I use an American Optical (because it was cheap) and found a nice heavy stand to hold it up.? I have a fiber optic ring light on the microscope.

I?find?that?an?auxiliary?light?can?help?to?illuminate?from?the?side?as?well.

I would build a board holder that allows you to position any part of a board under the microscope without moving the microscope. How complicated you make that little board holder is up to you. Maybe move manually and lock into place.

if you were building boards by hand, and using EAGLE, then I can show you a program that models the PC board in OpenSCAD.? That same parsing routine can find the XY of any part.

that?might?help?a?bit.

Ideally, you want to move the board in X and Y, then rotate for the best soldering angle.

Harvey



On?3/17/2025?2:59?PM,?Radu?Bogdan?Dicher?via?groups.io?wrote:

Thank?you?all,?great?input.
From these choices, it sounds like a stereo microscope on a boom would be ideal. I do tend to work on all sorts of positions and oftentimes spill outside of the desk/bench. Also, some of the boards I need to examine are too large to fit under a microscope with a stand.? I'm not sure exactly how well this relative freedom to move the microscope around works. But the idea to have that available is very exciting - I'm really tired of using my multiple hand magnifiers with their own lights and often another flashlight on the other hand. My eyes get terribly strained with that setup.
Probably a stupid question, but I know nothing on the "stereo microscope" topic - are these working well for people wearing glasses?
Thank?you.
Radu.


On Mon, Mar 17, 2025, 10:29 AM John Griessen via groups.io <> <john@...> wrote:

????On?3/17/25?07:59,?Dave?McGuire?via?groups.io?<>?wrote:
????>?On?3/17/25?00:02,?Radu?Bogdan?Dicher?via?groups.io
????<>?wrote:
????>>?Having?done?enough?(red)?eye?cracking?smd?soldering?jobs?or
????inspections?in?case?of?suspected?failure?(cold?joints,?etc.),?I've
????>>?decided?to?invest?a?bit?on?a?better?optical?setup.
????>>?There's?plenty?of?cameras?on?the?marketplaces?and?retailers?out
????there,?but?what?are?some?better?choices??Good?experiences?with
????>>?some?specific?models?
????>>?Also,?what?to?watch?for??Specs,?minimal?magnification?that
????crosses?over?a?good?threshold?
????>>?I?have?a?couple?of?large?screens?at?my?bench?-?I'm?thinking
????this?will?be?best?done?by?shooting?this?over?to?one?of?those.?USB,
????>>?HDMI?...
????>>?Lighting/LEDs?making?a?significant?difference?
????>>?Thank?you?for?your?input.
????>
????>????The?Mantis?by?Vision?Engineering.
????>
????>????On?the?prototyping?bench?I?moved?from?a?Nikon?SMZ-1?with?an
????after-market?LED?ring?light?to?a?1st-generation?Mantis?about?ten
????>?years?ago,?and?upgraded?to?a?Mantis?Elite?last?year.
????>
????>????The?Nikon?is?a?binocular?inspection?microscope?with?great
????optics?(typical?of?Nikon)?and?excellent?overall?performance.??I?had
????>?an?opportunity?to?try?out?a?Mantis?when?visiting?a?customer's
????lab.??I?was?astonished?by?its?capabilities?and?purchased?one
????>?immediately.
????>
????>????My?upgrade?to?the?Mantis?Elite?last?year?was?a?similarly
????impressive?thing.
????>
????>????Two?important?considerations?are?binocular?optical?paths?and
????lighting.
????>
????>????Binocular?optics?are,?IMO,?absolutely?required?for?SMT?work.
????>
????>????Lighting?is?next.??People?often?skimp?on?this?and?use?a
????random?desk?lamp?or?whatever?happens?to?be?lying?around,?but?a?proper
????>?lighting?system?makes?all?the?difference.??There?are?cheap
????aftermarket?LED?right?lights?that?are?surprisingly?effective;?this
????>?suggests?that?the?lighting?really?isn't?that?difficult?a?problem
????to?solve.??The?key?is?360-degree,?oblique,?even?lighting?to
????>?eliminate?shadows.??(lighting?is?built-in?on?the?Mantis?microscopes)
????>
????>???????????????-Dave

????Hi?Radu,

????I've?got?Greenough?scopes?(binocular)?by?Olympus?and?Vision
????Engineering?(precursor?to?Mantis),?and?fiber?light?rings?and?sources
????to?sell.

????The?Vision?Engineering?ones?are?kind?of?large,?but?trying?an
????Olympus??Greenough?would?be?painless?--?you?could?return?it?if?not
????liking?it.

????When?I?assemble?SMT?boards?I?use?a?Greenough?on?a?boom?that?lets
????me?move?with?fine?dials?in?X?and?Y?(and?of?course?Z?for?focus).

????I've?also?tried?the?Vision?Engineering?and?it?would?probably?be?a
????speedup?tool,?but?Ive?not?afforded?enough?bench?top?space?to?use
????one?effectively?yet.

????Also?have?Nikon?SMZ-7?and?a??Vision?Engineering?Greenough?for?sale.

????Booms?to?hold?them?are?super?heavy,?so?looking?locally?makes?the
????most?sense.

????I?agree?with?Dave,?that?if?you?want?to?do?prototypes?your?speed
????and?quality?will
????improve?drastically?with?stereo?vision?--?it?puts?your?"there"?in
????the?micro?world...??Also?you?will?notice?more?since?flat?view
????onscreen?doesn't?translate?to?3D?in?your?mind?well.

????The?large?screens?might?be?OK?for?some?things,?but?not?for?active
????seeing?when?looking?for?tiny?cracks,?missing?solder,?adequate
????solder?paste,?etc.

????Now?to?get?busy?cleaning?and?photographing?the?ones?I?mentioned...
????-- ????John Griessen
????Albuquerque?NM