Dacia,

I bought a Microscope from Amscope.com about 6 months ago. It was a very 
good deal. Magnification up to 185x. I would say it definitely qualifies 
as cheap. Subjective opinion of course. The microscope is great. I 
struggled with the camera to get it to take good pictures.  My 
recommendation for the people in this forum is not to buy the ring 
light. Instead get the Fiber optic Dual Goose neck illuminator. The 
reflection from my (always!!!!) shiny solder joints made it impossible 
for the camera to take good pictures. The white light from the ring 
light did not work for my application. Even if I turned it way down. The 
goose neck gives off a more natural light.

There are adapters available for this type of scope where you can place 
a regular camera on the scope. Not from Amscope, but others. I can not 
remember who. Google will find it. This will take much better pictures. 
I may buy this in addition later. If you already have a digital camera. 
This is the way to go.

The software does have measurement capabilities. Amscope offers "TRY-IT 
-BEFORE-YOU-BUY-IT" which is highly recommended.

Good luck.

Leif Erik Laerum



On 2/9/2010 4:03 PM, Dacia Schoolfield wrote:
> Esteemed Forum -
>
> Do any of you have input as to a great, but cheap, visual inspection system?
>
> I need a system that can easily inspect, from 10X to 150X, with the capability of also taking pictures.  If it has the ability to measure inspection areas, and/or the ability to measure solder paste height, that would be great - but it's not required.  I've combed the archived forums for input, but all of the recommendations I found were at least a few years old already.
>
> And, let me repeat, it must be as cheap as cheap can be.
>
> I found this - and it certainly fits the "cheap" requirement.  Anybody have experience with this sort of device that they wouldn't mind sharing?
> http://www.astronomics.com/main/product.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/H3FXPE8M9P6F8NNWAMLBVE9C74/product_id/44302#IMGS
>
>
> I look forward to your input.
>
> - D
>
>
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