DIY USB soldering microscope

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
21

okay, i went back up this thread… to see “the guy that had the cool one”… that was a project on some other site.

he did similar to what i am talking about, except i have a couple OTHER ways to build the thing as well…

his “wow” photo at the end? is a 200mm lens… which is i suppose okay for date night in the barrio and all… but…

really now, this is BLF… we dont do “adequate”, do we? No, we start at “ridiculous!” and go on from there

i’m thinking 600mm lens for a start… i can go higher… lol… show you the inside of a fly’s @rsehole if you really want, with something like a 1200mm lens… like i said? i have basically no practical limitations on specs. building around a real camera lens introduces the limitations of the LENS, IE… how close it will image up…

when i use lens(es) and fab the “camera lens” up myself? the limitations no longer exist, as i can choose distance from lens to sensor at will.

22

I don’t think more focal length is what I want exactly. The resolution is better up close of course but it’s only a small field of view (obviously :person_facepalming: it’s a microscope). Having the microscope back enough to work with a soldering iron gives a good field of view to me (displayed on my laptop). I guess I should plug it in and take a picture to give you an idea of what it’s like.

23

I’m having issues signing in to google at the moment so I uploaded the pics to imgur

These ones are about 30-35mm away from the driver. One of the pics I poked a 0.7mm bit of solder into the pic. The actual size of the pics is not much bigger than what you see here.

These next pics are about 90mm away from the work. One is the calibration ruler for the ‘Measurement’ program which I could not get to open on my pc.

This last pic is focussed on the plastic lens. It has even more zoom after that which is useless.

As you can see a decent clear lens would go a long way to helping

24

I just use my eyes, no need for microscope :slight_smile:

25

I just whipped this together, and i was bummed i couldnt find the lens i was LOOKING for, so i “settled” for this one…

this is the YEAR on a united states penny… working height? Uhm… i can stand a 2-liter bottle of mountain dew upright under it on the work table, lol…

this is nothing, i could easily get WAY more magnification, and WAY more working height, too… actually this is a little ridiculous, if i were using it to solder a driver component? I’d have to jack up the working height another FOOT i think, ha ha.

if this is going to be a competition? i plan on winning it, hee hee… i was given specs to push…

1) “more magnification”
2) “more working height”

I think i already exceeded those, and this is the “wimpy” set up… i could get “mid-evil” from this point out, this is just the starting point… I mean, when i said i could show you “up a fly’s arsehole” ?? that wasnt a JOKE…

26

my mock-up unit, is shaped more or less just like your commercial one… its a tube device, suspended over the work area. Right now, i am just using a c-clamp to hold my tube at about 12” or so above the table. Obviously for the final build, i will make a sliding clamp to adjust height.

my focusing is a push-pull though, one tube sliding in and out of the other. “zoom” in or out is accomplished by raising and lowering the work height. On MINE, I am actually zoomed in “too much” and i still have a FOOT of work height, in practical use, i would probably give myself even MORE work height, simply to lower the magnification a little bit to make it more reasonable.

27

I’m just starting to get the impression (just an inkling) that maybe you’re enjoying this a little too much sedstar :stuck_out_tongue: :wink:

:smiley: :+1:

28

well… this is a flashlight site. (i know, “duh”)

but, if i try to divide flashaholics into stages? I’m no longer a rank noob, but, i’m also far from being any expert. I’m in that “awkward” middle area.

but… when suddenly “USB digital microscope” appeared? Well, yeah i got very excited! just like a little kid! Why? simple… you wandered into MY WORLD. I might not be like “old lumens” (rip) with visible flashlights? But… I’m a lot more comfortable and “powerful” when i am doing digital imaging.

just like YOU guys cant believe what people are willing to pay retail for, and get so little out of flashlights? I cant believe what passes for a “USB digital microscope”. For the same money? I can CRUSH that unit, i think.

i am resisting “temptation” of lowering the working height DOWN from 12 inches, to 30mm… which seems to be about where most projects and commercial units give their “wow” images… at 12 inches, i already have the “2015” more than filling up the entire screen on the laptop viewing of the webcam image board, and am idly curious how small my field of view would become at that work height.

I’m kinda curious when i use the “big lens” how much more magnification i can GET, although i know its only academic… i already have magnification higher than i would want to solder at.

