Extech Microscope any good?

[paulpthcom]

Dave,

You've mentioned it in passing in the last couple blogs.  Is that extech any good or not?  If not any good products out there, like the dino lite?

[EEVblog]

It's not that great.
Very expensive, one with greater functionality can be had on ebay for about $80 or something, 1/4 the cost.
The only thing I've found it useful for is reading chip numbers which is does a very nice job of.
Not much good for soldering inspection IMO, and the high end zoom is next to useless unless you have the object practically up inside the ring.
The PC software is a joke.

Dave.

[paulpthcom]

Any suggestions for ones that don't suck?

[tyblu]

I use a $6 optical microscope with manual focus.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1328

[armandas]

I use a $6 optical microscope with manual focus.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1328

I've got this one too, but I don't like it. Too much magnification and very inconvenient. I'd rather buy a 10x or 20x loupe.

[Bored@Work]

I use a $6 optical microscope with manual focus.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1328

I've got this one too, but I don't like it. Too much magnification and very inconvenient. I'd rather buy a 10x or 20x loupe.

I was about to say "too much magnification", too, seeing the things 60x to 100x magnification. 3x to 6x is a good start for PCB work, 10x to 20x is for detailed inspection.

If you want to go more "pro", then a stereoscopic microscope with a boom is an option. They aren't that expensive these days, thanks to mass production. E.g. the SM-2010 from http://www.lakeland-microscopes.co.uk/stereo.html (scroll down a little bit) is just £165.00.

[Balaur]

I have something like that: http://store.amscope.com/se305r-pz.html and I'm very happy with it.

You could go much cheaper than that of course.

What you should looking for:

- a Stereo microscope (not just binocular, stereo)
- incident lighting
- 10x - 40x magnification
- long focal length

[SnakeBite]

i'm also considered to buy a microscope but i wanted something cheap so i wanted to buy this

http://cgi.ebay.com/5X-500X-magnification-USB-Digital-Microscope-2-0-Mega-/170535287216?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item27b4b1f9b0

you said it's not good for electronics use and to go on the PRO stand-alone microscope instead of this one?

Ido

[DaveW]

Snakebite,
It depends what you want to do with it, for reading part numbers and some inspection, those microscopes are ok. If you're planning to use it for soldering under, detailed inspection or taking photos then its much better to get one on a stand with a good metal height adjuster.
Having said that, for a year or so we used one of these at work for taking photos & complaining about bad soldering etc,
http://cpc.farnell.com/unbranded/qx5/qx5-usb-microscope/dp/CS11723
Look for a reasonable focus distance, so you're not resting on the circuit board. I'd also say that the really high magnification isn't helpful, 5-50x seems to do everything from soldering to inspection.
Btw, we now use a mantis, if you can afford one, highly recommended.
http://www.visioneng.com/mantis-elite-cam-stereo-microscope-with-camera-overview.php

[JohnS_AZ]

Maybe it's because my eyeballs are getting old  but I have a wide assortment of assistive optics.
- 20X stereo production microscope
- Binocular "true" microscope with objectives up to 500X
- A digital microscope (USB) that was sold as a toy but works pretty damn well
- A little hand held scope like was mentioned above

Given all that, the most valuable optics, and the one that gets used the most by a VERY wide margin is a set of cheap loupes I bought from Harbor Freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece-loupe-set-98722.html

[tyblu]

I use a $6 optical microscope with manual focus.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1328

I've got this one too, but I don't like it. Too much magnification and very inconvenient. I'd rather buy a 10x or 20x loupe.

Everyone should have a desk lamp magnifier, too. They are great.

[SnakeBite]

i have a magnifing loupe -donegan OPTIVISOR  it's great i love it and it enlarges upto X6 but i wanted something more for SMT work.
the question is if i need one to inspecti the soldering quality.

Ido

here is what i have

[SirDan]

While searching around for digital microscopes, I found this one: http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/9955/
I have been debating whether or not to purchase it.

[kaptain_zero]

I've bought quite a few different loupe type magnifiers, and I've tried those 40x - 100x black plastic microscopes, but the best unit I've found, bar none, for the least amount of money is this one: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.51128

There is a 60x version of it, but it's not worth the bother.... the 45x unit in the link is just about perfect. I use mine for checking the edges of my straight razors while honing them. You can't use it to see if it's sharp but you can see if the nicks you are trying to remover are gone and you can check the scratch pattern from the hones to make sure you are honing all the way to the edge.... I liked them so much, I bought 4 of them... one in each room where I'm likely to need one!

They are not for soldering work...... you have to get too close to focus, but for reading/inspecting, they are perfect in my opinion.

Regards

Christian

[Hypernova]

i'm also considered to buy a microscope but i wanted something cheap so i wanted to buy this

http://cgi.ebay.com/5X-500X-magnification-USB-Digital-Microscope-2-0-Mega-/170535287216?pt=AU_Gadgets&hash=item27b4b1f9b0

you said it's not good for electronics use and to go on the PRO stand-alone microscope instead of this one?

Ido

Be aware that the specs are awfully inflated with these things. I have a 25x/400x version and the actual mag on the 400x range is about 100x. I measured a line my my lcd and then counted how many pix wide the resulting image was. The actual resolution of the ccd is 640x480, anything higher is software interpolation.

Works great for pcb inspection for the price so just know what your are buying.