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Microscope Purchase (long)

As I get further into vinyl, it seems that a microscope is a good thing to have in order to assess stylus wear. Today, I stopped into a shop that sells and services new and used microscopes. During a brief phone call earlier in the day, the owner Ed, invited me to bring in a cartridge to demo a few instruments.

First up were a pair of two stereo scopes, the highest magnification was 65X. Although they provided a nice close-up of the diamond, I didn't think it was close enough. Ed advised that higher magnification stereo (binocular) scopes, even at used pieces, were well above my $200 budget.

Our focus (no pun intended) then turned to monocular scopes. Based on what has been posted here at VA, I was assuming that the stereo was the only way to go. However, Ed convinced me that a mono unit was worth a look. For considerably less money it would afford significantly higher magnification, up to 400X.

(NOTE: in case you're wondering, a monocular scope has one eyepiece, a stereo scope has two)

A few things I learned from Ed:
*-Stereo scope offers two advantages; use of both eyes allowing a 3D image; lighting from above or below the subject
*-Lighting from above is essential for stylus inspection.
*-A monocular scope is designed mainly for looking at slides and only offers lighting from below the subject, none from above.
*-A monoscope can be used with an additional light source which can provide the overhead view.
*-The magnification of a mono instrument is much greater than a comparable stereo unit.

So I demo'd a monocular model. Using a flashlight as a light source, the monocular scope provided a great view of the diamond at 100X.

I also took a look at one of the digital scopes that hooks up to a PC. This would allow photos of the stylus to be stored for later reference. However, the resolution of the unit I demo'd was less than the 65X stereo scope.

Bottom line, for $120 I left the store with a used monocular microscope that offers up to 400X magnification. Now I just have to figure out what I'm looking at!


Cheers,
Art




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Topic - Microscope Purchase (long) - arturo7 01:19:11 12/6/06 (7)


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