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Jon Elson

wrote:

I need to purchase a magnifier so that I'll be able to do things like
replace eproms and other small SMT's. I'm not looking to do LSI's with 150
pins Etc. Just mostly smaller stuff. For instance I currently have a board
that needs an 8 pin Eprom replaced. I thought that I could do it with the
magnifiers I have but the stuff is Just too small. I tried using a high
res TV camera with a varifocal 3.5 to 8 mm lens but it doesn't make the
image large enough. I was wondering what people are using to do this.

I managed to get a really good Olympus stereo microscope through an eBay
seller. (i asked questions about an item he listed on eBay, and ended up
purchasing a different unit from him.) I was able to make my own mount for
it, and that made it a lot cheaper, as most people want the mount with the
scope. I now use a large lathe chuck as the base, and it holds a block with
a section of MacPherson strut as the arm. What you want is a long working
distance, so you can get lights, your hands and a soldering iron all under
the scope at the same time. This is what makes these special. I'd say you
want a minimum of 2" working distance for soldering.

There are a fair amount of these types of microscopes floating around, with
a little luck you can get a good deal.

Jon