Modern Home Electronics: Portable Microscope (Review Plus Unboxing)

    I got into the hands of a rather interesting device - a portable microscope. Such microscopes are not unique among modern optical gadgets. I wanted to see for myself the capabilities of a portable microscope with such characteristics. Most often, their purpose is described very broadly.

    Areas in which this device will be useful:
    • Work with microcircuits, microelectronics;
    • Medical research (dentistry, dermatology, trichology, including cosmetology);
    • Jewelcrafting (examination, assessment of the quality of products, including the quality of fixing stones);
    • Mineralogy, gemology (as an auxiliary tool);
    • Biological research (in particular in botany, mycology, entomology);
    • Determining the quality of materials for wardrobe items;
    • Collecting (bonistics, numismatics, philately and the like);
    • Restoration, especially where a very detailed examination of objects is required;

    And also as an interesting gift to a young researcher of the microworld or just for domestic purposes where imagination and curiosity will lead. Below I give examples, with small comments, in which areas I myself tested a microscope from twenty to five hundred times the magnification stated in the instructions.





    Microelectronics

    Diagnostics and repairs with such a device can become faster and better. Even at medium magnification, contact points, soldering, numbers, tracks, and damage are visible. Here the advantage is that you need a small overview of the surface for detailed repairs. Contacts of the DDR2 so-dimm memory module LEDs on the pixels of the LCD screen (gray color) Components from the board on a USB flash drive










    Medical research

    Not for the faint of heart :) Hair, nails, teeth, skin ... For ethical reasons, not all photos are shown, they look very terrifying: dry exfoliated nails (especially after working with acetone or chlorine-containing fluids), a small carious dot on the tooth (impressive black hole), skin that does not know proper care (covered with creepy white-gray scales), dilated capillaries on the face (without enlargement, simply pink cheeks with allergies).

    After such a detailed "self-examination", I began to understand why women take care of their bodies so carefully and carefully, as it is important for men to do this. I advise you to constantly monitor your health, do everything on time, especially for the teeth ... A lot of invisible to our eyes. It happens that when you leave the house in cold windy weather, you forget the gloves, and in the evening you see the skin is reddened, dry and rough. For a long time, the skin on the back of the hands remains red. Having examined it well under a microscope, it became clear that the skin is covered with microcracks, which the body is intensively trying to cure, hence the inflamed red appearance.

    Photo of hair and skin

    Hair tip and bulb Microcracks on the red area of ​​the skin of the hand Thumb (2 photos - maximum increase)








    I think that such a device is simply necessary to help cosmetologists, dentists, dermatologists, trichologists and even veterinarians. All the smallest details of the external biological integument are visible, including observations after cosmetic procedures, deep cleansing, and treatment.

    Jewelcrafting

    The presence of a young lady's profile in the kokoshnik is an indicator of the authenticity of a gold product that has passed through the assay chamber of Russia. It is not often possible to see the stigma with the naked eye, so small jewelry can be and, moreover, not see right away which direction she is looking at (and the young lady should look exclusively to the right). In the pictures, the outlines of the stigma itself, the smallest letters, numbers, signs are clearly visible. Fastening of cubic zirconia in an earring Elements of a gold earring, brand, insert - cubic zirconias Stud earring, product with diamond facet














    Stones, minerals

    With certain knowledge, it is possible to visually assess the quality of the stone fastening, the cut made, the presence of any external damage. For example, by increasing a bead (it was assumed that it was from rock crystal), air bubbles are visible, which is typical for glass. In an oval ruby, cutting and polishing refracts light and quite spectacular pictures are obtained. Rose quartz showed "all its cracks", shimmering under different lighting. Also shown are blue agate, charoite, glass rhinestone for textiles, 3 mm in diameter and red plastic rhinestone with a diameter of 2 mm. After lengthy adjustments to the lens, turns, and direction of light, it became clear that there wasn’t enough a stage or a special mount to fix the position. This device does not claim to be professional stereoscopic optics for gemologists,


    Ruby red and with a violet hue (there is color distortion) Ruby violet Rose quartz, blue agate, charoite Charoite, cacholong, glass bead Strass 3mm Zirconia in 6mm gold braid, red strass 2mm Crystals of salt Salt microscope from 8 small diodes, well illuminates the subject if the microscope camera is in close proximity at a distance of 1 to 7 cm. Raising above, you need additional bright light. To take pictures at a long distance and without color distortion, it is better to use a cold lighting lamp. Silver coffee spoon (before and after cleaning)


























