Vinyl Asylum Welcome Licorice Pizza (LP) lovers! Setup guides and Vinyl FAQ. |
|
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
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Topic - Microscope Purchase (long) - arturo7 01:19:11 12/6/06 (7)
- For $10, Shipping Included - Stargazer 14:16:08 12/6/06 (0)
- Re: Microscope Purchase (long) - lipmanl 06:36:40 12/6/06 (2)
- This is probably why the Magic Eraser helped my Grado Ref Master so much.... - tubesforever 00:07:02 12/7/06 (0)
- If I remember right static charges - jnorv 06:58:21 12/6/06 (0)
- Microscopes are fun - beach cruiser 01:48:33 12/6/06 (2)
- Re: Microscopes are fun - John Elison 05:14:23 12/6/06 (1)
- Amazing ! n/t - freefallrob 05:39:32 12/6/06 (0)