You are welcome!

Hi! I tried reaching out to you on Discord but it didn't go through. Send me a message there (or Twitter or whatever) if you get a chance. Thanks.

KZfaq is filled to the brim with microscope videos. I often use YT instead of the good old regular search engine for my hobbyist needs...

Sounds good. I'll probably make one in a few months.

Thanks! Solder paste is next in my list of things to try too (especially after soldering that crammed board). Definitely interested in experimenting with it.

@@NoelsRetroLab yeah soldering that tiny RGB board was quite and achievement, but bet it did have you considering alternatives. This is the video from Great Scott kzfaq.info/get/bejne/er-iqMZ6vM_LYmg.html where he tries 3 different methods.

You're absolutely right about the stand. Next stop is to mount it on a free arm to move it around freely.

@@NoelsRetroLab That'll do! Thanks for the video!

Glad it was helpful!

Oh good tip about the shiny stuff reflecting back! I did notice that.

Thanks!

They do look so tempting, don't they? 😃

@@NoelsRetroLab Until you see the price of them.

Yes, at the magnification I was showing it, it was zoomed in more for joint inspection. If you zoom it out it's pretty good for working though.

Haha, so far I've been lucky with eyesight, but I'm fully prepared for it to deteriorate like everything else ☹️ Oh well. Glad to hear the microscope it working out for you. And thanks for the sub! Hope you enjoy the videos!

Yes, the LED needs to be adjusted just right or it'll wash everything out. I'm experimenting with mostly using a side light and it seems to work well.

The picture is far from perfect, and you have to play with the light (or add some external light) to get it as good as possible, but for that price, it's still worth it 😃

Good tip! I don't, but a lot of people say they can't use those glasses because they already have glasses, so that's a great idea.

Yeah, that works too. Even cheaper! I like it 😃

Nice! It's great to have different options to match them to the right application.

Yes they are! Quicly becoming one of my favorite tools!

You're welcome. You're 100% right about wearing your own glasses making it difficult. I didn't think of that at the time.

Another issue for glasses wearers is the close focal point with the glasses style magnifiers, which adds significantly to eye strain and fatigue when spending hours at the bench. My favorite lower magnification device is a lighted gooseneck loop, which is less than $30 in the US. The LED versions or the older round florescent tube versions give even lighting and do well as secondary bench lighting as well. Two suggestions for hobby or electronics work; get a glass lens and some lens cleaning wipes (flux soldering under the lens leaves a film that builds up slowly) and, if you can find one with a flip down cover, it saves a lot of dust cleaning. If you cannot or the price is ridiculous, a soft cloth cover (a microfiber or washcloth is perfect) over the top of the lens saves a lot of dust removal.

Yeah, I've been using them some more and the glasses are great, even for through-hole soldering when you care about the small details (desoldering mostly). Really happy with all of it.

Good tip! You're right that if you're in a well-lit environment (like I am with all the flood lights for the recording) the light isn't necessary. I like it! Thanks!

Glad you like them!

No, it doesn't. I'm sure that's part of the cheap price! It has a USB connection that I think it's just for charging. So saving to the SD card is as good as it gets I'm afraid.

Glad that was useful! Interesting about the oscilloscope video request. I'll add it to the list. The difference there is that I have a slightly more expensive one (around 300€ although I bought it cheaper used) and absolutely love it. When I did my research years ago I convinced myself this was the way to go. So I'd be slightly biased, but it could be interesting as well. I'll keep it in mind!

But the problem with USB microscopes is that there is too much lag or delay. I already have one but its too slow. At high resolution the lag is over half a second.

Oh, I'll have to check that one out. Thanks for pointing it out.

Haha, it's not absolute garbage because at least the base is heavy, but I love the other small vise I have. I use it for everything.

Haha, probably!!!

Although they have very different applications, and the microscope is much more limited in how big of a board you can examine.

@@NoelsRetroLab As it it constructed, yes.... I can remedy that no problem.

Yes, I'm noticing an external light at a angle is better than the built-in one straight down.

@@NoelsRetroLab That is so true. You also often can read (laser engraved) chip markings better when having the light at an angle. So even with cheaper scopes like this the image quality can be improved.

You are right about those glasses... I purchased mine from a hobby on-line store, and they broke!!! They broke because the nose piece was Too Rigid for my nose so I remove that part by unscrewing it. Then the forehead piece was Scratching my forehead, not comfortable, At ALL! So I attached the strap that came with the set, worked okay, except for that forehead, so I placed a piece of spongy-foam on there, which worked great. But, after All That... I dropped mine onto the wooden floor and the part that goes towards the ear, Just before the strap attachment, broke.......Very Disappointed! Microscope??? Hhhmmmm.

