Unusual Stereo Vision Inspection scope. Beautifully made. Love it ! By Fraser - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:30:07 pm
content: Are you sitting comfortably ? then I shall begin a little story for youMany months ago I stumbled upon an interesting looking stereo inspection microscope that looked nothing like others I had seen or used.The microscope was Medical surplus and looked to be unused. I was tempted to buy it but there was a distinct lack of information in the auction text and on the internet. It was a bit of a mystery item and the price was high (IIRC around £180) so I decide to pass on that potential purchase.Move forward in time some months and I stumble upon the same inspection microscope for sale from the same seller. Other potential purchasers had obviously thought the purchase too risky as well. The difference now was that the price had dropped significantly so the microscopes was looking far more interesting to me. I did some more deep research on the Internet and once again came up with little information.The microscope was advertised as a SATA Corporation Medi Scope 8W-76 and I could see that it was made in Japan. I recognised the shape and design of the eyepiece and prism casings as likely from NIKON. NIKON are a common supplier of optics to the medical world. The head of the unit appeared to be a combination of classic NIKON Poro-Prism compact pocket binoculars and a close-up lens assembly, that also contains a fibre optic illuminator assembly.Some searching led me to the same microscope sold under its likely OEM name, TOKIBO Co. Ltd of Tokyo Japan. The optics are indeed from the NIKON stable. I bit the bullet and bought the microscope for less than £100.I discovered that this microscope was designed for field surgery so that minor operating procedures could be carried out by a surgeon when away from an operating room. It's build quality is typical of a medical instrument. That is to say, it is beautifully constructed and works well. The microscope comes in different magnifications, X5, X8 and X10. My unit is the X8 model with a working distance of 10". This is perfect for electronics work. Fine focus is via the two adjustable eyepieces. That are also gear linked for inter-pupil distance adjustment. Lovely engineering.I often use Donegan Opti-Visor's that have X2.5 magnification and 8" working distance. I have the optional small X2.5 monical on the Opti-visor as well but it is not that easy to use for soldering one eyed ! The SATA 8W-76 low magnification microscope will be a nice step up from the Opti-visor's capabilities.The microscope arrived today, along with a Brunel BM-1 (Amscope SE400) stereo long arm microscope unit that I also bought. The Brunel BM-1 works well and is the same as another that I own so that will be installed in my lab tomorrow. I then set up the SATA 8W-76 and it is a bit like a James Bond kit. It is beautifully engineered and constructed. I was suspicious that the articulating arm would be a weak point in the design as it could introduce head instability. How wrong I was. The articulated arm is amazing. The large moving joints are amazing. Stiff enough to hold the arm rigid, yet quite easily moved when required. Even weak looking knuckle joint that connects the head to the arm is nothing of the sort. It is very strong with no flexing issues and has the same solid position holding capability as the arm joints. Simply superb engineering.The SATA 8W-76 was fully assembled and tested. It did not disappoint. The unit provides a superb image at a working distance of 10" as specified. The FOV is excellent for electronics work and there is no wobble in the head whilst using it. The head sits rock solid against my eyes. Perfect. I know that this unit will be a firm favorite of mine for SMT inspection and soldering. I need to make or buy a simple 10W light source for teh fibre optic cable that was also provided. I may just knock something up with a 10W LED and PWM brightness controller.I could so easily have ignored this microscope again as too high a risk. Sometime you have to take a risk though and this time I got lucky. These units were extremely expensive when new and the only other one I found is selling used for $750, and that is a less useful X5 unit.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MediScope-TOKIBO-No-5W-470086-/222247684012?hash=item33befe87ac:g:r8YAAOSwdWBXOvpzPictures follow ......I will start with the Auction picture of the kit (SAT1) and the other auction that I found for the TOKIBO 5W unit (Tok1,2,3,4)Pictures of my unit follow on.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:34:25 pm
content: My SATA 8W-76 unit (as received and not cleaned in any way)........

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:36:00 pm
content: Pictures continued.....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:37:21 pm
content: Pictures continued.....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:38:30 pm
content: Pictures continued.....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:40:09 pm
content: Last set of picturesHope you found them interestingFraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 08:53:29 pm
content: I forgot to mention, the depth of field is specified at an impressive and useful 12mmFraser

author: MosherIV
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 14, 2016, 09:55:15 pm
content: Nice!You lucky ***********Good find, wish I could find nice stuff like that

author: bitseeker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2016, 02:01:38 am
content: That's nice and compact. Great find, Fraser. Thanks for sharing.

author: parawizard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 27, 2024, 10:40:22 pm
content: Are these fixed focal length? I bought a Tokibo NO-8S. Seems to have no large focus adjustment.

author: jfiresto
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 05:19:50 pm
content: Quote from: Fraser on September 14, 2016, 08:30:07 pmI suspect those are meant as diopter adjustments, that are set once, to correct for the observer's vision to more closely match an ideal pair of eyeballs the microscope is designed for, and that thereafter, you moved the entire microscope up and down to bring the observed object in focus. The low magnification and the arm probably support that.How is its coaxial lighting for inspecting the sides of plated through holes?

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 06:58:31 pm
content: Fixed focus with set focus distance of 30cm with 12mm DOF. Both eyepieces are adjusted for best focus and are, indeed, eye compensation adjustments.Brochure attached.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 28, 2024, 07:13:53 pm
content: Another document that I captured many years ago. It is in Japanese and some English. Use your favourite mobile phone translator to read itFraser

author: sprockett
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 18, 2025 06:09:18 am
content: hi Fraser, do you have pictures of the new LED light source?I was wondering if its possible to just attach the source directtly to the scope, which can do away with the awkward fiber optic tether...Thoughts?

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 18, 2025 11:26:10 am
content: Sadly I am unable to provide pictures at the moment as it is packed away somewhere. Yes adding a nice bright modern white LED to the binocular head is the way to go. The fibre light pipe has relatively high losses so is best eliminated from the light path. The challenge is the correct dispersion of the light to prevent a “Hot spot” effect. A combination of wide angle LED and transluscent film in front of it worked for me. There are many ultra bright LED’s available these days but you may need to drive it with PWM to have control over the brightness. I thought about using a mini led torch attached to the binocular head but it was unwieldy and not great illumination as the torch beam needs to match into the light port.Fraser

author: sprockett
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: «Reply #15 on:Todayat 02:52:19 am »
content: thx for the reply !when you say wide angle led and film:1. where do u attach the led? or do u mean it's just an external source you use to light the subject ?2. what's the film for?ideally I'd find a way to use the input fiber optic port because there seems to be some lens arrangement (in scope itself) that focuses the light uniformly into a nice little circle that overlays the viewing field

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: «Reply #16 on:Todayat 10:10:44 am »
content: The led is inserted into the light port of the microscope head and a reasonably wide angle LED is used to reduce the “Hot spot” effect. The translucent film acts as a light diffuser to further reduce the Hot Spot effect. If you use a very narrow angle LED and no diffuser in front of it, you will likely see the illumination from the microscope head as a very bright centre with lower brightness surrounding ring around it which can be annoying. You want a nice even illumination across the full light circle that illuminates the object being studied. Some experimentation may be needed.Fraser

author: sprockett
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: «Reply #17 on:Todayat 02:42:55 pm »
content: Fraser, thanks for the reply! I will do as you did.Couple of questions though1. Any recommendations for LED? And did you build some kind of adaptor to get it to fit snugly in the port?2. Given you insert it into the fiberoptic port, does the heat generated affect anything?Thanks~!