After pricing stereo microscopes and not wanting to spend $400+ And after buying 5 or 6 little 1x,2x,4,5, magnifying lens I was wondering if there was a way to construct a cheap stereo microscope. It doesn't have to be stereo. It just needs to be 10-20x power and about 5 inches of clearance between the lens and the pcb I am looking at. How would you go about putting this together? I have a old pair of binoculars if that will help. Any ideas? Thanks again
What works remarkably well is using a 640 x 480 quality webcam, turning the lense to a short focus distance. As an extra: Many webcams even have a "photo" possibility using a button on the top (such as some thrust or logitech models).
I use this method to fins and picturize e.g. soldering errors in fine pitch SMD stuff. The results can be e-mailed to e.g. the factory or such.
The Intel usb microscope might be an option. It has cheap plastic lenses in it but with a little work you might be able to replace those with reasonable quality lenses. I saw one in the Goodwill the other day for $9. I imagine they show up on Ebay for 10x that.
I considered modifying mine to swap the lenses but never finished.
It says the #3 is 2.5X mag. Is that strong enough? I thought you needed at least 10X plus. They sell stronger lens but only up to 5X. I tried a 5X desk lens light and it wasn't strong enough. Thanks for the feedback.
My optical stereo zoom Bausch & Lomb goes between 7 and 30. I cannot see myself soldering anything using monocular scope. Has anybody been successful manipulating components using a camera and a monitor?
I am trying to build a system right now I picked up a small camcorder with a halfway decent macro capability and a monitor that will sit on a shelf over the bench. I am going to mount the camera and light on a heavy microphone gooseneck so I can twist it into position. My vision is very bad and it is the only way I can see to solder or read small part numbers and markings. I miss having a stereo microscope on my bench. I did all my rework under it, rather than do the work and inspect it with a scope.
I bought one new for less than $50 but it isn't much of a microscope. The frame rate is too slow so its difficult to get a sharp focus, and it has a horrible depth of field.
I never really considered real-time frame rate as a criteria for a microscope. But I agree that the plastic lenses could be lots better. There was a web page a few years ago that discussed the possibility of replacing the lenses. Each power is provided by a separate lens assembly that is housed inside the scope. Unlike many products, the scope is fairly easy to open. But building a new lens assembly might be a challenge. I studied the web page for a while but never did go further. And I suppose automating the focus wouldn't be out of the question. Somewhat surprisingly, the scope seems to comply with the Twain protocols, I think, it has been a while since I was actively playing with this. People found you could "open" the scope with any Twain compliant application and even inspect the properties. You weren't locked inside some incompatible SW. So, a little stepper could drive the focus knob and just search for maximum contrast.
I'm certainly not defending the toy. But it was surprising how much they could deliver for the price.
Unfortunately I am 100% disabled and only get a small pension. If I had any money to spare I would try to find a decent stereo microscope. I have run into people who claim to have bought one at an auction for $25, but I've never seen even a mono microscope at any auction I've gone to. So, I'm trying to convert an 8 mm camcorder I picked up for 85 cents at a thrift store, and will use an old 9" B&W Panasonic studio monitor.
The frame rate was so slow you had to adjust the focus and wait for the next frame. I considered replacing the camera card with a standard NTSC camera but I haven't found one to fit the available space. Its too bad Mattel-Intel didn't make one you could hook to your TV's video input. It would have been a better microscope if they had. Even better, a version with both outputs.
I have several security cameras that take a "C" mount lens but I can't find a good closeup/macro lens.
I remember reading a web page that suggested (and demonstrated) that reconfiguring the stage illumination could make a very dramatic improvement in these. I'm sure a search on google would reveal details.
A friend of mine has achieved remarkable results using common items such as glass marbles and the lenses embedded in penlight lamps to create microscopes. _If_ you have any experience or understsnding of optics I would imagine _worlds_ could be done with PVC pipe and a short order out of Edmund Scientific's optical catalog. I might suggest searching for educational optics kits in the $30-60 range (Radio Shack used to carry one), you'll get an assortment of lenses and some theory, perhaps enough to build a prototype and a feel for the lens specs you'll need to order. One of the problems you _may_ face is chromatic aberation, ie prismatic seperation of colors: the simple kits may not go into that, and unfortunately optics is a weak area for me so I couldn't tell you if the solution to the problem is as simple as being sure to order corrected lenses for your final form. Keeping proper stereo alignment across zoom, focus, and accomodation for different (inter-occular distances of?) users is a big part of what you pay $400 for, but if you can live with fixed mag, fixed focal length, and accomodation for only yourself it might be a worthwhile project. You may need to incorporate prisms to get the angles right, I'm not sure: I don't think I've seen any stero scopes without them. Don't rule out the possibility of finding/buying an inexpensive stereo scope, I have an old Tasco dissection scope which I doubt is made anymore, it's just one cut above the plastic junk they sell at toy stores but I've used it to very great effect in aligning scanning electron microscope filaments in their Weihnelt(sp?) housings. I can't complain about its performance. OK maybe it's two cuts above the plastic junk. Also if you move in the right circles you can salvage _excellent_ and I mean _top notch_ stereo scopes from old microtomes, eye surgery lasers, slit lamps, transmission electron microscopes: often thrown away as bulky garbage, and people seldom stop to consider the optics because they appear integrated. More often than not, the integration is only skin deep and by literally loosening a thumbscrew out pops a standard commercial scope, suitable for popping into a dissection or boom stand. Even a very old scope from a source like this, circa 1920's or 40's would be better or at least far more user friendly than anything you could build.
This is where you need the zoom feature. Zoom in to inspect, zoom out a little to rework, then back in for inspection. I did a lot of soldering under a stereo microscope with it zoomed out enough to see all the pins on an 8 pin SMD package. I used Ersin .015" solder and the corner of .050" tip because the smaller tips didn't hold enough heat for more than one joint without burning them up. I tested, troubleshot and reworked boards eight hours a day for over four years this way.
One website showed a flip down loupe that makes it 2.5X, so it would then be 3 x 2.5X or 7.5X.
You can also get a pair of clip-on loupes that fit on eyeglasses. My dentist has a pair of those loupes that fit on his glasses and are like telescopes. They not only magnify but 'reach out' to focus a foot or so away, so you are not holding your hands up under your nose. Trouble is they're $400 or something like that. They are available at some medical supply or surgical supply stores. Another advantage is they go wherever you go. A microscope is pretty much stuck on the bench.
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