about the device's features and test them immediately when my purchase is my hands.
i wana buy this oscilloscope to test power phases on Graphic cards. do u think it will be enough to tell me if they are ON or OFF? i just wana see a signal on or off.. dont care much abt readings
The bargraph is useful when you are watching to see if the reading is moving up or down. Visually seeing a meter needle move in a direction is easier than remembering and comparing numbers in your head. The needle also shows the rate of change. Quite useful.
You must be one of those people that prefers analog clocks. I have to convert the clock hands into numbers to know the time, so I prefer digital as no conversion is necessary. For this sort of reason I agree with Dave. I would *much* prefer big clear numbers instead. Or it should at least be an actual bar-graph instead of stylised like a car speed dial.
one of the best things that i learned about these handheld scopes is that they are isolated from ground.... that makes them really useful for analysing signals in machinery where you dont neccesary know if the pin is safe to be grounded or where you need a relative measurement. ive blown a couple breakers by accidentially hooking up the scope ground to a port that was not happy about getting grounded through the earth of the scope.
I won't be upgrading. The 702 suits me fine for measuring all that I do. 10MHz is good for checking power supplies, analog, and switching. Audio circuits. The analog multimeter is great for tuning rf and if circuits. The meter is accurate for most uses. Thanks for the review of the 703.
I use my 703 to capture ignition secondary waveforms to see how the coil, wires, plugs and combustion chambers are operating while running. For this application, I can't imagine anything that would be more handy. I use it with motorcycle engines and it works superbly capturing even the little inductive bounces at the end of the burn line. I've been using it with a single inexpensive Hantek HV probe, but I have a second probe arriving tomorrow so I can check and compare two cylinders simultaneously. Earlier, to see if I really needed to go to all that work, I used the 703 and the Hantek probe to check the plugs of a GMC 3/4 ton truck's V8 engine. Although the engine ran smoothly, the scope said 'GET NEW PLUGS NOW!' and yes, they were indeed worn beyond anything I'd ever seen when I pulled them. The only thing that works better for this kind of ignition testing is my large lab scope that has to be plugged in to AC and isn't really practical to use on the shop floor.
@@vortexlooks The ignition systems I have checked so far are all the old style coil with a HV wire that goes to the top of the plug. This arrangement allows the probe's clamp easy access. I simply clamp the Hantek's pickup to the HV wire per usual, after grounding the alligator clip to exposed metal on the engine. The engines I usually work on seldom have an ignition coil in a module immediately attached to the top of the spark plug. I encounter them so seldom that I haven't bothered to make up an adapter to access the HV signal. For motorcycle engines, I clip the ground to the head's cooling fins; for my truck, I simply attached the ground clip to the bare metal to the rear of the alternator. I usually set triggering to single sweep the horizontal sweep to 1 MS to see details of the burn line and 5-20 MS to see the dwell. Of course, the waveform display is "upside down" with the spark line vertically heading down (negative) and providing my scope's triggering, but despite being upside down, my 703 shows all the important details described in the literature. Apparently, other scopes invert the signal, but why they bother to invert it rather than show it as it actually is (negative going) is probably more historical than practical.
@@oldgeezerproductions Great info, thanks for sharing! I just ordered one of these scopes and I think I have a HV probe. I'm interested in using this scope as a troubleshooting tool for older ignition systems. Thanks again for the tips.
@@vortexlooks For the older systems, where you have access to the HV wire, this tool is ideal. Just lately we had a bike come in with its coils built into long plug caps. I couldn't easily clamp on to a HV wire, so I rigged up a kind of work-around (I need to improve for next time). Turned out that the crude work-around helped prove that three coils were weak and intermittent and one coil didn't work at all. This convinced us and the customer that all four coils needed replacing. Before bringing to us, the customer replaced the bike's good battery with a new one because the old battery would run down while trying to start the engine, but now the bike starts instantly the very second the starter button is pressed and the engine runs smoothly and powerfully. We would have replaced the coils eventually, but having visual proof of dysfunction made the decision quick and easy.
I got one to review too, will be publishing it today, had to split into two videos, with second part being published later… I ended up with 2 hours of footage !
Dave, I bought a 702 a few months ago and the unit delivered has a defective probe. The switch would not select x1 ... x10. Amazon sent me a new scope and didn't require me to return the original one. So I bought a new probe and now have 2 scopes. ..... Lucky Me!
