Recommendations for a digital microscope for soldering etc.

[Mac Doktor]

Digital microscopes came up in the thread "Photoshot from a defective IN-4 Tube".

I took a look on Amazon. When I got to the ones with hi-res video displays my jaw dropped. I had no idea that they existed.

This is EXACTLY what I need for through-hole work. It brings SMT within reach but my hands are too unsteady and I really don't want to go down that road.

In no particular order...

My budget is ~$150

I don't need to interface with a computer or even save images to an SD card (although I could probably find a use for the latter feature)

What would an appropriate magnification range be? I'd like to be able to see modest areas of a PC board (say a few DIPs across) down to reading the markings on SMT parts

A screen resolution of HD (1920 x 1080) on 7" screen would be in the ballpark

An actual work area (albeit small) rather than some slide clips

That's all I can think of at the moment. Please pile on.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com/

“The book said something astonishing, a very big thought.
It said that the stars were suns, only very far away.
The Sun was a star, but close up.”—Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980

[Aiden Fang]

Terry,

I have two digital microscopes for electronics, so here is my 2 cents.

For this type of work, you want to pay more attention to the "work distance". Most of the cheap microscopes require lens-object distance to be less than an inch,  which makes it impossible for soldering.

I've been using this one for years and am very happy with it. It's $238, a bit over your budget tho. It was $300 when I got it. 

You can not only do soldering under the scope, but you can also press buttons to take photos/videos directly saved to a microSD card, all without a computer. Super convenient.

Andonstar 5 inch Screen 1080P Digital Microscope HDMI Microscope 

https://www.amazon.com/Andonstar-Digital-Microscope-Soldering-ADSM302/dp/B076XYRCYM

My 2nd microscope is dedicated for SMD work, from AmScope. Almost a grand, but worth every penny if you need it.

Hope this helps.

Aiden

Dr. Aiden Fang

www.Omnixie.com

Every desk deserves an Omnixie clock

[Nicholas Stock]

What's wrong with a good diopter?

I use something like this to do my soldering with....including through hole and SMD work...

https://smile.amazon.com/Brightech-LightView-Magnifying-Rectangular-Magnification/dp/B06XGZCMRD/ref=sr_1_28?dchild=1&keywords=LED+diopter&qid=1603324201&sr=8-28

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[Mac Doktor]

On Oct 21, 2020, at 7:51 PM, Nicholas Stock <nick...@gmail.com> wrote:

What's wrong with a good diopter?

I use something like this to do my soldering with....including through hole and SMD work...

I can't look through lenses because of my strabismus. That's why the video screen is so sexy.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

"If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes."—Roy Batty, Blade Runner

[Nicholas Stock]

Got ya....that makes sense. Camera would be a great idea then.

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[Aiden Fang]

In my case, in addition to be able to see the parts clearly, I also need to take snapshots of parts sometimes, like the ones used in my videos.

[John Rehwinkel]

Digital microscopes came up in the thread "Photoshot from a defective IN-4 Tube".

I took a look on Amazon. When I got to the ones with hi-res video displays my jaw dropped. I had no idea that they existed.

This is EXACTLY what I need for through-hole work. It brings SMT within reach but my hands are too unsteady and I really don't want to go down that road.

In no particular order...

My budget is ~$150

I don't need to interface with a computer or even save images to an SD card (although I could probably find a use for the latter feature)

What would an appropriate magnification range be? I'd like to be able to see modest areas of a PC board (say a few DIPs across) down to reading the markings on SMT parts

A screen resolution of HD (1920 x 1080) on 7" screen would be in the ballpark

An actual work area (albeit small) rather than some slide clips

That's all I can think of at the moment. Please pile on.

There are some good ones out there, but don't buy anything from amazon, ever.  Not only are they evil, but most of their merchandise is counterfeit.  I avoid the bottom feeders like DealExtreme, but there are good deals to be had from Banggood, eBay, AliExpress, etc. if you keep your eyes open.  There are also some upscale resellers with good return policies, tech support, etc., but they're probably out of your price range.

- John

[gregebert]

Has anyone tried surgical glasses ?

[H. Carl Ott]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 12:13 AM gregebert <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Has anyone tried surgical glasses ?

I use surgical (dental}) loupes for 90% of my smd work. They are good if you have the right working distance. I could not justify the money for some nice zeiss loupes, so I bought some cheap Chinese ones. The optics are fine, but the plastic on the frames was a bit cheap and cracked after a few months. I frakensteined on some metal bits to fix the frames, and have been using them for over five years. 

