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Having fun with a cheap digital microscope! (Pics)

MuthaFunk

MuthaFunk

Vinyl Addict
I picked up a cheap $40 microscope form that auction site for my son and although it doesn't have enough magnification for checking stylus wear I did have a lot of fun just checking out how the different stylus were constructed...

Check out these pics!!

Here is a Shure M93E

ShureM93Eclose3.jpg


ShureM93Eclose.jpg


ShureM93Eclose2.jpg


Here is a Nagaoka MP11 Boron

MP11BoronStylus2.jpg


MP11BoronStylus2side.jpg


MP11BoronStylus1side.jpg


MP11BoronStylus1end.jpg


MP11BoronStylus1tip.jpg


MP11BoronStylus1Close.jpg


Here is an Accuphase AC-1 Microline (I needed more magnification)

AccuphaseAC-1Close.jpg


AccuphaseAC-1Close2.jpg


AccuphaseAC-1Close3.jpg


I was most interested in seeing the Magic Eraser perform it's magic. In some of these pics the diamond was buried in dust!!
I'm going to use it to look at some record grooves next.
 
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AWESOME pics!!!

So amazing how these whole turntable vinyl playing works.

I will be patiently awaiting pics of record grooves!
 
How much magnification is needed for checking stylus wear?
I've got some s/h cartridges I'd like to check.

Oh, and if you should decide to get rid of that old AC-1, drop me a PM ;)
 
Whoa that's awesome!

I used to do this with a cheap microscope I had... I tried it out on a Stampeders 45. It didn't magnify good enough though.

Next you should check out the grooves on a 78... seemingly clean 78s I imagine have enough dirt to grow potatoes in them.
 
Great Pics! Gosh, at that magnification, those things look like farm plows. Makes me want to lock up my records entirely! It also reminds me the importance of keeping the stylus clean and not using a damaged one.
 
HI Folks,
This series of pictures was posted in the sticky that is titled "Sparkys Fabulous DIY Stylus Microscope". I gave the post that contained these pictures a hard time because it will not work for checking stylus wear. Checking for stylus wear is what the sticky is all about. I did not want any one to think that I endorsed it as useful or that I agreed that it is a good idea for use as a stylus wear instrument. It's not. If you are really curious about checking for stylus wear, you should check the sticky out.

However, if all you want is a toy, then the "microscope" shown in this present thread is kind of neat. Useless but neat. I'm not sure why anyone would want it because it doesn't really show anything that can't be seen with a 10X magnifier. If all you want to see is if there is dust on the stylus, then I suppose it could help. But you will loose interest fast.

MuthaFunk, if you really want folks to check this out why don't you provide a link? It would make life a lot easier.

Sparky

Edited to Add: Mutha, at my request, went into the sticky and removed his pics. They were causing the thread to misbehave and jump around when you clicked into it. So, any references to Mutha's pics in that thread are now void and the thread is now working properly. Now there is only one set of pictures and they are here, the current thread.

Thanks, Mutha.
 
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Actually I only posted a couple of pics of the Nagaoka in the microscope sticky. I expored a little more and found it facinating to observe the difference in construction of different stylus. As seen here, all pics were done at the maximum mangnification of this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-3-Mega-Pixel-USB-Digital-Microscope-230x-Zoom_W0QQitemZ170335699114QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27a8cc80aa&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2%7C65%3A15%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Here is a couple more of my Jico HE!!

JicoHE.jpg



JicoHE2.jpg


Notice they used a solid Aluminum cantilever and ground down to a flat. The Nagaoka is similar only made of Boron. It looks as though the Accuphase and Shure M93E both have Aluminum that has been flattened and bent to the proper angle. Interesting...:scratch2:

Virak,

I'm hoping Karma16 will chime in to what magnification is truley required to inspect a diamond for facet wear. Karma16 has plenty experience with this as can be seen in his microscope thread in the stickys.

jgordon,

Sadly these pics are after the magic eraser. The Jelco looks good!!LOL
I'm sure I could give them another run and see some improvement but before they were much worse. I couldn't believe it, I have an RCM too!