Just taken delivery of 703S using your aliexpress link after watching your video. £76 with two sets of probes delivered to the UK in 7 days. Mine has firmware version 1.2.7 which seems to be the very latest. While testing 703S, I found a bug whereby if you make any changes the function generator settings in the 'Output Setting' menu, the time base cannot subsequently be set to any value less than 100 uS. To fix the problem, go to the 3rd menu and choose 'Default ON' to restore settings back to factory defaults.
Two years ago I bought the OWON HDS272S 70 MHz Oscilloscope 3 in 1 (2 channels plus built-in function generator) with 20,000 count multi-meter. Its totally rectangular so its a bit "boxy", but its got two 18650's and every function works as it should. Its a totally usable oscilloscope (and multimeter) when I need isolation or something to carry portable, like finding a bad fuel injector on my truck. The Zoyi does have the edge on form and style, though. I like the rounded face and the slightly curvy body - it just looks better.
I have the 100Mhz version and I'm very pleased. In that thing the multimeter side is completely isolated, it has a switch mode power supply and 7 optocouplers, very expensive, give me more buttons instead to make it more useable.
Dave, you should look at your own forum - there's a thread where we've done a bunch of testing, and identified a bunch of issues already. There are some new firmware versions available, but not all of the known bugs are fixed yet
So the output mode works at the same time the oscilloscope does, but the "other apps, gen" one only works as a standalone generator - you can't use the scope at the same time. In the "output" one that works with the oscilloscope, the regular square wave is fixed at 1khz for the probe calibration. There's a different square wave mode that allows you to change the frequency and the duty cycle. BUT the limitation is if you have the "output" on, it limits the timebases (and sampling rates) available in oscilloscope mode. Took quite a while to figure out that limitation, though it is mentioned in the manual.
@@EEVblog The thread is titled 'New Zoyi multimeter+oscilloscopes - ZT-70xS, up to 50MHz/250MSps (nov 2022)' - I have the tab open from before (even if the forum is currently down). I also picked up the Owon HDS2202S at the same time - it's definitely a much more polished product - just better in every way, but 3x the price too. Neither of them are my main scope - they're for places the Keysight one shouldn't go - out in the rain, on a ladder, in the back cabinet of greasy cnc machines, etc etc.
I would recommend paying a little more and going with the Owon HDS242S. That’s a two channel 40 MHz scope, 20,000 count meter and 25 MHz function generator. I easily found it listed for $140 US, but I assume you could find it for less. It is worth paying a little more because the Owon instrument meets or beats the promised specifications. The Owon uses two 18650s which are easily field swappable under a removable cover. Accessories are similar: carry case, meter probes, one scope probe, alligator clip co-ax cables, charger/cable, manual. I carry the 100 MHz version of the Owon in my tool bag.
@@button-puncher There are several reviews of the Owon HDS200 series on RU-vid. I own both the 100 MHz and 200 MHz versions. I believe the best value/price proposition is the 100 MHz model unless you need the extra bandwidth on a regular basis. There seems to be a little less noise in the vertical amplifiers of the 100 MHz model even though it uses a multiplexed ADC chip versus dual ADC chips of the 200 MHz version. I’ve got an Owon clamp multimeter in my tool bag too and it is surprisingly good, not as nice as a Fluke, but like 1/6th the cost.
Yep, I have the 100MHz model in my toolbag as well. It's been handy when working on cars and seems pretty well sorted, no major bugs. As usual with these things they can be a bit frustrating to use compared to a bench scope, but that's always going to be true when you have buttons instead of knobs and a small screen.
Just got one of these and i absolutely loved how easy it was to update the firmware. No proprietary software needed like a lot of other instruments. Mine did come with two oscilloscope probs.
Dave, I've been watching your channel for a number of years, and I just have to say that I absolutely love your content. I am far removed from the field you're in, and I originally watched your videos sheerly out of amazement in regard to the knowledge you have with electronics (which of course makes perfect sense given your background lols). Pretty much every word that came out your mouth went in one ear and out the other, but your charisma makes it worth following videos through just to see what kind of crazy thing you end up tearing into next lol. I have learned so many incredible things through your channel, like so many things, and I can't thank you enough! You're inspirational in your willingness to share your knowledge! I am not and likely will never be an electrical engineer, but damn do you ever make me wish I even knew the basics of the industry when I was in school, because I'd for sure have jumped into it headfirst haha! You rock good sir!
@@raytry69 Maybe for the FPGA. The other parts could be similar, but say a reel has a 3% failure rate instead of the 1% failure rate, then they can't sell the reel as namebrand but they can go through and test all the components on the reel and pull off the bad ones. So the chip portion of the component cost drops to zero because they were headed to the dumpster anyway because they can't sell them. However with the essentially underclocked fpga chip, they can sell a bunch of chips in a product that doesn't quite spec out right anymore to consumers for cheap and still make money off them. They also could be avoiding people copying the design.
