Cheap magnifier/scope with LCD display - any good? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: maggotronix
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 01:14:08 pm
content: Thiscame up in my feed & I think it looks very useful, what do you think? No need for laptops etc, it has its own display (it says "LCD", but in description below it says "OLED" so not sure what it is lol?)...

author: 3db
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 01:59:39 pm
content: The stand looks like a nightmare.3DB

author: tpowell1830
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 02:08:46 pm
content: Quote from: maggotronix on March 17, 2017, 01:14:08 pmI like the over all form, but from a mechanical point of view, that base is not wide enough to properly stay upright.

author: RoGeorge
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 02:26:30 pm
content: If you buy it for soldering, any webcam based system is useless, because of the video latency and no spatial (3D) view.Buy a stereo optical inspection microscope instead.

author: Avacee
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 02:29:57 pm
content: Looks like it has the same style of suction mount you get with GPS's for car windscreens.From past experience those things have two modes: 1) won't stick/suck, ever or 2) will fall off (over) at the worst time possible.

author: Fenichel
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2017, 04:46:29 pm
content: This is the device that I alluded to in another thread a few days ago. It is terrible as a WebCam, for exactly the reason that @RoGeorge gives. Using its own screen, however, the latency is negligible, just as with the LCD screen in a typical digital camera.The mount is not as rigid as I would like, and for soldering it allows only 2 or 3 cm of working distance. The optics, however, allow focusing at much greater distances, so the real question is how much of the supplied mount should be retained in constructing one's own fixture. Because one looks at a screen, rather than through eyepieces, one won't be touching the device while using it, so rigidity is a little less of an issue than it might be. The device wiggles while one is turning the knob to focus it, and that is a bit of a PITA, but in use it's OK.I built my fixture (pictured in the earlier thread) of 0.5-inch O-1 steel and a 3-cm cube of aluminum.I was prepared to ditch the suction-cup base, for the reason that @Avacee gives, but it turns out to be solid when applied to a smooth metal surface. In fact, it's hard to remove.In my experience, the main problem with it is that even though it lets me see what my tools are doing very well, I have trouble moving them smoothly when I'm looking in any direction other than straight at them. I don't have enough experience with the device yet to know if I will adapt to this. With luck, I'll adapt to it as dentists adapt to mirrors, or as orthopedists adapt to arthroscopes.

author: maggotronix
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2017, 05:37:31 am
content: Thanks. I didn't even think of latency issues. But you're right, looking at a screen instead of looking directly at the actual components etc could get fiddly & some getting use to. I might pass - although it is probably fun for other stuff, like looking at insects & spiders close up!

author: Fenichel
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2017, 05:37:45 pm
content: Quote from: Fenichel on March 17, 2017, 04:46:29 pmThat was true for a while, but then the suction cup failed. The device survived a short fall when that happened. Be prepared, if you get one of these, to disassemble the base (disassembly is destructive; Dremel required) and to use a big (1/4-20) machine screw (through a new drilled hole in the center) to hold it to your surface of choice.

author: kripton2035
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2017, 08:53:24 pm
content: just to let you know that there is a version of this magnifier with a better stand. and 1080P resolution display.https://www.banggood.com/G600-Digital-1-600X-3_6MP-4_3inch-HD-LCD-Display-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-Upgrade-Version-p-1152799.html

author: MrPCB
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 08, 2017, 12:57:08 pm
content: I ones bought a similar magnifier on vitechparts.comSadly they don't seem to have one right now.

author: TechieTX
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2018, 04:49:13 am
content: I have the version with the aluminum stand. It works OK in place of a $600USD (or much more) binocular microscope. I've spent a fair amount of time in the past with a binocular doing fine-pitch SMD soldering, so I already have the needed eye-hand displacement.Soldering SOIC I was able to comfortably view the board with just under 2 inch working distance, about twice what Fenichel quoted. The zoom factor depends on the distance, of course. With something really tiny, I'd have had to move in closer. The attached pic is at about 2 inch distance (4-5cm).My only grief with the aluminum stand is that it's fixed upright, and tilting it back a little would improve the clarity sometimes due to the LED lighting. Since I bought the stand separately, I may try to bodge the tilt head of the plastic clamp onto the aluminum stand to get the best of both worlds.

author: ciccio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2018, 03:42:47 pm
content: I got one from Banggod. It is really cheap and works not bad for the price, but it needed a stand that could leave space for a a soldering iron, so I asked a friend to build one with scrap 10 mm plexiglass, laser cut.. It is still a work-in-progress, but it works.This gives me up to 30 cm of space under the lens (the magnification will be reduced with increased distance).I've found a problem with the LED lighting: They create "reflections" that do not allow reading of the component's values.This can be solved with a lighr coming fron one or both sides, such as the other scope shown in the above posts.IKEA has cheap LED gooseneck lamps tha are suitable.I've discovered that, after suitable training, I could use it for some work..Best regards

author: timschuerewegen
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2018, 11:16:30 am
content: I recently bought one of these but I didn't like how it draws all of these icons on top of the live video image (some could be turned off, but not all of them) so I dumped the firmware, modified it and flashed it backI ended up hiding the video/sdcard/resolution icons in video mode and made the battery icons smaller and more readable on either light or dark background.Before (original firmware)The upgradeAfter (modified firmware)

author: serg219
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: September 05, 2019, 07:57:38 am
content: Quote from: timschuerewegen on May 27, 2018, 11:16:30 amAnd where can I get the firmware? And how to flash?