That's a bummer. I'll keep that in mind, and maybe do a followup if that happens. And yes, you're right: 720p! (even though the menu in the microscope claims 1080p). Sleazy! It wouldn't have changed anything. Why couldn't they say its true characteristics?

Hmm... now that I look more closely at the file, it's 1280x720, so that's not 1080p. Interesting. But it's certainly not 640x480! I didn't use any particular software, just grabbed the files directly from the SD onto my computer.

@@NoelsRetroLab The car DVRs fake the resolutions, sometimes quite badly (320*240 interpolated to 1080p etc). But the video looks pretty decent do it can't be that bad.

Absolutely correct. Even for a tiny board like this there were some positions I couldn't use. The stand is removable, so you should be able to attach it to any kind of stand you want (like a sturdy microphone arm one for example).

@@NoelsRetroLab I think if you had one of those microphone stands that you could lock in place this would be really usable. Did you find you could work on the board whilst looking at the screen, that seems a bit weird to me, but I suppose you just adjust to it?

Perhaps a future video might be seeing if you could mount it on a stand with a long reach, I would be interested to see if it's possible and whether working on larger boards using this is possible. Thanks for replying to my question.

This is twice the $100 budget, but I recommend it over any electronic microscope.

That's a great price! I think the prices I saw were many times that. Or maybe I was looking at different models. But I've heard that recommendation and Strange Parts repeatedly recommended. I'm writing it down for future reference. Thanks!

Ah! That makes sense. Thanks!

test, make a video!

Nice! Liking them so far?

@@NoelsRetroLab They work ok. I had hoped I could have them on with my regular glasses, but that did not work too well

I am using this each night for a smd kit which is more advanced than a beginner kit as it has a microcontroller and more than a hundred leds. For the weight of the glasses I got an adjustable glasses strap which helps a lot with keeping it from sliding around becoming annoying. I am back here because I was looking for greater magnification for the tiny resistor arrays which even with the 3.5X magnification are difficult to see the individual legs.

Great breakdown. You seem to use that a lot more than me. What microscope is that? I'm writing down recommendations for a better one eventually. Thanks!

​@@NoelsRetroLab Sorry for the late answer. I try to make it up with a bit of verbosity. ;-) The 7" microscope is the Andonstar AD407. It's about 250 Euros when bought in Europe. My recommendation would be not to get it directly from China. Reason: It's screen is very fragile and can be damaged on transport as shown on the channel "Robert's Smorgasboard" (and also how not to repair it ;-)). Returns are easier with European dealers... What it comes with: - main unit with 7" screen, metal stand with two LED spot lights (also metal), cable remote for LED brightness, IR remote for microscope & display options, built-in microphone (haven't used it, yet), removable UV filter (very good!), USB wall wart, HDMI-cable (mini to regular) Also: The product is being advertised as showing a "3D view" but this is nonsense. It only means that you can tilt the arm of the metal stand - which can be nice in some situations but is of course no "3D". What it doesn't have: - optical zoom, autofocus, built-in LIPO battery, LEDs around the lens, USB communication (you can only transfer jpg-images & mp4-movies via micro SD card - sold separately, max. 32GB - but I haven't tested & analyzed this extensively). Positives: - It comes with a USB wall wart but also works on decent USB hubs and power banks (it draws up to 1,1 A on 5 V when recording). - Very good, sharp image quality with nice colors and no noticeable lag. Several YT videos show this. - It has one of the better 7" screens I've seen (with about 600 to 720 lines vertically). - The HDMI port works simultaneously, also no lag visible. - The focus adjustments is made of metal and feels smooth (not "super-perfect" like on expensive camera lenses but "good"). - The metal stand is relatively small but usable and the scope stays in place when you adjust the focus. - The maximum working distance is about 165 mm (lens to stand). You still get a 6x magnification on the 7" screen with this. => You can work with hot air under it thanks to the working height and the metal stand. - The main unit features several buttons and there is a cheap but usable IR remote (rubber keys) BUT the whole concept is a bit "how you doin'" as Dave Jones would say. You can adjust the LED brightness only with the cable remote and here we arrive at the... Negatives: - The cable remote is its biggest problem: Sometimes only the LEDs turn on and I once even had a "crash": The buttons didn't work anymore and I had to cut the power. Probably some shitty microcontroller inside. It's no show stopper but still annoying. My main gripe, if you will. - The fragile screen mentioned above... Also: Of course the manufacturer inflates the maximum magnification like they all do. The maximum magnification is about 27x when the inspected object is shown on the 7" screen, which is 153 mm wide. So you effectively see a 5,5 mm wide area under the scope when in 16:9 mode. This is not too shabby but not anywhere near the advertised claims. One can argue all day long about it but as neither lens nor sensor can't be changed the point is moot. It's also a prime and not a zoom lens so your working distance (lens to object) is more important anyway. At maximum magnification you are "blessed" with an effective working distance of only 45 mm. For soldering this sucks and you'll likely increase this distance and thus reduce the magnification. I mostly keep it at the maximum of 165 mm. Note that even the more expensive Eakins autofocus microscope (the next logical step above this Andonstar) with a 180x lens is only two times better: It shows 3,0 mm on the screen. See Dave Jones' video on EEVblog about it. Conclusion: Considering the many cheaper ones I still consider the AD407 great for hobbyists/enthusiasts. It's big plus is the image quality and 1080p with 60 Hz is reasonably futureproof, especially if one uses mostly the 7" screen. The HDMI output works like a charm, though, and the lens mechanics are good enough. And you can easily store it when not in use (my hobby room is even smaller than yours, so...).

