USB microscope

[Nick]

If you look at the seller's details the ebay seller that Nick bought from is actually in China despite saying they are in Manchester.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131560443344

Mine arrived in two days - unless they're paying for a courier from China, that make it UK stock

I needed one quickly, so paid a couple of quid extra for that privilege - agree with Mark that often vendors say "UK stock" but that's not the case.

The one I had previously was the other one in the EEVBLOG review by Dave (love him or hate him) - being fair, I've had that one for many years and it's been fine, but all the comments he made about it are valid - the new one is so much better.

One comment on the new one - the base is not very big and unless a board is horizontal, the in-focus field of view gets limited.

I'm making a surround for the base - basically (!!) an 8" square bit of thin ply the same depth as the microscope base, but with an oblong hole cut out of the middle the same size as the base - this allows me to manipulate Eurocard-sized PCBs and keep them level and in focus easily.

[Mark Hennessy]

I'm making a surround for the base - basically (!!) an 8" square bit of thin ply the same depth as the microscope base, but with an oblong hole cut out of the middle the same size as the base - this allows me to manipulate Eurocard-sized PCBs and keep them level and in focus easily.

That's a good idea - I might "borrow" that

[Yorkie]

Tried to resist the temptation but couldn't! Just ordered one from Banggood - £29.73 post free, (air freight).

Despite Davy Jones EEVBLOG generally sneery approach and tendency to accentuate shortcomings, he seemed to rate the Andonstar microscope quite favourably, so that's good enough for me.

I enjoy his videos, but just wish he'd drop his voice a couple of octaves! 

Most things I order from China tend to arrive within two weeks - a recent digital frequency display I ordered came in 9 working days.

A lot of Chinese stuff now seems to come from UK drop shippers and in my experience, arrives in  2 - 3 days.

I've just had two lots of FR4 PCB sheets (Chinese stock), which arrived post free  in a couple of days from a UK shipper. 15 sheets in total, ten 2.75" x  4", five 6" x 4". (5p per sq inch).

[Nick]

I'm making a surround for the base - basically (!!) an 8" square bit of thin ply the same depth as the microscope base, but with an oblong hole cut out of the middle the same size as the base - this allows me to manipulate Eurocard-sized PCBs and keep them level and in focus easily.

That's a good idea - I might "borrow" that

Not that good really - I must have been having a "senior moment". It's obviously FAR easier to just do the following

   

EDIT: There are two variants of this with seemingly identical electronics but differing accessories. Mine is a v106 which has all sorts of funy bits with it - the A1 is the raw camera and stand.

[Mark Hennessy]

Lol - KISS

[zx80nut]

I ordered the microscope from the eBayer at the start of the thread on Weds afternoon. Tracking shows it is out for delivery - being delivered today (according to the Parcel2Go tracking - eBay is not showing updated tracking). The carrier on eBay states "OnePost mini", but from what I gather, they just pass the order to other carriers, so I'm guessing, based on the local depot info on Parcel2Go that it is Yodel (never had any probs with them). Good service for "free" post.

Grant

[zx80nut]

Update: Got it about 15 mins ago (2 days, as for others).

VERY impressed with it.
When I started the app, it didn't show anything - then I realised I needed to select "Preview" from the options window.
Focus is great and does what it says - from about 5mm to infinity. Great quality picture.

Mine came with 5 different attachments (mirror, tubes etc) that allows it to be inserted into more places than I want to think about
Mine's got a white cable (the ad says the colour would be either white, black or silver/transparent).

Thanks for the post about this - I am really pleased. Will be fery useful and easier than holding PCBs up to a magnifier on my glasses.

Regards.

Grant

[Mark Hennessy]

Thanks for mentioning Parcel2Go - despite showing a tracking number, there's no obvious way on eBay of telling which courier they are using (unless I missed it?). Anyway, having just pasted my tracking number into their website, mine is shown as "awaiting collection", so I guess I'll get it on Monday or Tuesday. The order was placed yesterday. Getting excited now

[ppppenguin]

Mine has just arrived (at 1955) by Yodel though the emails said it would be shipped by Onepost Mini whoever they are. The original forecast delivery was 10th June!

The label on the package says it came from Onepost, Unit 1, Stocks Trading Estate, Legh Stre [sic] Manchester M30 0RG.

This may throw some light:
http://onepost.co.uk/onepost-services/br...ulfilment/

It looks like Onepost do a lot of fulfilment and may well hold stock on behalf of a variety of overseas vendors. Presumably the Manchester address is a warehouse and shipping centre since they appear to be based in Bristol.

PS: Plugged it into my XP desktop PC which said it recognised a video USB device and that it was ready to use. Unfortuantely neither of the optical drives on that PC is willing to read the mini CD. The Cd has a somewhat damaged edge and so may well be totally borked. Could somebody please send me a copy of the contents or where they might be downloaded.

[ppppenguin]

I downloaded this software which has made it work: http://www.oasisscientific.com/downloads.html

Only goes to 1280x960 resolution, I though the microscope could do better than that, albeit with a rather lower frame rate.

Presumably there's all sorts of microscope software around. Has anyone looked for or tried any?