On Fri, 7 Dec 2018 20:55:10 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Friday, December 7, 2018 at 6:56:20 PM UTC-8, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
As Ralph Mowery mentioned, a microscope is very helpful. I use this
in the office:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/microscopes/Olympus%20SZ30/slides/SZ30-01.html
and this at home:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/microscopes/Bausch%20and%20Lomb/index.html
I have 6 microscopes, not including parts scopes. Only 3 are suitable
for soldering and PCB inspection. I also have a CMOS camera that fits
in place of one eyepiece and which can be used for photos and display
on an LCD monitor.

Notice the use of a microscope, flux, and tinning. However, I
disagree with the use of an Xacto knife to cut the wire.
QUICK CIRCUIT TRACE REPAIR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5A61fIu0kk

I forgot about the microscope aspect. I'm crosseyed and never learned to
see in 3D so stereo scopes have no special value to me. They got me
one of these at work.

https://www.amazon.com/Opti-Tekscope...dp/B00PEZ3GMK/

I liked it enough that I bought one for home. Looking into the UV window
of a 256K EPROM I found the Fujitsu name on the silicon and found that
good enough for me. Got mine on eBay several years ago for $45 out the door.
Hard to beat that value.

Nice for high power close up work, but not suitable for soldering and
touch up work. The problem is the objective working distance, which
is quite small for your microscope. It's difficult to squeeze a probe
or tool between the PCB and the objective lens. Using a smoke
belching soldering pencil with such an arrangement will coat the lens
with flux. Here's my version of your microscope:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/white-plastic-rot/slides/microscope-setup.html
No room for the PCB or soldering pencil, with a working distance of
perhaps 1-4 mm.

Meanwhile, my Olympus SZ-3060 biological microscope:
http://www.learnbydestroying.com/jeffl/pics/microscopes/Olympus%20SZ30/slides/SZ30-01.html
has a working distance of 110mm and can be stretched to 400 mm with a
0.25x auxiliary objective lens. See Pg 6 below:
http://www.alanwood.net/downloads/ol...1-brochure.pdf
Plenty of room for the PCB, tools, soldering pencil.

Sorry about the cross eyed problem. Binocular vision (3D) makes
working under a microscope much easier. However, I don't know how
long that will last for me. I seem to have progressive astigmatism,
which is currently causing double vision in both eyes.

I forgot to mumble something about lighting. Under a microscope,
shadows are a problem. So, a ring light is required. Cheap enough on
eBay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/60-LED-Adjustable-Ring-Light-illuminator-Lamp-For-STEREO-ZOOM-Microscope-US-Ship/271435251906

As for cost, none of my microscopes cost me more than $100. However,
all were in need to cleaning, lubrication, alignment, and were missing
parts. I've probably spent as much on missing eyepieces, objective
lenses, and camera adapters as I have on the microscopes. The real
killer was buying the proper Nye NyoGel microscope lube.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Microscope-Lubricant-Kit-Nye-Rheolube-362HB-NyoGel-767A-NyoGel-795A/292627939054
Oddly, the basic repair tools were quite cheap on eBay.




--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558