Homebrew PCBs

Harvey and the group:


I bought a nice American Optical stereo microscope at Goodwill for $6 :)


It's in nice shape, was probably new in the '60s, has two magnification levels and the requisite 3-4 inch working distance, but...


The "eyeball separation adjustment" is very critical, and if I move my head back and forth just a teeny, there's no optical path until I move my eyes back into that one very critical position. Plus, if I have my glasses on (which is a good thing), I can't get close enough to the eyepieces to see much of anything.


Dang!


I could use it for inspection, but I can't imagine that I'd be able to use it with any type of soldering or hot air device.


My original idea was to cobble together a video microscope for SMD work, with a small VGA or composite monitor. Based on my experiences with one particular stereo microscope, a home-brew video scope couldn't be any worse :)




Thanks,


--Kirk, NT0Z


My book, "Stealth Amateur Radio," is now available from 
www.stealthamateur.com and on the Amazon Kindle (soon)