Haha, sorry! I've had that happen before with videos and people getting chat requests in the video now that I think about it 😃

That could very well be true. Maybe that's even why it had the wrong aspect ratio, just the firmware trying to mess with you and it has a bug 😃

Yeah agree with that, couldn't find anything under £30, shame because I'd have gladly paid £20 for this, the 7" ones with 1200x zoom aren't much more.

Hahah, wait, let me set up a BBS for you 😃

@@NoelsRetroLab ROFL... no need... i telnet'd in to some BBS's lastnight! :P ...ahh thank god the days of 500$ phonebills from calling BBSs and hour long JPG image downloads are gone!..my 2400bps modem is RIP!

I can see that. I still haven't tried any real soldering with the microscope. It seems super useful for examining joints, but we'll see as far as live soldering. You may be right about the depth perception. Can you recommend a good stereoscopic microscope for under $100? Most of the ones I've seen (AmScope, Strange Parts) are pretty pricey.

@@NoelsRetroLab Now that I've looked around a little bit, I am a quite suprised how microscopes have gone up in price. AmScope seems to have their 'Swift' lineup of reasonably priced stereo microscopes starting with 70$ for S303 model with 10x and 30x magnification. Then there are S304, S308 and few more expensive models.

@@pvc988 Thanks! I'll look into those. Cheers.

@@mikapirinen2403 Yes that one i bought, it was on sale so it was little cheaper, around 60$

Hmm... good question! I don't know! I suspect it might move your focus point a bit closer or further away, but I don't know. You certainly can't wear both of them at once.

I've got the same one's. They work great with prescription glasses! Recommended!

I’ve got the same glasses and use them with my glasses, they work! Only thing I find is the ear rests are really uncomfortable with glasses, but they are removable and you can fit the supplied elastic head band instead.

@@MrClump That's how I use them.. Works well for me..

An expensive one probably gives you much better image quality and does it from further away. But I'm just guessing since I don't have one.

Check the link in the main channel page: discord.com/invite/ETcCh6J

If you're going to be making significant use of them, I completely agree. It's a big jump to the next level up though. What would be some of the least expensive ones you'd recommend? The AmScope binoculars for $200-$300?

@@NoelsRetroLab I would go with one of these i don`t need a camera www.aliexpress.com/item/32851511912.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.106e403ebVTt4z&algo_pvid=c78420a2-8c12-4c11-9d0a-c3da092b1e40&algo_expid=c78420a2-8c12-4c11-9d0a-c3da092b1e40-6&btsid=0bb0623616057401311988234ea2ef&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_ and this one if you you need one www.aliexpress.com/item/4000126585379.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.106e403ebVTt4z&algo_pvid=c78420a2-8c12-4c11-9d0a-c3da092b1e40&algo_expid=c78420a2-8c12-4c11-9d0a-c3da092b1e40-0&btsid=0bb0623616057401311988234ea2ef&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

@@AnonymousRepair Fantastic! Thanks for the recommendations!

Very true! (Love the profile pictures BTW! 😃)

@@NoelsRetroLab thanks !

it gets too hot

Yep. Because the content you make is so much better. *checks Not Applicable's channel* Oh wait...