I got the 702 for automotive which is my day job. It was excellent for crank, cam etc signls and with an attenuator is could show spark plug waves. I upgraded to software version 58 I believe and it's has been frustrating ever since. It struggles to do the same things it used to do just fine before.
Rigol-like scope interface on the new one. At least the little icons and whatnot. I'd like a graphing function (chart recorder) more than the bargraph.
I've had a 702S in my toolbox since your last video, so I will be also buying a 703 for sure, worth it just to be able to remember to boot up in multimeter mode 🤣 Being able to have a disposable scope in your toolbox at all times is worth the entry price
Thanks for the review, I just ordered one (£64) including free shipping to the UK. For that money it's a total bargain. I hear all the blah blah blah about this isn't perfect and that isn't perfect - of course it isn't perfect, IT'S £64!! for a multi-meter and a 2 channel scope!! Keep those reviews coming, keep safe.
Interesting to see this. I have had a 702S for a while, and upgraded firmware twice with no problem, it now remembers the mode after power off (but not all settings). The 703S lets you view saved screenshots, which the 702S did not. However there are still glitches on the 702S, especially when zooming and scrolling through captured waveforms. So I won't be switching to the 703S, I would rather put the money towards an Owon handheld scope.
I have Zoyi ZT-702 for few months usage and notice that the big drawback is the inaccuracy of amps. The good thing on this is that the measurement of Ohm and Voltage are quite accurate and the Ohm measurement can go below 0.1 Ohm which most cheap multimeter can't. So I never use to measure amps on this one, I use dedicated amp meter to do that. Another big drawback is the inability to save the last mode (but this is addressed in this ZT-703) and the battery drop quite fast when in Oscilloscope mode.
The 702S does remember the last mode with latest firmware update, no submode memory though, it just remembers whether to turn in oscilloscope or multimeter.
The reason they laser off the markings is to make it difficult for other Chinese companies copying it, not stop us from learning... Plenty of those that would just make a 1:1 ripoff with no thought process whatsoever and that's usually enough to put them off.
The needle gauge (bar chart) should definitely go. No use whatsoever. BUT, I think it would be great to put a histogram (voltage vs time) in that spot, so you can see a selectable time slice of previous values (like a little o-scope). Automotive multimeters have done this for a long time, and it is very useful when you are trying to capture some kind of change in value over time and you have step away from the meter in order crank the motor/press the gas/whatever.
The battery is too tight in the plastic holder, the spring is fully compressed. This was mentioned by some other evaluators and was true with mine. Since the battery holder is made of plastic it will eventually break. This can be lessened by slightly shortening the spring on the negative battery terminal.
I just inspected my 3 week old Zoyi. I had to use a plastic spudger to lever the battery out of the holder as the spring was so tight. I tried using a cheap small diagonal wire cutter to shorten the spring but the cutter failed miserably. Ended up inserting a cross head screwdriver into the end of the spring to hold it steady, while using a Dremel cutting disc to remove two turns of the spring, one turn at a time. Battery now can be inserted and removed easily.
I bought a 702 off the back of your review of that. It's been pretty good for what I use it for, which is occasional fault finding and testing. If this two channel version had been available I'd definitely have got it for the slightly higher cost - the increased specs are definitely worth it, but I don't think I'd bother to buy it in addition.
Considering just a few years ago $90 would buy you an average Extech, this is pretty good value for a hobbyist. No doubt they'll fix a few bugs in software as time goes by.
Just sent my ZT-703S back to Alibaba, after ten minutes of first switch on both the scope inputs had a permanent noise component to every reading, the scope probe had a dodgy connection inside which made the noise on any channel it was connected to worse, the back stand wouldn't latch in place so moving the scope backwards created the danger of the unit falling backwards onto the bench surface. All in all disappointing cf my Zoyi bench multi meter which is almost three years old and working perfectly. Full credit to Alibaba for their top service and speed of refund. Paid the difference and bought an Owon HDS242S instead, solid as a rock.
It is crazy, but Fluke Scopemeters, at least the vintage one where rugged and really you get your money back because you can use them, all thay long and they never break down. Even the probe were overkill. They are expensive, but they delivers value. For casual probing I wouldnt even bother to think in a Fluke. This is hats off to the Chinesse, that made scope affordable and there is one for every budget. You can use it with some freedom,, you dont need to be so carefull ... in the event you damage the front end, you can afford another one.
