Re: Making a microscope

From: Don Taylor (dont_at_agora.rdrop.com)
Date: 03/10/05 

Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:17:37 -0600

"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> writes:
>Don Taylor wrote:
>> "Russ" <StateStreetAmusements@hotmail.com> writes:
>> >After pricing stereo microscopes and not wanting to spend $400+ And after
>> >buying 5 or 6 little 1x,2x,4,5, magnifying lens I was wondering if there was
>> >a way to construct a cheap stereo microscope. It doesn't have to be stereo.
>> >It just needs to be 10-20x power and about 5 inches of clearance between the
>> >lens and the pcb I am looking at. How would you go about putting this
>> >together? I have a old pair of binoculars if that will help. Any ideas?
>> >Thanks again
>>
>> The Intel usb microscope might be an option. It has cheap plastic
>> lenses in it but with a little work you might be able to replace
>> those with reasonable quality lenses. I saw one in the Goodwill
>> the other day for $9. I imagine they show up on Ebay for 10x that.
>>
>> I considered modifying mine to swap the lenses but never finished.

> I bought one new for less than $50 but it isn't much of a
>microscope. The frame rate is too slow so its difficult to get a sharp
>focus, and it has a horrible depth of field.

I never really considered real-time frame rate as a criteria for a
microscope. But I agree that the plastic lenses could be lots better.
There was a web page a few years ago that discussed the possibility
of replacing the lenses. Each power is provided by a separate lens
assembly that is housed inside the scope. Unlike many products, the
scope is fairly easy to open. But building a new lens assembly
might be a challenge. I studied the web page for a while but never
did go further. And I suppose automating the focus wouldn't be
out of the question. Somewhat surprisingly, the scope seems to
comply with the Twain protocols, I think, it has been a while since
I was actively playing with this. People found you could "open"
the scope with any Twain compliant application and even inspect
the properties. You weren't locked inside some incompatible SW.
So, a little stepper could drive the focus knob and just search
for maximum contrast.

I'm certainly not defending the toy. But it was surprising how
much they could deliver for the price.

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