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From: news on 12 May 2010 07:27
On Tue, 11 May 2010 11:47:01 -0700, John Larkin
<jjlarkin(a)highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> said:
> On Tue, 11 May 2010 12:18:31 -0400, Neon John <no(a)never.com> wrote:
>
> >Time to come out of long time lurk mode.
> >
> >I'm doing my first foray into 0.5mm pitch surface mount with a 100 pin
> >TQFP FPGA. My antique eyes and 7 power surgical stereoscope (head
> >mounted) are not cutting the mustard. Therefore I'm looking for some
> >recommendations on a good stereoscope for EE work.
> >
> >John Larkin, I think that it was you who posted a photo of your
> >workstation and a description of the scope that you use but I can't
> >seem to find it in the archives. Could you please re-post that info?
>
> Compact Mantis.
>
> ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/DSC01371.JPG
>
> I too have terrible vision. This thing makes me feel like an eagle.
>
> John
>

We bought one of these as well, it was a revelation after struggling
with cheap X9 eyepieces. They will come and demo the unit before you
buy so you can select the best lenses, we went for 4X to solder under
and 10X for documenting PCB faults - you can take pics using a digital
camera through the hood. The 10X is a bit too powerful for working
under, it also distorts things in the vertical plane for some reason,
0603s look like skyscrapers.

They offer a version with built-in USB camera now but the camera quality
is horrible - even the sales rep admitted we'd be better off using a
hand-held camera.

They use a more advanced version at our PCB subcontractor which has some
kind of prism attachment for the objective lens, it allows you to view
components edge-on and see under BGAs etc. I think this system is $10K+
though.

In short - thoroughly recommended. Excellent piece of kit.
From: Jon Elson on 12 May 2010 16:26
Neon John wrote:
> Time to come out of long time lurk mode.
>
> I'm doing my first foray into 0.5mm pitch surface mount with a 100 pin
> TQFP FPGA. My antique eyes and 7 power surgical stereoscope (head
> mounted) are not cutting the mustard. Therefore I'm looking for some
> recommendations on a good stereoscope for EE work.
>
> John Larkin, I think that it was you who posted a photo of your
> workstation and a description of the scope that you use but I can't
> seem to find it in the archives. Could you please re-post that info?
>
I've used several. I have an Olympus at home, and used a Bausch & Lomb
at work until recently. we just get a new, Chinese unit at work for a
ridiculously low price on eBay. It also works well, although the
included fluorescent ring light was too large diameter and hung below
the microscope objective, reducing work area. So, I made up a ring
light with 8 white LEDs on a piece of PCB material, and a wall-wart
power supply. All of these are roughly 7 - 40 power magnification.
I tweak the eyepieces so that I can use them without my glasses, I get a
much better view that way. Since my eyes are 20/250 and 20/500, I need
a wide range of eyepiece adjustment so both can be in focus at the same
time.

I do down to 0.4 mm pitch this way.

Jon
From: Neon John on 13 May 2010 03:43
On Wed, 12 May 2010 12:27:29 +0100, <news(a)rblack01.plus.com> wrote:


>> Compact Mantis.
>>
>> ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/DSC01371.JPG
>>
>> I too have terrible vision. This thing makes me feel like an eagle.
>>
>> John
>>
>
>We bought one of these as well, it was a revelation after struggling
>with cheap X9 eyepieces. They will come and demo the unit before you
>buy so you can select the best lenses, we went for 4X to solder under
>and 10X for documenting PCB faults - you can take pics using a digital
>camera through the hood. The 10X is a bit too powerful for working
>under, it also distorts things in the vertical plane for some reason,
>0603s look like skyscrapers.

First off, thanks to everyone who responded. Very helpful.

After due consideration, I'm gonna get a Mantis :-) The sales dude is
going to be here Friday.

This is going to be an adventure for him that he won't forget. I live
and work out of a remote mountain cabin in a little fishing resort in
the Tellico mountains. 20 mile drive up a winding mountain road AFTER
he leaves civilization. I'll cue some banjo music :-)

John

From: Royston Vasey on 13 May 2010 04:12

"Neon John" <no(a)never.com> wrote in message
news:c6bnu5p247ears156vlgd91uj1ja04lvns(a)4ax.com...
> On Wed, 12 May 2010 12:27:29 +0100, <news(a)rblack01.plus.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> Compact Mantis.
>>>
>>> ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/DSC01371.JPG
>>>
>>> I too have terrible vision. This thing makes me feel like an eagle.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>
>>We bought one of these as well, it was a revelation after struggling
>>with cheap X9 eyepieces. They will come and demo the unit before you
>>buy so you can select the best lenses, we went for 4X to solder under
>>and 10X for documenting PCB faults - you can take pics using a digital
>>camera through the hood. The 10X is a bit too powerful for working
>>under, it also distorts things in the vertical plane for some reason,
>>0603s look like skyscrapers.
>
> First off, thanks to everyone who responded. Very helpful.
>
> After due consideration, I'm gonna get a Mantis :-) The sales dude is
> going to be here Friday.
>
> This is going to be an adventure for him that he won't forget. I live
> and work out of a remote mountain cabin in a little fishing resort in
> the Tellico mountains. 20 mile drive up a winding mountain road AFTER
> he leaves civilization. I'll cue some banjo music :-)
>
> John
>

Make sure you screw him down on price, make him squeal like a pig!


From: John Larkin on 13 May 2010 09:58
On Thu, 13 May 2010 03:43:22 -0400, Neon John <no(a)never.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 12 May 2010 12:27:29 +0100, <news(a)rblack01.plus.com> wrote:
>
>
>>> Compact Mantis.
>>>
>>> ftp://jjlarkin.lmi.net/DSC01371.JPG
>>>
>>> I too have terrible vision. This thing makes me feel like an eagle.
>>>
>>> John
>>>
>>
>>We bought one of these as well, it was a revelation after struggling
>>with cheap X9 eyepieces. They will come and demo the unit before you
>>buy so you can select the best lenses, we went for 4X to solder under
>>and 10X for documenting PCB faults - you can take pics using a digital
>>camera through the hood. The 10X is a bit too powerful for working
>>under, it also distorts things in the vertical plane for some reason,
>>0603s look like skyscrapers.
>
>First off, thanks to everyone who responded. Very helpful.
>
>After due consideration, I'm gonna get a Mantis :-) The sales dude is
>going to be here Friday.
>
>This is going to be an adventure for him that he won't forget. I live
>and work out of a remote mountain cabin in a little fishing resort in
>the Tellico mountains. 20 mile drive up a winding mountain road AFTER
>he leaves civilization. I'll cue some banjo music :-)

Serve him some moonshine and *then* talk price.

>
>John

Some people have complained of headaches from using a Mantis. Make
sure you set the inter-pupillary adjust knob right, to suit your
anatomy. It has radical effects on the 3D perspective; I can adjust
mine from hyper-Manhattan to *inverted* 3D, where parts look sunk into
the board.

Oh, if you solder under it, clean the lens now and then!

I have the "compact" version, the simpler one without the lens turret,
with LED lighting. We have a few of the bigger ones, in the lab and in
production. The compact is fine for an engineer's bench. I mostly use
the 6x lens.

John


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