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cheap 30x magnification help please

hello all

I am trying to avoid spending 140 dollars on a monocular 35x zoom from bargain microscopes.com, it has an optional focus lense upgrade to make

56x

i need this for surface mount device rework (repair and resoldering)

i suppose 30x is enough for surface mount so what i am asking is there any way to achieve 20x to 30x magnification using compound magnifiers. So far i have found that sticking a 2.5x to a 2x (compound) both with about 6 to 8 inch focal length is enough for larger SOIC's.

so i am thinking a good 5x desktop magnifier lamp (about 30 dollars) and a decent 3x magnifier (about 10 dollars) both with about 6 to 8 inch focal length should provide enough to at least do soic's. I say this cause my 2.5x/2x compound is almost good enough for bigger soic's so the 3x/5x compound might be enough to handle quad flat packs (those

100+ pin IC's you see on PC motherboards etc. ).

at any rate, that is my real question. Does anyone here have experience or KNOWLEDGE about cheap improvised magnification using compounded magnifiers with adequate focal length (working distance from lense) for taking out Flat packs and soic's, in other words, the very small surface mount stuff? In fact, any sort of magnification including diy microscopes would be okay.

Thanks for your help (i am trying to avoid having to read a very large microscope FAQ cause i am still too busing reading all the stuff i found google.com searching "electronics tutorials" and Horowitz's "Art of electronics")

; )

Reply to
whyzard
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A kid's plastic microscope from a toy shop is perfectly adequate for such a task. Its only if you need to take measurements, then accurate graticules become important.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

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Reply to
n cook
30X?! You have got to be kidding! I have a 9X watchmakers glass which I consider to be a bit too strong.
Reply to
Just Another Theremin Fan

This invitation to Treadmill Technicians to join this new group

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we need to break the shell on this knowledge, it is useful for the public, still they keep it classified to make more money.

if U want to teach us somthing about treadmills, or need help, join us,...

Reply to
Goldenshuttle

LOL.. Spam about reparing treadmills?? How complicated could they be? Electric motor, belt, bearings and maybe a fan...

- Mike

Reply to
Michael Kennedy

Try this:

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I have not built one but holding up a camara lens to a pair of binoculars gave me a promising image. Chris

Reply to
Chris Jones

Rather than learning about treadmills, you should learn about Usenet. What has this got to do with this thread?

Dave

Reply to
Dave D

Hello, snipped-for-privacy@mail.com! You wrote on 19 Mar 2006 02:11:52 -0800:

w> hello all

w> Thanks for your help (i am trying to avoid having to read a very w> large w> microscope FAQ cause i am still too busing reading all the stuff i w> found google.com searching "electronics tutorials" and Horowitz's w> "Art w> of electronics")

w> ; )

Like your previous poster, I find a jewellers eyeglass (Loupe) quite adequate with the advantage that with a little practice it leaves both hands free. I mostly use a 3X which gives a decent overall view but I use a twin lens 15X to zoom right in, for a close look. These items are really cheap and very useful in a great many unrelated fields. If you are even meaner than that however, I also have a salvaged lens from an old discarded slide projector which cost nothing and is very effective but has to be handheld.

With best regards, 3T39. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

Reply to
3T39

I do a lot of watch repair. The watch & clockmaker's supply company S. Larose

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has a very good selection of loupes of various types (hand held, eyeglass mount, headband type). Go to the site & search "loupe". Since I wear glasses, I find the eyeglass mount type especially convenient, they can produce 2 strengths & flip out of the way easily if you're alternating tasks.

Dan

Reply to
Dan

thanks very much for the link. Exactly what i was looking for. When you held up the camera lens to the binoculars, was the image reversed by any chance? The design in the link calls for twin prisms. Just wondering if excluding the prisms might cause a flipping of the image.

Thanks again

Reply to
whyzard

Can't remember and I don't have time to try it again tonight, sorry. If you have any success please post your results. I have bought a microscope now but I'm still curious about what can be achieved for little money. I bought some quite reasonable Meade 10x50 binoculars for £10 (about $15) recently from a supermarket called Lidl in the UK. I was thinking of making a microscope one day.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Jones

I tried it again, a standard SLR lens (58mm focal length) with the "film" end of the lens towards the object and the other end pressed up against one lens of the binoculars. The image was the right way up, and the magnification was very impressive. You just need some powerful illumination and you'll be soldering 0201 resistors in no time.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Jones

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