Homebrew PCBs

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?

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "derekhawkins" <eldata@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 3:53 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Stereo zoom/boom microscope


> 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?

This Chinese-made one I got works very well for SMD:

http://www.lakeland-microscopes.co.uk/stereo.html

I got the SM-20. I was surprised how good it was.

Leon

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

I've purchased 2 used Bauche and Lombe Stereo Microscopes over Ebay. 
Leica are the same microscopes with a light source. Even 20 years 
old the units are clear.

Since I don't know what cheap means to you, I paid $400 USD for 
these units. Shipping is always a pain, as they need to packaged 
well and if they come with a base and boom setup, they weigh more.

These are the same stereo zoom microscopes that I've used in 
industry since the 1970's.

There are litterally hundreds of stereo zoom microscopes on Ebay. 
Many are brand new.

Hope that helps.

Mike



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "derekhawkins" <eldata@m...> 
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?
>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Leon Heller" <leon.heller@b...> 
wrote:
>
> This Chinese-made one I got works very well for SMD:

Thanks Leon.