Will this idea work? (3D view)

iron is

peer into

interlace,

good motion covering.

Get a Mantis. They're amazing.

John

iron is

peer into

interlace,

good motion covering.

Probably

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

iron is

peer into

display

the interlace,

good motion covering.

You would have some problem keeping the two video sources in sync. If you can't sync them it would be hard to watch and very hard to sell.

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,

ring iron is

to peer into

one,

display

rop the interlace,

etting good motion covering.

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.)

George H.

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.

No problem, just a flip flop on the odd or even V sync field, and use the output directly to drive the LCD shutters. LCD shutter drive:

This should work directly with a normal analog TV set and those cheap PAL cameras.

To display on a LCD I also did some work:

On a sunny day (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:50:47 -0400) it happened Rich Webb wrote in :

iron is

peer into

display

the interlace,

good motion covering.

hehe LOL

Ah, yes, simple solution for a simple price.

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.

greg

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.

soldering iron is

peer into

one,

display

the interlace,

getting good motion covering.

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.

I don't know if any of that helps.

iron is

peer into

display

the interlace,

getting good motion covering.

And it thrashes my suggestion.

soldering iron is

peer into

one,

display

the interlace,

getting good motion covering.

analog color set.

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.

On a sunny day (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:12:02 GMT) it happened qrk wrote in :

I found these online, dunno how good they are:

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

- Case included

- Price

Cons:

- Optics not hand-ground by gnomes

On a sunny day (Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:07:14 -0400) it happened Rich Webb wrote in :

Yes that is much nicer then teh one I found.

So be it :-)

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 :-)

--snip--

Rich, (or anyone else with suggestions)

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

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