I was soldering some really tiny stuff, tried using a webcam and display it on the monitor, but apart from the time lag (a little), the problem is that I can see no depth that way, dunno how far the soldering iron is from the joint so to speak. So looked for a cheap stereo microscope, that would be OK, but one needs to peer into those 2 tubes all the time... Not pleasant.
Then I was thinking: I have a cheap super small PAL camera, get an other one, mount one on both sides of the stereo microscope, and frame sequentially display on the 22 inch LCD. Uses my Asus 3 D shutter (games) glasses to see it in 3 D. These days 3D monitors are also becoming available.
That would give me 25 fps left / right eye (50 fields / second total), drop the interlace, in fact do the odd lines to the left, and even lines to the right eye, getting good motion covering.
They just started building one in Guangdong province. ;-)
Well, people buy Monster (TM) cables, so ...
Seriously though, I'd recommend a 5 diopter Optivisor for work, and a
20x/40x stereo microscope for inspection and touch-up. An Optivisor is quite comfortable and "natural" to use. It also qualifies as a geek helmet; perfect wear for answering the door when the missionaries come around. There are competitors to the Optivisor out there but be careful about cheap ones that use cast acrylic lenses. Lots of distortion.
On a sunny day (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:26:17 -0700) it happened John Larkin wrote in :
iron is
peer into
display
the interlace,
good motion covering.
Oops, googled for it, that is a 1000 $ price point... I was thinking 50$ stereo microscope, two 30$ PAL cameras,
1 HC4053 to switch fields, some small PIC? stuff, and then I'd get that old Samsung CRT color from the attic. Already have some digitisers. I could also get that old NRC cash register BW crt working again, no conversions needed I'd think. Old analog color sets (TV) should be also almost free here now too, as it all went digital. So say 200$?
Yeah, I can't live without my otpivisor. I also have the single eye loupe that flips down from the side. I've trained the office staff to warn me before I leave the building with it still on my head.... (I can't tell if I'm wearing the opti-visor or my baseball cap.) I've always wanted a model with a built in baseball cap. Then I'd have one piece of head gear for all seasons. (Hmm, OK it will also have to have flip down ear muffs for the Buffalo winters.)
I don't find my scope unpleasant. Its mostly a problem manuvering the BIG iron and BIG solder around. Your going to have to do that regardless. If the microscope can't be adjusted it will be a problem. There is one problem. If you wear magnifiers, you have to take them off when you peer into the scope.
On a sunny day (Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:58:13 +1000) it happened David Eather wrote in :
iron is
peer into
display
the interlace,
getting good motion covering.
Oops you are right. Have to V sync one to the other... That would require opening those things up and having a close look in 3D if I can do anything with the ASIC.... May not be possible.
Wonder what happens if I leave those free running, and just switch left / right cam. On a LCD that could perhaps work.
On a sunny day (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:53:34 GMT) it happened Jan Panteltje wrote in :
iron is
peer into
display
the interlace,
getting good motion covering.
OK, know how to do that. Both camaras have a crystal, all stuff is derived from that. Probably n x 4.43 (PAL color carrier). To V sync the cameras, I can do a V compare on the video out signals, and tune one of the xtals with a varicap, until V lock is achieved. Then switch to H compare. And than optionally lock the color subcarriers if I wanted to go directly to an analog color set. That is classical analog TV stuff. That color subcarrier compare will not be needed if feeding into 2 digitizers.
You won't need to worry about horizontal sync if V sync is OK - it is all controlled by the same crystal and a few percent out on a horizontal line won't make a problem.
Just thinking about your project I am reminded of some discussions on something similar. I forget how many years ago, but Australia had a crash of a black hawk helicopter while night flying on a SAS training mission. The pilots used bi-optical night vision goggles and even with these there is no depth perception because the imager does not move like an eyeball does for depth perception. This sounds a little similar to your problem and suggests two cameras may not be a solution. I don't know - It might work for you because the PCB relative to the cameras is not moving.
In the black hawk case one solution was to use a mono-optical system in line with one eye so the head and other eye still provide depth perception. The different sizes of the images does not stop this working. Your back to using a microscope, but only one.
You need frame and field sync between the two cameras. Soldering under a stereo microscope is quite natural if you spend a bit of time doing it. I would find looking through a monitor to be annoying since you don't have the contrast and resolution to comfortably work on SMD boards. You can find new Chinese scopes with zoom that are pretty good in the 4x to 20x range (above 20x, they aren't as good as a quality scope) for USD 500. The one on my bench is an old AO that a buddy donated to me.
The one I picked up a couple of years ago was the Omano OM24L from
for a comparison. With it, I can swap out a 0.5 mm pitch TQFP ARM on a dev board (for the current silicon, without pages of errata) and know that every joint is good and without bridges. Beats a smoke test, if somewhat less dramatic.
Pros:
- Decent optics and working distance
- LED lighting, top and bottom, from three standard AA rechargeables
For "mobile" use I have drugstore non-prescription "reading" glasses (few $), for serious work I have the office "long reach" stereo microscope, which I like a lot better than the Mantisse. (YMMV)
Eye - hand coordination is fine with the scope - bringing soldering iron in vision range is another matter - managed to burn my fingers occasionally :-)
I have been trying, on and off, for several years now to upgrade my soldering skills from through-hole to surface mount stuff. he biggest obstacle (for now ) is my eyes: not just the nearsightedness, but the large amount of astigmatism.
The "slightly doubled" images are a real pain when I'm working with detailed stuff such as reading fine print or seeing small details. And trying to verify my solder joints is a pain; in the case of soldering, even an OptiVisor 5x doesn't help all that much -- I have to be about 3" away from what I'm soldering (not good with plastic lenses )
Magnification helps; the "doubling" from the astigmatism is much less noticeable with "internally large" images than "internally small ones". But I also need a reasonable field of view (so I can tell that I'm about to stab my eye with hot soldering iron, for example ).
I haven't tried a Mantis yet (maybe on my next dental visit), but the $700-1000 price tag seems a bit steep.
Are there any other options I'm overlooking? Or do I just need to keep trying various combinations of the old ones?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Frank McKenney
--
Very little _criticism_ as such survives the generation in which
it is written. The same is true, incidentally, of most philosophy
and theology. Those who practice these branches of study often
mistake them for spheres of knowledge when they are more accurately
seen as examples of dialectic or rhetoric -- ideas which may be
better aired in talk. All critics, however dispassionate, bring to
their subject thick encrustations of personal prejudice and, which
they are problably even less well equipped to notice, assumptions
which are attributable to the spirit of the age.
--A.N. Wilson: C.S. Lewis, A Biography
For folks like me, with non-standard interpupillary distance, there's Zenni Optical--fully custom but almost as cheap as the drugstore. I have a couple of pairs of glasses for close work--+0.75 dioptre for reading, with +2.5 dioptre for soldering SMTs and so forth. They were about $30.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal
ElectroOptical Innovations
55 Orchard Rd
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510
845-480-2058
hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net
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