OPTIKA ST-50Led Stereo Microscope

An optical stereo microscope: you look with both eyes and see depth, not a picture. For soldering that matters more than magnification — when you can see how high the iron tip is above the pin, your hand lands where you meant it to the first time.

Three things make it suited to electronics. The working distance is 119 mm, so a soldering iron, tweezers and the hand holding them fit between the objective and the board. There is no stage: the microscope hangs on an overhanging arm, so what is under it is simply the bench, and on the bench can be anything — a board, a PCBite plate, a whole instrument case. And its own lamp on a gooseneck, growing straight out of the base, comes in from the side at an angle, which is how you get rid of the glare off the solder mask. There is no light in the microscope's head, and none is needed here.

The magnification is fixed at 20×, and there is no zoom. The only adjustment is the distance to the object: the head is raised or lowered on the arm to suit the height of what lies below, and focused again. For fine-pitch pins, 0402 parts and traces of flux that is enough; when you need more, the Andonstar digital microscope is next to it. is next to it.

How it differs from the digital microscope

The Andonstar puts a flat picture on a screen, which everybody can see at once and which can be recorded. The OPTIKA gives stereo vision and reacts instantly — no screen lag, no camera hunting for focus. Soldering by hand is easier under the optical one; showing and filming is easier under the digital one.

What it is good for

• Soldering and reworking small parts, repairing traces
• Inspecting joints afterwards: dry joints, bridges, solder balls
• Reading the markings on small components
• Placing and lifting parts with tweezers under your own eye
• Fine mechanical work: springs, connectors, mechanisms

Setting it up for your eyes

A stereo microscope is adjusted per person. Without that the image looks doubled, or the stereo does not work, or only one eye sees anything — and people walk away deciding the microscope is broken. Half a minute, once:

1. Move the eyepiece tubes together or apart until the two images merge into one. That is the interpupillary distance.
2. Close your left eye and focus with the focus knobs using the right eyepiece.
3. Now close your right eye and, without touching the focus, turn the dioptre ring on the left eyepiece until that side is sharp too.

After that both eyes are sharp at the same time. If somebody else used the microscope, you will have to do it again — that is normal.

How to use

1. Put the board on the bench under the objective. The PCBite plate with its magnetic holders goes here too if the board needs holding.
2. Bring the gooseneck lamp in from the side. Light straight from above reflects off solder mask and flux; light at an angle does not.
3. Focus with the knobs on the sides of the arm.
4. Solder while looking through the eyepieces. The distance to the board leaves room to work with an iron and tweezers at the same time.
5. When done, clear the bench under the microscope and put the rubber cups back on the eyepieces if you took them off.

Looking after it

• Do not touch the lenses. Blow dust off with a blower, take fingerprints off with an optics wipe, not with a sleeve.
• Flux fumes settle on the bottom lens. If the image goes hazy, tell us rather than rubbing it with whatever is at hand.
• The microscope does not travel — it is set up and focused for this bench height.

Access

The microscope is on the electronics bench in the hackspace room, so a plan that includes hackspace access is required. No induction is needed.