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[Mac Doktor]

On Oct 22, 2020, at 7:26 AM, H. Carl Ott <hcar...@gmail.com> wrote:

I use surgical (dental}) loupes for 90% of my smd work. They are good if you have the right working distance. I could not justify the money for some nice zeiss loupes, so I bought some cheap Chinese ones. The optics are fine, but the plastic on the frames was a bit cheap and cracked after a few months. I frakensteined on some metal bits to fix the frames, and have been using them for over five years. 

Once again my strabismus hamstrings me. I can only get my eyes to fuse at very short distances. At my computer I sit 9" from the screen (when I'm gaming it's around 18"). At infinity I see double without a lot of extra prism in the prescription. Working on electronics is very frustrating because I constantly have to change distances without swapping glasses every time I pick up another resistor. It's a shame Medicare won't pay for a digital microscope <sarcasm>.

I had a ViewMaster when I was about six years old and couldn't figure out what was so special about it. When I was around 13 I discovered that the images were supposed to be in 3D. It took some effort but I finally got my eyes to sync up. Binocular microscopes and the eye test machine at the DMV? Forget it.

I once worked in retail optical. I was lucky enough to land in a full surfacing lab doing everything from grinding blanks to finishing lenses and putting them in frames. In five months I learned the whole business. I never got as far as doing optician work, i.e., bending frames to fit faces but I know where all the profit is—marking designer brand frames up over 1000%. A $250 pair of Liz Claibornes? We paid less than $25. This was in 1990 dollars.

I will never work for corporate again. Dr. Stanley Pearle may have "cared about his customers" as stated in the TV commercials but he didn't give a damn about his employees.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

[bdu...@gmail.com]

I got one of these and am pretty impressed.  The user interface is a little odd, but it has built-in LED illumination, and variable magnification  It has nice big working distance. 

There are some slightly more expensive units which may be better, although I am pretty happy with this one.

https://www.banggood.com/G600-Digital-1-600X-3_6MP-4_3inch-HD-LCD-Display-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-Upgrade-Version-p-1152799.html

- Bill

On Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 6:55:12 PM UTC-4 Terry Bowman wrote:

[Mac Doktor]

On Oct 24, 2020, at 12:49 AM, bdu...@gmail.com <bdu...@gmail.com> wrote:

There are some slightly more expensive units which may be better, although I am pretty happy with this one.

https://www.banggood.com/G600-Digital-1-600X-3_6MP-4_3inch-HD-LCD-Display-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-Upgrade-Version-p-1152799.html

Not bad. Worth buying at such a low price but then I'll have to look through two dozen similar models to figure out which one is the best. 4.3" is a bit small for the screen. I need something bigger to reduce the amount of re-focusing between reaching for tools on the bench and then back to the screen.

[later]

I just took a look at my iPhone 6s and the tools on my workbench and 4.3" definitely isn't big enough. I'd say 5" minimum.

My budget is starting to bust.

On Oct 21, 2020, at 7:37 PM, Aiden Fang <ai...@nixie.ai> wrote:

For this type of work, you want to pay more attention to the "work distance". Most of the cheap microscopes require lens-object distance to be less than an inch,  which makes it impossible for soldering.

I wondered about that.

Andonstar 5 inch Screen 1080P Digital Microscope HDMI Microscope 

https://www.amazon.com/Andonstar-Digital-Microscope-Soldering-ADSM302/dp/B076XYRCYM

This brings up another point. This Q&A covers it:

Hi what is the maximum Field of view on the 302 and 301? by this i mean what is the maximum amount of inches/mm it can view in the X and Y directions?

Answer:

On Ebay you can find a wide angle lens that increases view from (28MM X 16MM to 42MM X 24MM) on the Andonstar ADSM302, you can find it by typing in (Andonstar ADSM302 Lens) in the Ebay search box.

That's a bit on the small side. I'd like to have a slightly larger field of view at lower magnification but I don't know what is realistic.

Is there a site, forum or group that specializes in this sort of thing? I know where to go for info on lasers.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”—The Prisoner, "Arrival"

[intended as a wry inside joke plus it's such a great show]

[Bill Duane]

FYI, had to comment about the working distance of modern digital microscopes.

The working distance of even this cheap digital microscope is excellent for soldering.  For example, the attached quick picture (I had the built-in LED illumination kind of bright) is of an SMD LED and SMD resistor at low magnification for this microscope.  The working distance between the circuit board and the microscope lens in this case is a bit over 4” - tons of room to solder.  Even if I zoom in so the SMD resistor fills most of the display, the working distance is over 2.5”; plenty easy to solder SMD devices.

As an ex-electronics engineer, the working distance and open area is as good or better than the professional dissecting type microscopes I used to use.

- Bill

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