A USB digital microscope that I bought from
www.dx.com turned up today. I wanted something cheap to inspect soldering and PCBs, and at $30 dollars I didn't have much to lose.
![Product Box Product Box](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-vS8skNvVifQ/UVGB3JHNM0I/AAAAAAAABMU/mcytCL3EFXQ/s640/MicroscopeBox.JPG) |
USB Microscope |
The specs say the sensor is 2.0 Mega Pixels, but I can't get anything above 480x640. Might be a driver issue, but as the included CD was blank and there is no website to download drivers the from, I'm stuck with it. Doesn't worry me, I was fully expecting problems. 480x640 is fine for my purposes.
![Product Box Product Box](//4.bp.blogspot.com/-2rn8U3GebMY/UVGB9s8y8yI/AAAAAAAABMc/Vj8egH3_bpY/s640/MicroscopeSpecs.JPG) |
Microscope Specs |
![Product Contents Product Contents](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-FcGqAdj9Cow/UVGCIQ_uZ9I/AAAAAAAABMk/6sf23Nk1a_s/s640/MicroscopeContents.JPG) |
Package Contents |
To focus the scope you manually turn a small black wheel on the side of the case. There is also a button on the camera to take snapshots, which doesn't work. I assume it would work if had the right drivers, but I prefer to trigger the snapshot from the computer. This eliminates any movement of the camera that may blur the picture. The on-off switch controls a ring 8 LEDs around the lens that are used to illuminate the subject.
It comes with a stand that is pretty much useless, which is what I had expected from reviews of similar products.
![USB Microscope USB Microscope](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q8m36AaK6ss/UVGCN8ginlI/AAAAAAAABMs/jvEMbvjpRGs/s640/MicroscopeStand.JPG) |
Microscope with stand |
There isn't much to say, it does what I want and I'm happy with it. As expected the product isn't great, but it gets me the results I want at a price that I'm happy to pay.
A few sample shots are shown below to get an idea of the results. Using a ruler as a test shot I was able to determine that there are about 100 pixels per mm or 2.5 pixels per mil which agrees with the track sizing on a couple of the PCBs imaged.
It also looks as if the images are a little over exposed. I may have to perform some adjustments there.
![Surface Mount Resistor Surface Mount Resistor](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-4faBi2K-Vn0/UVGCXoyRGWI/AAAAAAAABM0/sdVn6sySwMo/s640/MicroscopeTest1Resistor.jpg) |
Surface Mount Resistor |
![Five Dollar Note Five Dollar Note](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Mt0MoKbGuE/UVGCdyXMo5I/AAAAAAAABM8/bsoi0EcUKRE/s640/MicroscopeTest5DollarNote.jpg) |
Australian Five Dollar Note |
![2 dollar coin 2 dollar coin](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-M_lwP0rOAM4/UVGCkhEa7VI/AAAAAAAABNE/mK6S3eHPKWU/s640/MicroscopeTestCoin.jpg) |
Back of Australian 2 dollar coin |
![Steel Ruler Steel Ruler](//4.bp.blogspot.com/-9alNJpp3Qr0/UVGCtZw1utI/AAAAAAAABNM/Ma6b-N7XIu8/s640/MicroscopeTestRuler.jpg) |
Metal Ruler with 0.5 mm Markings |
![PCB PCB](//2.bp.blogspot.com/-XEPfKkJnRpI/UVGC5NWzq0I/AAAAAAAABNU/LH78Bv7PSBc/s640/MicroscopeTestPCB2.jpg) |
Soldermask, Track, and Pads |
![PCB PCB](//3.bp.blogspot.com/-404brSu7qMo/UVGDGHQZbGI/AAAAAAAABNc/NdcyxraS1j0/s640/MicroscopeTestPCB1.jpg) |
Silkscreen |
![PCB PCB](//1.bp.blogspot.com/-fhepLqwd-FI/UVGDOFoVVoI/AAAAAAAABNk/k5n8q3H3X8E/s640/MicroscopeTestPCB3.jpg) |
Silkscreen |
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