[sdiy] Cheap microscope for SMD

[Ullrich Peter]

Hi!

>Saw these at a trade show last week. Soooo cute.
>
>http://www.aveninc.com/?main_page=product_info&products_id=1114

There are a few devices that look nearly the same, maybe the same electronics in different housings.
But the prices are very different. The scope you showed us is very expensive!

I bought mine via Ebay for 35 Euro inclusive shipping from HongKong.
This is about 50 $. Normally the prices in Europe are about 60 to 200 Euro.
But I found no difference in function and quality.

I bought mine for SMD soldering, but it is not really as good as an optical stereo microscope as there is some latency
due to the digitizing, USB transfer, and graphic output.

In VGA resolution (640x480) it is nearly possible to solder under the scope (be sure to protect the lens and LEDs from the smoke!!!
Use a strong fan to blow away the smoke...

In 1.3MP resolution the quality is very nice - nice for still images (documentation, inspection) but too slow for soldering...
320x240 is fast but the resolution is too low for fine pitch IC pins...

Ciao
Peter

http://come.to/synpro