Workbench Magnifier Lamp Purchase

[George Orwell]

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

 

[Sjouke Burry]

George Orwell wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

I would advise one of these:
http://www.conrad.nl/goto.php?artikel=801828

I have been using one for years, you can keep wearing
your glasses.
It moves out of the way easely, has two whole field
magnifications, and an added one-eye extra.
The lenses are tilted inward, so you can focus easely.
Much better than the tabletop magnifiing lenses.

 

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article <bf2917e005397bfc18c670831d665eb0@mixmaster.it>,
George Orwell <nobody@mixmaster.it> wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to
be, my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm
thinking of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the
Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go
for the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or
2.25x. The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of
leaning towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much
magnification might introduce errors or distortion?

IMHO a waste of money and space. Most don't have a powerful enough light
in them - especially as the losses are high through those cheap lenses. A
better solution is an anglepoise desk lamp which can be used for
everything and some magnifying glasses. Depending on your eyesight 'ready
read' types can be ok. Over here you can get them in 5 dioptre strength.
My sight is corrected via contact lenses and I find those ideal for
examining PCBs, etc. If you already wear specs there are some workshop
types that fit over them - but I'd find those uncomfortable to wear.

--
*Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies *

Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

 

[N_Cook]

George Orwell <nobody@mixmaster.it> wrote in message
news:bf2917e005397bfc18c670831d665eb0@mixmaster.it...

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much
magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

6 dioptre is the one I use, circular flourescent lamp on long arm anglepoise



--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/

 

[PeterD]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:13:21 +0100 (CET), George Orwell
<nobody@mixmaster.it> wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

The more the merrier. But get a *good* one. I got a cheap one first,
and the quality was lacking, plastic lens, light was poorly
distributed.

My favorites are the ones with the circle bulb, and one that has two
CFLs one on each side. That last one (I can post the model) was
expensive (several hundred) but the circle bulb style are not so bad.

 

[Baron]

George Orwell wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios,
and modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it
used to be, my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years.
Now I'm thinking of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one
of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go
for the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or
2.25x. The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of
leaning towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much
magnification might introduce errors or distortion?

I have two Lemo brand circular fluorescent tube, angle poise style with
interchangeable lens. Unfortunately my eyesight is going the other way
and I'm becoming more long sighted. I find that the 5 dioptre lens has
a more narrow field of view than the 3 dioptre one and is a little more
difficult to work under. But for general examination use the 3 dioptre
is fine.

I also have a headset with interchangeable lenses that are adjustable
from 1.5 to 10 dioptre. I find that these are even worse if you want a
wider field of view. Its a bit like looking down a tunnel that gets
longer the higher magnification.

HTH

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

--
Best Regards:
Baron.

 

[Smitty Two]

In article <bf2917e005397bfc18c670831d665eb0@mixmaster.it>,
George Orwell <nobody@mixmaster.it> wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

Luxos are very good, although a tad spendy. The optical quality is
excellent and the lights are plenty bright, evenly diffused, and of
pleasing color. The 1.75x will give you better depth of field of course,
and likely to be more than enough if your eyes are just now beginning to
be problematic. If you're hand soldering 0402 components, that's another
matter...

I have a range of magnification tools available: reading glasses in five
different strengths, luxos, magnifying visors (Optivisor is a good
brand), B & L Stereozoom microscopes (7 - 30x), and a high end camcorder
mounted solidly above the workbench, with a 26" monitor. Each is used
according to the demands of the day, and often two tools in conjuction.

 

[Nelson]

On Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:57:05 -0500, PeterD wrote
(in article <afs0o49amhuidoj8iui0ehou5bsldrhg3k@4ax.com&gt:

[snip}

The more the merrier. But get a *good* one. I got a cheap one first,
and the quality was lacking, plastic lens, light was poorly
distributed.

Amen to that. I got one with cheap hardware that wouldn't hold its
position. Very frustrating.


--
Nelson

 

[krw]

In article <prestwhich-9E519C.19300128012009@news.west.cox.net>,
prestwhich@earthlink.net says...>

In article <bf2917e005397bfc18c670831d665eb0@mixmaster.it>,
George Orwell <nobody@mixmaster.it> wrote:

I enjoy soldering and repairing electronics, both old TV's, radios, and
modern circuitboards. Unfortunately my eyesight isn't what it used to be,
my nearsightedness has gotten worse the past two years. Now I'm thinking
of buying a decent workbench magnifier lamp, like one of the Luxos.

My basic question for people who have made such a purchase, did you go for
the 3 or 5 diopter lens, which gives a magnification of 1.75x or 2.25x.
The price is pretty much the same either way and I'm sort of leaning
towards the 5 diopter. My only concern is that maybe too much magnification
might introduce errors or distortion?

Il mittente di questo messaggio|The sender address of this
non corrisponde ad un utente |message is not related to a real
reale ma all'indirizzo fittizio|person but to a fake address of an
di un sistema anonimizzatore |anonymous system
Per maggiori informazioni |For more info
https://www.mixmaster.it

Luxos are very good, although a tad spendy. The optical quality is
excellent and the lights are plenty bright, evenly diffused, and of
pleasing color. The 1.75x will give you better depth of field of course,
and likely to be more than enough if your eyes are just now beginning to
be problematic. If you're hand soldering 0402 components, that's another
matter...

I have a range of magnification tools available: reading glasses in five
different strengths, luxos, magnifying visors (Optivisor is a good
brand), B & L Stereozoom microscopes (7 - 30x), and a high end camcorder
mounted solidly above the workbench, with a 26" monitor. Each is used
according to the demands of the day, and often two tools in conjuction.

If you're not afraid of spending real money, Mantis microscopes
work very well. The ones I see on eBay are $1500 though.