Karma16,

This is just a fun thing to mess with if you have one around or don't mind spending $40. Not everyone has the means or is willing to spend $200 - $300 to build a precision engineered microscope to examin facet wear. Some people just want to look at stuff really close. I've been having a blast capturing these pics! I would like to keep this thread positive and fun. :thmbsp:
 
HI Mutha,
Thanks for the link. I'm going to buy one. I can't resist toys, I guess. Actually, I can see it as being quite useful, just not for stylus wear determination. The price is certainly right.

You folks who are asking about the necessary magnification should really check out the sticky where most of your questions will be answered.

The simple answer is 200X magnification. Not more, not less. But there is much more to a useful stylus wear instrument. Check out the sticky, please. I don't want to repeat everything here. I also don't want to make it sound too hard. The project is actually easy if you have the right goals and a little guidence. That's what I try to provide.

Sparky
 
Your fine pictures show that you have plenty of magnification to show stylus wear. The straight on shots show two shinny dots on either side of the stylus. These are the wear points. As you use a stylus these will grow in size. If the distance between the dots is smaller than the diameter of the dot you can throw the stylus out. This was the rule on ellipticals back in the day. If you see uneven wear, one dot bigger than the other, this is also not good and may indicate a bias problem. Line contact stylus will show oblong wear dots. It is best to check a new stylus and then check it every 100 hours or so until you get used to seeing what wear looks like on your scope. Bright lighting on the stylus will show the wear points clearly. If you use a vacuum record cleaner and Stylast you will find the whole wear process slows way down. It is important to clean the record every so often so accumulated dirt is removed that would wear the stylus.
Not a plug but look at one of the AT or Denon carts if you want to see cool stylus cantilever mounts.

thanks,
Ron-C
 
ron-c said:
Not a plug but look at one of the AT or Denon carts if you want to see cool stylus cantilever mounts.

thanks,
Ron-C
Click to expand...

I have one!! (Denon DL103) It's currently mounted on my Oracle table but now you have me curious.....

I'll post pics when I get it off that table.
 
So I took a look at some records. I don't know what I expected to see but they were kind of boring. I think I'd need an electron microscope to get the magnification I want to see in records but here's what I was able to capture.

Record250X.jpg


Record250X3.jpg


Record250X2.jpg


This one has a fingerprint over it...
Record250X4.jpg


I guess it's kind of cool to see the grooves are not perfectly aligned with each other. This could by why audiophiles can hear the difference a high end tonearm can make if it's set up properly.

This was a small smudge that went accros an entire track.

Record250Xsmudge.jpg



This was a small scratch.

Record250Xscratch.jpg



Next up..... The guess what this is game!!
 
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wow!! Amazing!!

The whole idea behind how records work is just mind blowing and this makes it even more crazy!! I'm so glad I subscribed to this thread. This is awesome!!!

Even with the small scratch, its amazing records with those don't skip, with what looks like a total break in the groove path. Unless just momentun of the record spinning doesn't give the tonearm a chance to move much over such a small area.
 
Guessing Game

Sunday Sunday Sunday!!!! Get your tickets to the AK guessing game NOW NOW NOW!!

:eek:

O.k. no need to buy tickets just guess here now. Here's a few pics of Vinyl related stuff. Lets see who can earn themselves an e-cookie by guessing exactly what each is correctly.

Item A
Guess2.jpg


Item B

Guess7.jpg


Guess8.jpg


Item C

Guess3.jpg


Guess4.jpg


Guess5.jpg


Answers to follow in just 2 days!!!.:banana:
 
BigManAndy said:
wow!! Amazing!!

The whole idea behind how records work is just mind blowing and this makes it even more crazy!! I'm so glad I subscribed to this thread. This is awesome!!!

Even with the small scratch, its amazing records with those don't skip, with what looks like a total break in the groove path. Unless just momentun of the record spinning doesn't give the tonearm a chance to move much over such a small area.
Click to expand...

If you think about it, that needle is just speeding down those grooves. I think it would take what would look like a brutal collision to cause a needle to get drailed and fly out of the groove. Hmmmm. If I come accros a record that skips I'll be sure to post another pic of it just to see....
 
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