Dave ,  How to buy a good lab quality used Microscope on Ebay? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wblackledg
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 29, 2013, 10:37:15 pm
content: Dave,Can you do a video similar to your How to buy an Oscilloscope video for a Stereo Microscope for the Electronics Lab?Do I need one?What to look for?What to look out for?What should I pay/Expect?thanks.

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 04:36:05 pm
content: Is the stereo microscope such a common need for electronic labs?

author: dr.diesel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 04:44:27 pm
content: Quote from: bitwelder on July 31, 2013, 04:36:05 pmNever needed one in my 20 years of building stuff.

author: KTP
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 04:57:41 pm
content: Quote from: dr.diesel on July 31, 2013, 04:44:27 pmThe 1980s wants their engineer back.Today building a circuit with 0402 resistors, capacitors and fine pitch TQFP a binocular microscope of 10x 30x or 10x 40x is almost ranked higher than a soldering iron in need.

author: Excavatoree
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 05:06:37 pm
content: Quote from: KTP on July 31, 2013, 04:57:41 pmSome of use have poorer eyesight than others - I need a good magnifier for work that isn't that fine. I suppose some "eagle eyes" wouldn't need one as much as I do, but eventually, the stuff is getting so small that darn near anyone would want or need to use one.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 05:20:21 pm
content: Unless you are using them 8 hours a day in a production environment these work pretty good also and cost a heck of a lot less and they are 3D.Never needed anything above 6x for electronics.Sure beats spending $400-$600.

author: ahnuts72
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 06:38:43 pm
content: I've been looking at these on ebayhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/AmScope-20X-Stereo-Binocular-Microscope-Boom-Arm-Light-/200757834216Don't know what the quality is but can't be bad for occasional use

author: Alexei.Polkhanov
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 06:46:20 pm
content: Quote from: ahnuts72 on July 31, 2013, 06:38:43 pmI could be nice solution but that "Incident side light" is most likely just a single (or few) LED - definitely not enough and you cannot fit ring light on square objective lens. Just IMHO.

author: KTP
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 06:51:23 pm
content: When I get another microscope it will be a trinocular with a camera. With the experiments I am doing with micromachining, it is just too nice of a feature to pass up. They are only a little bit more than a binocular model on ebay.Right now I have to put my non-SLR digital camera in macro mode and take a picture through the eyepiece....horrible.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 07:10:15 pm
content: Quote from: bitwelder on July 31, 2013, 04:36:05 pmYes. There are some really good threads about this already.The highlights are:1) Get a stereo head with zoom. Magnifiers (glasses, or the sheet kind) will make you go crazy if you have to use it for more than 5 minutes. Trinocular is totally optional and you probably won't use it much if you don't have to send images of production defects to assembly houses on a regular basis or something like that. 0.7x to 4x zoom is a good range for electronics use with 10X eyepieces. You will probably spend most of your time at the lower magnification anyway. Make sure it's an inspection microscope with at least a couple inches working distance so you can solder under it and not damage the under side.2) Get a decent stand and focus rack. Boom stand if you can find one. Lots of the Ebay auctions are for just the head which is worthless unless you are a machinist and can make a stand and focus rack (or find a stand and focus rack separately). You need a stand and focus rack. The boom stands are heavy so if you can find something locally like at a swap meet or local seller that would probably be better and save shipping.3) Get a ring light. The cheap ones work fine. I like the LED one I got that has brightness adjustment better than the florescent ones, but there was some discussion about this on another thread.I'm sure someone will point some out here, but I haven't seen an old brand of stereo inspection microscope head that was a total piece of junk and wouldn't work in a home lab. Assuming they aren't broken, they pretty much all work as expected with some like Leica and Nikon working a bit better than the others. You just have to pay more for the higher quality. I got an old AO scope from Ebay for 80 bucks USD a while back and I use it all the time at home with no issues.If you wanted to go New, the Amscope systems are really good value. I use one of these at work all the time.If you can't wait for a super deal, something around 200USD is pretty doable with some searching.

author: ahnuts72
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 07:54:16 pm
content: Quote from: Alexei.Polkhanov on July 31, 2013, 06:46:20 pmWouldn't be to hard to mount a ring light but I can make my own boards at home so I would make one rectangular to fit as a challenge.Sent from my Milestone X using Tapatalk 2

author: ahnuts72
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2013, 07:58:43 pm
content: Would also ne a good project to implement pwm control of the ledslike in saves video about the mod he did to his mantis.At the price point I wont quibble over a light I can replace.As an aside anyone know how to edit post in tapatalk.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 01:13:03 am
content: You need zoom. Any single magnification scope (only 10X, 20X, etc.) will eventually be a problem. 20X might be too high.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 03:02:03 am
content: My microscope is 5x and 10x. 5x is good for most stuff - 0805's, 0603's, etc.It's only when you get down to the finer pitches that you really need more zoom, IMO.Lighting is key. Stereo is a must.Didn't I see a post here not too long ago about the Mantis scopes being on sale? I seem to remember they were under $1k? seemed like a fantastic deal. Maybe I misread it - I looked at buying a Mantis years ago and I thought it was in the $4k range or so. Maybe my memory is failing.

author: ahnuts72
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 04:16:08 am
content: Quote from: SLJ on August 01, 2013, 01:13:03 amThey also have a 10x-20x one as well haven't looked to see if they have a version with zoom.

author: SLJ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 11:33:54 am
content: The 10X, 20X is most likely a 10X with their Barlow lens added. The Barlow lens could probably be added to any of their scopes to double the magnification. I think they sell it separately also.

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 01:25:17 pm
content: Previous threads that have a lot of the info you are looking for.here 1here 2here 3

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2013, 07:37:55 pm
content: Ya, when they say 10x-20x they are most likely talking about a Barlow lens or two sets of fixed eyepieces. It's probably not zoom. You really want zoom. I guess you could get away with a fixed magnification, but I spend most of my time at 0.7x on the head with 10x eyepieces, so like 7X.