Eyesight and memory how bad is yours

[tggzzz]

Over the years my eyesight has got rather bad ... now reds look like oranges

Cataracts can cause colour changes. The classic example is the blues disappear - so that when a member of the "blue rinse brigade" has the cataract removed, they are horrified at the shade of their hair dye

[Tandy]

By new fangled light bulbs do you mean those old fashioned CFLs?

Time to put the ZX-81 away and enter the LED era 

[rogerx3]

I am 52 and now need glasses to silder crimp and read part numbers, sorry whats the question

[technix]

Note to myself, do not look straight into a 1W power LED unless you want yourself blinded at least momentary.

[Electric flower]

18 and my eyesight is 20/20 on one eye, and on other it's bad, not really a problem for every day work.
Memory is okay (i hope it is), i can remember 98% things about different fields of engineering but when it comes to fkn literature, history and geography (only statistics) i can't remember two things...
However my calculations are very limited to what i can to with my brain, i use calculator for almost everything, i wish i could break that habit... but analysing schematics and figuring out how stuff works isn't a problem at all.

[Gribo]

I am almost 40, and still do 0201 without a microscope.

[tggzzz]

I don't have sight problems when doing 0201, but my hands shake like hell. Do you mind telling me some tips and suggestions you have when dealing with smaller than 0402 parts?

Good question. If and when that becomes a problem for me I will consider using a pantograph to scale movement, or a manually-guided pick and place machine. Even a 3D printer or CNC machine might be a starting point for a homebrew PnP machine.

[KJDS]

I am almost 40, and still do 0201 without a microscope.

I don't have sight problems when doing 0201, but my hands shake like hell. Do you mind telling me some tips and suggestions you have when dealing with smaller than 0402 parts?

The art is to have your hands resting on the bench, soldering iron in one hand and tweezers in the other. Also, don't drink the night before.

[Howardlong]

I am almost 40, and still do 0201 without a microscope.

I don't have sight problems when doing 0201, but my hands shake like hell. Do you mind telling me some tips and suggestions you have when dealing with smaller than 0402 parts?

Lay off the coffee, seriously. When I was filling in time making up boards while I found a new contract board assembler, if I had anything more than one cup there was no point in even starting. Also, if doing a long stint, it can take quite a few minutes to get into the flow.

As for the poster who does 0201 without a microscope, that is some feat. I can do 0402 reasonably well with an illuminated magnifier when doing placements on pasted boards. Without paste, hand soldering, I have to use the microscope.

[tggzzz]

forget anything SMD for me, I still struggle with getting the legs into through hole stuff.

The real problems start when you struggle with getting your legs through holes.