@@38911bytefree Well actually i had a quick look at ebay and the Fluke 123 sells for around 400-500$. Might be worth comparing the 2. But personnally I would always prefer using a picoscope in any situation
This scope is really nice for hobby benches and the 5 digits is very cool. This little guy can do lots before getting the big scopes out. 😎 Thanks for the video. It looks like the bar graph is just setup for 25000 counts? Good for watching things like a DC motor speed going up and down?
Hi Dave, thanks for the review, Please could you show us how to Un Brick the 702, because what happened to you will happen to us and I can't find anything anywhere to show us how. Bob. UK
You probably need to desolder the chip, put it in a device used to download & flash firmware using a computer, flash the original firmware or a compatible one, and then finally reinstall the chip into the multimeter.
The diisplay says '"Mhz" (should be MHz of course), but at the same time "KHz" (edit: And that is wrong too - see below) is written correctly at at different part of the screen! (and that "Mhz" thing even changes to "MHz" when the range changes!)
For the 702, i read about a year ago on the product page there is a warning that a certain firmware is NOT upgradable. I dont know if it was that firmware specifically, but I 💯% did read that
Yeah, milliamps not accurate enough for process instrumentation use, but good enough for general use. Auto-range on the scope is very slow, Very thorough review and shakedown. Well done!
my cheep 30 bucks china multimeter has a 10Hz bargraph. i love this litle detail and i use it sooooo often.. the Bargragh is exactly so fast like an analog meter
8:44 yeah sir dave, it might remove some lag if they remove that useless bar graph. Improve some speed and bigger digits. Let's wait the 703s or the 705s without bar graph and cleaner screen. 😅
Thanks for the video. In your opinion what is the best oscilloscope under $200 in the market currently? I am really considering a handheld formfactor as I won't use it very often but am also open to buy a bench one. Thank you
Liked for the yellow pointer (no really it is better contrast). I'd like to have a compact oscilloscope as I do not have much space at home. Thank you for the review!
yeah that warning is kinda important. I suspect that's how I damaged my old meter. Thankfully my current one(your BM235) yells at me if I set it up to do that.
Dave, I think you missed the measurements on the screen when you thought there was something wrong with the probes, at 15:15 the yellow channel is reading a volt per division and the blue channel is reading 100, why does it default to that, IDK, but that's the difference you're seeing.
I have done a lot of troubleshooting with my 702 already and it has been way easier to use on sites versus "real" oscilloscope. Just being battery operated and potential free is such a plus, that i wont mind many of the problems with it. Differential probes would cost more than this whole scope.. Someone should do an how-to video for us idiots that got the tools, but don't know how to use them properly. Most of the oscilloscope tutorials have small, probably potential free or at least locally powered stuff on the table to measure and those examples just wont transfer to the real world of electricians and automation engineers. Some stable 50 MHz signal on the bench is too far from the 9.6 kbps data bursts in shitload of noise that i have usually tried to hunt down and make somehow better. And the "data" is usually coming from 300 meters away, maybe from a different building and/or whole different transformer area, so using regular scope with ground might do funny things and you might be seeings errors that you just made by connecting your shit to it. Most of the stuff i have done with that little oscilloscope has been fault finding on low voltage data bus systems like modbus, mbus, dmx, knx, dali etc. It's just that i have no idea what i'm doing and just poke the thing with the probe until i find something i think i could understand and report for customer and/or supplier of the system. Haven't yet burn't anything by doing that, so i might have not tried hard enough, so having someone show what and how to do in real life situations with a device like that would be really nice. Any volunteers to do a "oscilloscope for electricians" series on youtube?
If they could fix some of the annoying bugs, seems like a really good instrument for quick field tests. Like automotive work, for example. Professional mechanics might have something better, but, for most people, this would be way easier to bring out to the car to diagnose issues than hauling out a full oscilloscope and power cord, especially since the price is reasonable.
I just got one. I've never had a scope before and the price seems right to learn with this, especially as it seems somewhat rugged and more splash proof than a bench scope. Also, it wouldn't be a big deal if it died somehow
First, different font colors for x1/x10 would be an easy fix. Second, the bar graph seems to be scaled to maximum count (i.e. full scale) for both meters. The graph seems to have no units specified, so I see no real problem with that. 10 hours battery life is fine if you just keep it charged... The lack of input protection is fine for professionals who probably already have an expensive version, but is likely to cause amateurs to ruin meter after meter.
