Anybody teardown a USB digital microscope? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 07:59:56 pm
content: javascript:; Anybody teardown one of these cheap 15 dollar USB 50X to500X microscopes? I'm wondering if it's possible to mount the sensor part on a real microscope. Looking to get about 200X to 400X magnification to do cartridge stylus inspection.I purchased one and it looks as if I might wind up destroying it all together trying to get it apart.ThanksBillWojo

author: McBryce
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 08:27:22 pm
content: If you mean one of these:http://www.003003.com.cn/com/renjianwei/pic/1310474941.jpgI have one here. If I can open it without destroying it I can do a few teardown pictures. They're useless for live work, but great for inspecting and taking pictures.McBryce.

author: McBryce
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 08:33:27 pm
content: I just took a look at it. It's two halves glued along a ring at the top border of the silver zoom wheel. Opening it will probably cause damage, so I won't be destroying mine.McBryce.

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 08:56:28 pm
content: Hi McBryce, that's the one. I tried linking it but seemed to have trouble with that.What I want to do is figure out how to use it on a regular microscope so I can get good magnification and save the pics. I was hoping someone on here had done a teardown on one of these.What I'm thinking is to make an adapter to hold just the CCD end of that scope over the eye peice of the microscope. It would be in a sliding tube to focus the image the eye would normally see onto the CCD. That way I could use the mechanical microscopes objectives and eyepiece as the magnification device instead of some cheap plastic lenses. Make sense?Possibly there is a major flaw in my thinking as I'm surely not an optical engineer.BillWojo

author: McBryce
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 09:01:58 pm
content: I bought mine for exactly the same reason. I have one of these:http://www.bresser.de/out/pictures/master/product/2/36a08f4fe37e42c2bb0bd979ce195cba_5802520_d1.jpgand wanted to mount it on it. The zoom and optics aren't all that bad. I just intend mounting the whole unit somehow.McBryce.

author: timofonic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 09:04:32 pm
content: Dave! I hope this will be your next teardrown!

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 09:39:38 pm
content: Dave, Dave, Dave! Come on guys, chant Dave with me. LOL

author: chickenHeadKnob
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 23, 2015, 10:39:10 pm
content: Have you folks thought of adapting a RasPi with camera for microscopy.? I have no background in optics so before buying one (Ras-Pi camera sensor) I have just started the self-education journey trying to figure out what will work in an expedient way for lensing. What attracts me to the Raspberry solution is the sensor resolution combined with lower latency compared to anything usb based.

author: BillWojo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 24, 2015, 01:32:58 am
content: Doing a quick search on the RasPi camera it looks a lot more cumbersome than this set up and a lot more expense.This little 15 dollar Chinese camera has 2MP resolution witch is more than enough for what I'm trying to do. The shocking thing is how well it works on it's own.I'd like to get the image sensor into my microscope with a fine adjustment stage and the fine adjustment for the focus control. With the correct lighting I could check diamond stylus for wear on my cartridges.Sometimes I pick up a turntable for just a few dollars, not for the table but for the cartridge and stylus. Instead of just buying a new stylus it would be nice to check the condition of what I already have. A lot of stylus cost well over 100 bucks or are no longer available. Replacement stylus are often not as good as the OEM one.BillWojo