Homebrew PCBs

On Thu, 05 Jan 2006 16:53:23 +0100, derekhawkins <eldata@...> wrote:

> Need one of these for fine pitch SMD work. The microscopy groups have
>
> deemed just about all made in China to be crap unless they are Zeiss,
>
> Olympus, Nikon or Lieca brands. Are there any favorable opinions on
>
> cheap Chinese no-name brands used for SMD work?


I am not sure looking for certain brands only is what you want.
Ideally it would be a boom microscope, with as much focal length under the  
lens as you can afford so there is plenty of space to work. I've recently  
seen several with cameras and a TFT on the web, i wonder what those  
cameras cost and if a high quality webcam could be focused closely enough.  
Of course you would loose the stereo display with a camera, but usually i  
use it for inspection only and not working. It is very awkward to work  
under it, the depth perception may be there, but that does not mean your  
hands are trained to suddenly work with 10 or 20 times smaller movements.


I do not see great value in a zoom function, a revolver for different  
magnifications (note that these usually use valuable working acces space)  
or a set of different eyepieces would suffice.

I luckily have enough eyesight to require the stereo microscope only very  
rarely, i do not like working with it. I also have a magnifier lamp, but  
either it is bad quality or they are all so bad. I never use it, it makes  
me confused.

Most of the time i use a small pocket microscope, which looks just like a  
pen. It is intended for inspecting plotter pens (25x). Because of it's  
small size it is ideal for inspecting SMD soldering, since you can move  
the PCB around and easily hold the microscope in the other hand, allowing  
you to position it just right in relation to the light.

Good luck!
And lets hope those nastsy people stop making stuff smaller and smaller,  
or we might need a electron microscope soon!


ST