cafe latte
Addicted Member
Also try a stylus front view.
Chris
Chris
Another "I want a stylus scope" thread.
- Thread starter Thumper
- Start date
cafe latte
Addicted Member
Not bad but pixilating even with the small image, hard to determine anything. Good for cleaning though..
Chris
Thumper
Well-Known Member
Tonight I rigged I up that $10 fiber optic light unit with some plywood, a coat hanger, a couple of screws and four zip ties as below:
I hit the (still unsure what it is - might be a Shure VN35HE) stylus with a Stanton brush that @dualhead gave me to clean the crap off - much better! I wasn't able to get a shot using my phone of what I actually see. This is the best that I could do. Couple of wood shims underneath the cart to try and get the stylus to point "straight up" as close as I could.
In "real life" I can actually see two independant bright spots on the left and right sides of the end of the very tip of the stylus - exactly what I was thinking I would see based on what I've read here.
I need more magnification, so I ordered two 30X eyepieces from China. I hate buying from China, avoid it at all costs, but in this case it was unavoidable. So I'll be back in about a month once those show up. I'm excited about what I'm seeing so far though!
I hit the (still unsure what it is - might be a Shure VN35HE) stylus with a Stanton brush that @dualhead gave me to clean the crap off - much better! I wasn't able to get a shot using my phone of what I actually see. This is the best that I could do. Couple of wood shims underneath the cart to try and get the stylus to point "straight up" as close as I could.
In "real life" I can actually see two independant bright spots on the left and right sides of the end of the very tip of the stylus - exactly what I was thinking I would see based on what I've read here.
I need more magnification, so I ordered two 30X eyepieces from China. I hate buying from China, avoid it at all costs, but in this case it was unavoidable. So I'll be back in about a month once those show up. I'm excited about what I'm seeing so far though!
cafe latte
Addicted Member
Try the front view as I said as wear is far easier too see with the magnification you have currently and front view is less dependant on lighting.
Chris
Thumper
Well-Known Member
Ok @cafe latte - here's a front view at 70X. Again, it looks more in focus in real life but I'm still using my phone which has a hard time auto-focusing on the image. Same Shure stylus as before - VN35HE? - if it is, it sure doesn't look very elliptical!
edit - while I was at it I figured what the hell and snapped a side shot.
edit - while I was at it I figured what the hell and snapped a side shot.
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cafe latte
Addicted Member
I was hoping that we could see the tip in focus and see if there was a second steeper triangle at the tip in the last 5 percent of the stylus, but not enough magnification.
Re elliptical try rotating to about 2 O clock you should be able to pic up if the stylus has been cut off the front.
Chris
cafe latte
Addicted Member
Like this..
@ Nashou66
That image seems to show the wear flats well. Stylus looks used but still some life in it.
Not bad though for $99 and it must be great for working on PCBs with the 10cm working distance.
Question - what happens if you hold a lense between the object and the camera? Would a 2X dollar store cheater improve it?
That image seems to show the wear flats well. Stylus looks used but still some life in it.
Not bad though for $99 and it must be great for working on PCBs with the 10cm working distance.
Question - what happens if you hold a lense between the object and the camera? Would a 2X dollar store cheater improve it?
Pio1980
AK Member
You couldn't hold it all sufficently steady to make it work.
Thumper
Well-Known Member
My 30X eyepieces showed up today - with chunks of crap on the lenses. I'll need to take them apart (luckily they just unscrew) and clean them thoroughly. I also need to re-clean the scope optics, zoomed in at 210X I can't even get a focused image through either side. Still though, seeing WAY more cool stuff at 210X than I was at 70X even if fuzzy with chunks in the image!
While I have the scope apart I MIGHT screw around with collimation adjustment too, if I can figure out how the tilt mechanisms work. I looked online and didn't see anything, other than a few ads "pay $299 and we'll fix your scope!". Uh, no thanks.
Total investment thus far - $141. Don't plan on spending any more.
While I have the scope apart I MIGHT screw around with collimation adjustment too, if I can figure out how the tilt mechanisms work. I looked online and didn't see anything, other than a few ads "pay $299 and we'll fix your scope!". Uh, no thanks.
Total investment thus far - $141. Don't plan on spending any more.
