Are you sitting comfortably ? then I shall begin a little story for you
Many months ago I stumbled upon an interesting looking stereo inspection microscope that looked nothing like others I had seen or used.
The microscope was Medical surplus and looked to be unused. I was tempted to buy it but there was a distinct lack of information in the auction text and on the internet. It was a bit of a mystery item and the price was high (IIRC around £180) so I decide to pass on that potential purchase.
Move forward in time some months and I stumble upon the same inspection microscope for sale from the same seller. Other potential purchasers had obviously thought the purchase too risky as well. The difference now was that the price had dropped significantly so the microscopes was looking far more interesting to me. I did some more deep research on the Internet and once again came up with little information.
The microscope was advertised as a SATA Corporation Medi Scope 8W-76 and I could see that it was made in Japan. I recognised the shape and design of the eyepiece and prism casings as likely from NIKON. NIKON are a common supplier of optics to the medical world. The head of the unit appeared to be a combination of classic NIKON Poro-Prism compact pocket binoculars and a close-up lens assembly, that also contains a fibre optic illuminator assembly.
Some searching led me to the same microscope sold under its likely OEM name, TOKIBO Co. Ltd of Tokyo Japan. The optics are indeed from the NIKON stable. I bit the bullet and bought the microscope for less than £100.
I discovered that this microscope was designed for field surgery so that minor operating procedures could be carried out by a surgeon when away from an operating room. It's build quality is typical of a medical instrument. That is to say, it is beautifully constructed and works well. The microscope comes in different magnifications, X5, X8 and X10. My unit is the X8 model with a working distance of 10". This is perfect for electronics work. Fine focus is via the two adjustable eyepieces. That are also gear linked for inter-pupil distance adjustment. Lovely engineering.
I often use Donegan Opti-Visor's that have X2.5 magnification and 8" working distance. I have the optional small X2.5 monical on the Opti-visor as well but it is not that easy to use for soldering one eyed ! The SATA 8W-76 low magnification microscope will be a nice step up from the Opti-visor's capabilities.
The microscope arrived today, along with a Brunel BM-1 (Amscope SE400) stereo long arm microscope unit that I also bought. The Brunel BM-1 works well and is the same as another that I own so that will be installed in my lab tomorrow. I then set up the SATA 8W-76 and it is a bit like a James Bond kit. It is beautifully engineered and constructed. I was suspicious that the articulating arm would be a weak point in the design as it could introduce head instability. How wrong I was. The articulated arm is amazing. The large moving joints are amazing. Stiff enough to hold the arm rigid, yet quite easily moved when required. Even weak looking knuckle joint that connects the head to the arm is nothing of the sort. It is very strong with no flexing issues and has the same solid position holding capability as the arm joints. Simply superb engineering.
The SATA 8W-76 was fully assembled and tested. It did not disappoint. The unit provides a superb image at a working distance of 10" as specified. The FOV is excellent for electronics work and there is no wobble in the head whilst using it. The head sits rock solid against my eyes. Perfect. I know that this unit will be a firm favorite of mine for SMT inspection and soldering. I need to make or buy a simple 10W light source for teh fibre optic cable that was also provided. I may just knock something up with a 10W LED and PWM brightness controller.
I could so easily have ignored this microscope again as too high a risk. Sometime you have to take a risk though and this time I got lucky. These units were extremely expensive when new and the only other one I found is selling used for $750, and that is a less useful X5 unit.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MediScope-TOKIBO-No-5W-470086-/222247684012?hash=item33befe87ac:g:r8YAAOSwdWBXOvpzPictures follow ......
I will start with the Auction picture of the kit (SAT1) and the other auction that I found for the TOKIBO 5W unit (Tok1,2,3,4)
Pictures of my unit follow on.
Fraser
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