[sdiy] Cheap microscope for SMD

[Ullrich Peter]

I see, Your "Dino-Lite" looks like mine... little differences in the housing...

The seller I bought mine from is no longer on Ebay - but others are.

Have a look at Ebay 390151092168 - 40$ free shipping 
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-1-3-Mega-Pixel-USB-Digital-Microscope-250x-Zoom_W0QQitemZ390151092168QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0

This is exactly my microscope. You can forget the stand - bad quality and very 
small, but the microscope is very nice! 

I built a stand on my own with a gooseneck and the included camera adapter - this is more stable.
I added another gooseneck and mounted a fan with finger protection on both sides - the fan is power via a wallwart supply.

Software: The included software works OK but I also use another capture software sometimes:
Debut Video Capture (Freeware).
http://www.das-download-archiv.de/software_6810_download_debut-video-capture.html

If someone wants to see small SMD resistors or 0.5mm pitch ICs on a PCB under the microscope
I can send some pictures per private email in all 3 resolutions.

I use it for inspection after soldering of my datadials (http://go.to/datadial ).

Ciao
Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl [mailto:synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Barry Klein
Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 11:31 PM
To: Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
Subject: RE: [sdiy] Cheap microscope for SMD

Search on "Dino-lite" and you'll come across mine.
We use it all the time.  The software that comes with it is really cool.
It has some rather hidden features that enhance the use of it.  
No capture issues, easy to use.  Note that the default resolution is not
its highest.  Cost around $150 at the time, when they first came out.
We have a much more costly camera on a stereo microscope but never use it.
Heck, the capture card for it cost more than the rest of the setup.
Since getting ours they have come out with higher resolution models along
with focus stands etc.
For SMT soldering I'd recommend just getting a good Optivisor... or a
cheap stereo microscope.

Barry