Thumper
Well-Known Member
I think I'm cooking with GAS now! Cleaned the scope optics again, managed to fix the collimation issues (not 'perfect' but MUCH better), just took a dozen tries of trial and error moving things around. I still need to clean the eyepiece optics, and there are still two black chunks somewhere inside the left side of the scope that weren't there before, showed up a few days ago and are still there after cleaning tonight. I had the thing almost totally apart and hit every optical surface with Qtips and alcohol so I dunno where they are, so more work to be done...
I also figured out my focusing issue - it's the $10 fiber optic light unit! It has a fan, which makes racket, and I oiled the bushings, but it still makes racket. Turns out the vibration was vibrating my whole workbench, setup, etc... I think I need a better lighting system or figure out how to suspend the thing from springs ala like my AR XB, heh... It works fine and puts out good light so I'd like to make it work somehow.
Front view of the same stylus I've been taking pics of at 210X thru the right side (without the two black chunks). Again, taken with my phone thru the eyepiece, and I was holding an LED flashlight in the other hand instead of using the vibratory fiber optic setup, it looks better in person, YMMV, etc...
I also figured out my focusing issue - it's the $10 fiber optic light unit! It has a fan, which makes racket, and I oiled the bushings, but it still makes racket. Turns out the vibration was vibrating my whole workbench, setup, etc... I think I need a better lighting system or figure out how to suspend the thing from springs ala like my AR XB, heh... It works fine and puts out good light so I'd like to make it work somehow.
Front view of the same stylus I've been taking pics of at 210X thru the right side (without the two black chunks). Again, taken with my phone thru the eyepiece, and I was holding an LED flashlight in the other hand instead of using the vibratory fiber optic setup, it looks better in person, YMMV, etc...
Thumper
Well-Known Member
Tonight I made a 3rd attempt at cleaning the scope optics to get the two black chunks out of the left side to no avail. I hit every optic (again) except the one part of one prism that requires removing another smaller prism to get to, and I'm not doing that, might totally hose things up. I might try to hit that area with compressed air tomorrow to see if that gets 'em out.
Had to re-collimate, and I'm getting pretty good at it. Even at 210X if you swap eyes the image barely moves at all.
Fixed the $10 fiber optic light thing - some loose screws (like me!) and re-oiled the fan motor bushings. Much better but set it on a 2" piece of closed cell foam to dampen the vibes.
Setup:
Top view - same stylus at 210X - crappy phone pic again, much better in real life:
Still need to clean the "new" eyepieces, too. 95% of the "funk" in that pic is on them.
So the two tiny bright spots are the wear marks I'm supposed to be looking for, which was the whole goal of this show, right? What say you @cafe latte? You seem to know what you're doing with this stuff...
Had to re-collimate, and I'm getting pretty good at it. Even at 210X if you swap eyes the image barely moves at all.
Fixed the $10 fiber optic light thing - some loose screws (like me!) and re-oiled the fan motor bushings. Much better but set it on a 2" piece of closed cell foam to dampen the vibes.
Setup:
Top view - same stylus at 210X - crappy phone pic again, much better in real life:
Still need to clean the "new" eyepieces, too. 95% of the "funk" in that pic is on them.
So the two tiny bright spots are the wear marks I'm supposed to be looking for, which was the whole goal of this show, right? What say you @cafe latte? You seem to know what you're doing with this stuff...
cafe latte
Addicted Member
Yes you are looking for light, you can also get a dark patch which can be easier to see adjusting the light angles. It does not look like 210x to me though not even close.. You are really getting there though and yes with my first set up the pic image was way worse than what I actually saw.
Chris
Thumper
Well-Known Member
I hear that! Trying to get a DECENT image on my own, though. Ha!
So this is a BL Stereozoom 7, so 7x primary with (allegedly) 30X eyepieces from China. I know I had the scope mag turned up all the way when I took that pic (I just checked since I haven't touched it since). I think it's the effect of me having to back my phone away from the eyepiece to get a decent shot. It not only looks cleaner in person, but bigger too.
Chris what are you using to take your stylus shots? And what should I try next (other than cleaning the eyepieces)?
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cafe latte
Addicted Member
Here is a 225x eyepiece shot with my phone ( not how I do it). I thought it would give you a comparison to what you are doing. I use a hi Def 20 MP microscope camera normally
cafe latte
Addicted Member
I did not line stylus up I just saved it under scope and took a snap so apologies just a quick pic for you to compare size