I am also kinda curious, if the money you spent on the commercial unit… was put only “where it counts” in a project build, how it would end up. I mean, lets face it… the work space is nothing, the imaging tube is just a tube and some sliding clamp or gooseneck to suspend it over the work area… the only things that REALLY matter, are the LENS and the IMAGE board.

but yeah, i get excited like a little kid, sometimes. I enjoy a project.

29

Let’s talk again in 30 years :stuck_out_tongue:

30

Also excited. I’ve been having severe envy of the magnifying binocs my dentist uses.
And the little wand camera they can put into my mouth and take pictures of individual teeth.

Waiting for someone to specify an ideal setup I can buy, for soldering.

Now, if there were shake-removing “waldo” devices, I’d be gratified.

31

Well? after i get a shower and a change of work clothes? I might see about a few more pictures, zoomed in and out on a real driver board… I need to change the focusing tube setup for a longer range of focus, too. I wonder how much more magnification i can get out of this lens without trying a different one…

32

switched to a KALIMAR - 135mm camera lens, machined the housing down for fitment to s machined plastic lens carrier… went from “2015” on a USA penny, to just the “20” out of 2015… a little more magnification. heres a shot of the penny doing “20”… also, the next photo is a MEMORY CARD for a PC… those tiny round dots are impossibly small, and you can see how big the solder pad of one of the smallest IC’s looks…

i had the light sitting funny for the “20” penny shot, but, i made sure i got the light right on the MEM card photo…

honestly, the magnification is a little much. (working height is still a whole 12 inches, though)

to be practical and solder a 15 or 20mm driver board? I would probably have to use a less powerful lens (breaks my heart) or get a “USB extension cord” so i can jack the working height up ANOTHER foot, just to get the magnification down to “reasonable”

But, i checked commercial units out, “long focus/high magnification” setups like THIS i have made? are considerably more expensive than run-of-the-mill entry level units.

i am gonna call this experiment/project a “success”.

33

Well, sedstar, I have to tell you I’m impressed :beer:

34

I enjoy not imagining myself 30 years from now :wink:

35

at warhawk….

poking around online? I think i found something out about your microscope that will interest you… i found a reviewer who like you, didnt know about the “lens” that ruins high magnification… he popped it OFF with his fingers? and instantly got clear video, and access to the higher magnification…

he surmised it was just a protective cover for protecting it during storage/shipping.

36

oh snap…haha that darn protective cover

Very cool on your maginfication being so far, the farther you can get the camera and still get clear magnification is what is needed, so people can magnify and still be able to solder without having the camera and lense in the way

37

I feel like a right numpty! I took the lens off as you said. Works better now :person_facepalming: It might even be suitable for me to use as is. This first pic is right up close to the microscope.





38

Oh wow! Is sedstar saying you can take a lens externally to that magnifier (such as a lens from an old busted projection tv RGB projector module) and increase zoom even more?

39

Pinkpanda, that one looks perfectly usable right out of the box. Which one is it, from where?

40

at warhawk…

QUOTE
Oh wow! Is sedstar saying you can take a lens externally to that magnifier (such as a lens from an old busted projection tv RGB projector module) and increase zoom even more?
ENDQUOTE

until i get my HANDS on one of “you guys” model?? I dont know WHAT i can do with it… i have HOPES though, but, really i cant tell until i get one what i can do with it.

but… the projection TV lenses? more than likely one might work well for MY project build… heck, i have SIX of those projection lenses from the older RGB projection TVs… stripped 2 different TVs and salvaged them.

===

what kind of lens is even ON you guys models? is it a single lens? a compound lens? what diameter? whats the focal length(s) (it has zoom, so, it will be a RANGE of focal lengths, i suppose)

once again, when i get my HANDS on one of there? i will find out if i can modify/add a lens to it, or, replace the lens. If i figure out i can REPLACE the lens? i will try to make it “swappable” real camera lenses… I was thinking c-cs mount. which are both the same thing, except one has a different flange focal distance. the threads on c/cs = “1-32 UN 2A”

figured MAYBE i can machine up a carrier for the mount, if i can mod these units, to kick the mover to real lenses for swapping. I know where to get the threaded mount reasonable, to put i my machined carrier.

=

i think we are confusing everyone, having 2threads called “DIY USB microscope”, lol… yours turned into “bought budget copes” and mine is “scratch build”… lol