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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Magnifier ? What brand?
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Plasmamac Guru  Joined: 31/01/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 554 |
Hi, i have a watchmaker magnifier but what are you using for your soldering and other stuff? Can anyone recommend a brand ? Do i need stereo or is a monocular enough for soldering? Thx Plasma |
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| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9130 |
I use a very old 100mm 5x lens anglepoise style bench mount magnifier/light which I suppose can be called stereo since I look though with both eyes. I was soldering 0402 resistors through it last week so magnification is certainly enough for me. The light is as important as the magnification. Because I'm not peering into something or using a remote screen coordination of vision and action is no issue. Whereas trying to use a magnified image on a screen makes coordination much more difficult. If I was ever going to upgrade it would be to a stereo microscope |
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| Andy-g0poy Regular Member  Joined: 07/03/2023 Location: United KingdomPosts: 59 |
What do you mean by "Watchmaker magnifier" Lupe ? Headband type? Magnifier desk lamp? There are dozens of types. What type of soldering? You can get some cheap electronic microscopes with a screen which work well for many tasks. I use one for SMD and inspection on problem boards. What you need is enough working distance between the objective of whatever system you use and the work. I find that bench magnifiers are a little too close for me. Lupes are fine for inspection but not for work Headband / glasses type magnifiers work fairly well. However the simplest and cheapest method, and the best I've found for general work are cheap reading glasses. Get a couple of magnifications I find +3 diopter about right. If you need a bit more mag pop a second pair over the first! If you wear "Windows" ,as my late Father used to call his glasses :-) then you can still wear the reading glasses over them. The one problem with any optical system is that you lose things as they go out of your field of view, so remember where you put things down! Andy |
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| Plasmamac Guru Joined: 31/01/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 554 |
sry for beeing so unclear. i using a Magnifier desk lamp. and i soldering all kind of electronics. Plasma |
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| cosmic frog Senior Member  Joined: 09/02/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 284 |
I use one of these It's old but the image quality is very good. Dave. |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1873 |
I have one of THESE . I'm 80 years old and have no trouble with surface mount using this. "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6800 |
For surface mount stuff you can't beat a binocular microscope. It allows you to see the components in 3D so you can judge depth. The problem is cost... :( I've used a normal USB microscope for surface mount. It's great for inspecting the connections, but it's not great for the actual soldering process. I recently got a pair of magnifying spectacles with LED lighting (they were on sale in a local supermarket). These have turned out to be very useful, but I've not tried them for SMD work yet. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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TassyJim Guru Joined: 07/08/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6101 |
I have an amscope also. The one with lenses for stamp collectors is about right for circuit-board viewing. I like it for inspections but any soldering must be through-hole now, something that is a bugger, but that's life. I use a head mounted magnifier for what soldering I do manage. Jim VK7JH MMedit MMBasic Help |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
After some recent surface mount work where I had to reposition a resistor the size of a grain of sand, I bit the bullet and bought a G1200 microscope. They are about $100 on ebay and better than I expected. 7 inch screen, and now that resistor looks bigger than my thumb. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Andrew_G Guru Joined: 18/10/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 847 |
For me an Amscope is great. Binocular 3D microscope so I can solder SMD directly underneath it but it can also display on screen and take pictures. It was not cheap but for me worth it. Safely delivered from the US. I've made a small flatbed under it to secure the PCB vice without it falling off. Cover the bed with tissue or paper towel to reduce the sprong when SMDs go flea-jumping (as they will). Cheers, Andrew PS I'm a rank amateur with shaky hands and it has made SMD easy. |
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Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
I have an AmScope unit also. I use WF10X eyepiece lenses(x10 zoom), and the objective lens can be rotated between 1x and 3x, so I can zoom up to 30x if I need to, which is really useful for examining the finished soldering to make sure you have no solder whiskers shorting any pins on SSOP or TQFP chips. But I do pretty much all assembly using the x10/x1 eyepiece/objective setting, and it is more then enough to get up close and personal with all but the tiniest of SMD.  Freight was not too bad from what I remember. It might have been about NZ$100 for FedEx or DHL at the time, so not a totally unreasonable freight cost. I bought my one direct from the AmScope website. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6800 |
I've noticed that the more expensive the SMD bits are the further they fly and the more crawling round with a torch and magnifying glass they require. Not at all like proper through hole stuff that stays where you put it! I have two USB microscopes, but the best by far is an Andonstar. You do need to get the robust stand though, the one with a cast bracket and focusing wheels. You can't allow any play in the stand whatsoever as the depth of field is tiny. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| circuit Senior Member Joined: 10/01/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 245 |
Definitely the way to go. I use a Vickers stereo microscope fitted with a high power ring-light (160 LEDs in four concentric rings - 10watts total) around the objective lens. Magnification zoom is x5 to x45. Most of the time I work around x5 to x15. I have tried macro-camera/screen devices, but they pale into uselessness compared with proper 3D viewing with direct high quality optics. |
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| Plasmamac Guru Joined: 31/01/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 554 |
Thx a lot , i will buy a Stereo microscope, maybe AmScope . Plasma |
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stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2129 |
I bought one of these for my grandson. Nice with pc. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185710439470 |
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