I wonder why they are being sold under different names like zoyi, zotek, bside... Anyway, I bought the bside 702 for vehicle repairs and hobby electronics and it's been good enough for that sort of stuff.
@25:08 "what happened to my BNC?" That explains why you couldn't get consistent readings on both channels from the sig-gen. One of them got twisted up badly when you were using your pliers to twist the T. But, no biggie though, "Bob's your uncle".
My 30 year old Philips/Fluke scopemeter 95 is not going to be retired just yet.. it has a 25MHz sampler but an analog jitter added to the clock by putting a lower frequency sawtooth wave on one side of a differential clock so it does make it to 50MHz bandwidth.
Regarding the voltmeter: Maybe the bar graph auto-ranges no matter what? For example the meter is in a fixed (manual) lower range, maybe the bar graph will auto-range no matter what and let you know how far out of range you are relative to the fixed range selected?
The problem with screwing the probe in lock-tight-position is with the sticker on the bottom of the case for the BNC terminals. The tolerance is too small, e.g. the sticker is thick enough to block screwing the probe in the right position. The problem with this is that, if you don't set the probe right, you'll never know wheather the measurement is correct or not. I have removed the sticker under the terminal (leaving the half to cover the other hole on Zoyi ZT-702) and now the probe (and every other BNC connector) locks in place.
I wouldn't be surprised that they only laser etched the chips on the item sent to you because they know that you will disassemble it. 😄 I don’t think that they would bother doing that for a $70ish thing. They can sell boatloads of it anyway at that price and the software is the biggest chunk of the work of these kinds of instruments.
At around 11 minutes...I think the beeping is due to the battery level. The graph near the upper right is showing a rectangle with a red line; I think that's the battery level indicator.
It clearly has a cell charging capability. How long does it take to charge it to let say 50%, so you can continue working in the field if the battery is flat?
In the beginning of this year I bought ZT703S and for a few months it worked well, but after that the upper half of the display is full of rows with dots and is difficult to read the ammount of the measured parameter. I tried many times to get an answer from the ZOTEK, but no success till now!
The temp range on the 702s was very inaccurate, at boiling water steam, it read 90C instead of 100C and at room temp read 19C instead of 24C. Similar results on its replacement as well. Perhaps why its not on 703S.
I don't usually comment but had to make a point about one point in the video. Wanted you to know I particularly enjoyed the pointer about the pointer and pointing us to where we can find one. I'll buy mine on points as I don't see the point of wasting cash.
it says "1 probe" on the screenshot you showed. like ALL the descriptions, the link shows the cheapest price for some option, then one is forced to read the screen. ;-) i bought this for my own work, with the Rigol DHO800/900 series on deck, based on your reviews. Thanks!
The bargraph, software upgrade and current measurement bugs seem to indicate their software team has no idea what they are doing. That's a real shame as it could otherwise be a very good product.
Dave, at 3:20.There is a small difference to be spotted. There's a little temperature/thermometer icon above the positive terminal (bottom right) at the left/old version. The new one doesn't have that.
They should put 2 seperate batterys in oscliloscope so you can measure two chanel and not short it out.i was measuring my inverter to see what it looked like and i dont know if its two phase or single with hot wire .i got one 100 watt and its two phase .i believe the other inverter i have has a live and ground .i measured the dc voltage and i think i got like 100 one side and 40 on other
When you were using the built-in function generator, I noticed the one ground was not connected. Perhaps the probes do not share a common ground? And that might produce different signal levels?
And now we just want a 0-24mA current output mode, and the pocket sized jack of all trades good enough-gadget is complete. Ooh i want one so bad. Gonna email fnirsi and ask their engineers to cook up something.
Nah, a device that needs to be operated in a certain way to yield correct readings is definitely _not_ the right thing for a school. Its alright for you or me, but for children you need something that leaves no doubts in its operation. Children have no internal model about the operation of the device, they do not know about 4051 and current sensing resistors. They see a magic box that gives sometimes wrong answers. That's what they'll learn.
@@stefanhennig I only mean this for use as a cheap scope (we already have plenty of multimeters). I do hope they fix the multimeter bug in some firmware update, esp. now that Dave has pointed it out.
I can get this now for around US$40 (equivalent). Still thinking whether to jump on the deal, despite having several bugs/quirks as was shown here. Hope ZOYI would fix all of these.
Regarding the 23m mark, is it common to do the length-matching on the adc's digital outputs? I assume this would be only for parallel interfaces (i.e. not spi) and only for fast (>? Mhz) , and only if the traces need to travel a large distance (>? mils) ??