    Biological research

    Botany, the study of plants. Parsley (3 types of increase) Green color is not distorted, unlike brown, orange Corn grain (popcorn), leaf of a young apple tree Peanut skin Half peanut (three types of increase) Sesame seed (maximum increase), buckwheat grain (in two types of increase) ) Semolina (in two types of increase), flakes of oatmeal (average increase) Pomegranate seeds, seed from pomegranate seeds Onion peel, coffee grain (in two types of increase)

























    Determining the quality of materials for wardrobe items

    I’ll touch upon another area, rather, the desire not to be deceived by the consumer and faith in the conscientiousness of manufacturers of high-quality clothing and footwear. After all, questions arise, but from what is it? Why do some T-shirts or jeans lose their appearance after two to three one-time wear? Why do you steam off your shirt for a long time with an iron, and it wrinkles, not having time to get to the office in it. It is clear that there are natural, synthetic and mixed fabrics, but how to recognize. I looked in an enlarged view on various fabrics, suede, leather, dermatin. Curious pictures are observed at 230x magnification. Cotton is mandatory with villi, polyester has a very dense weave without a single villi, genuine leather in uneven pores, artificial leather like a film with perfect identical pits, etc. By the way, not superfluous, It would be nice to bring a microscope with you to the fitting room, especially when buying expensive leather, fur, exclusive, branded items or for those who can’t tolerate any kind of fabric (synthetics, wool, etc.). Seams and minor damage, scuffs are also visible. Surely, there were someone unpleasant surprises, such as "boiled an expensive leather belt, but it turned out to be a cheap dermatin."


    Cotton fabric - Cotton 100% (maximum increase) Knitted cotton fabric, composition: cotton 90%, elastane 10%. Elastane thread is visible at maximum magnification. St. George ribbon. The first photo is the wrong side, the second is the front, the third is a slice. The distortion of colors is clearly visible in this case. It was not possible to trace exactly in which shades of color a similar effect comes out. Perhaps affected by the magnification range and LED lighting. Synthetic fabric - 100% Polyester Watchband, genuine leather Dermatin new and worn, watchband buckle - stainless steel Stainless steel (first photo), laser engraving on brushed stainless steel (second photo), laser engraving on glossy stainless steel (third photo)




















    Natural shoe suede

    Bonistics, numismatics


    Coin of Bulgaria Dollar. The head of an eagle (made up of two photos), the eye from the pyramid (all-seeing eye) Banknote 5000 Russian rubles Banknote 500 Russian rubles With a microscope, you can check not only the authenticity, but also the wear of the banknote. More information about the authentication of Russian banknotes can be found on the website of the central bank .












    Packaging and inspection

    Cardboard box size (cm) 33x6x15 (WxHxD). All components are placed in separate recesses, as a result, none of the parts hangs when shaking. The device is pleasant to the touch, has a matte surface. The control buttons are hidden under the cover of the reclining display. The kit includes: • Portable microscope, cord; • Rechargeable lithium-ion battery 3.7V, 1050mAh; • Charger, although charging via USB is possible; • Disk with software for Windows and iOS; • USB and TV cables; • Instructions in Russian and English, warranty card; • Cleaning cloth, cover - pleasant things;


















    • Mini tripod, consisting of three parts: stand, tripod head and connector-clamp stand and head.

    The connection mechanism is made in the form of a ball joint, which allows the device to be tilted in different directions; Adjustment is made by loosening and tightening the Menu screw , when connected to a computer Specifications: • Three-inch display of 12 million pixels; • Magnification from 20x to 500x, judging by the instructions; • Photo and video shooting with sound recording; • MicroSD up to 16 GB, not included; • Battery 1050mAh; • LED backlight (8 diodes are arranged in a circle); • Computer software. Software


















    Software is supplied on a CD-ROM, the distribution volume does not exceed 8MB. After installation, it is advisable to immediately change the folders to save photos and video files, because the default path is not the most convenient: C: \ Users \\ AppData \ Local \ Microcapture \, where the photos and videos folders are located. This is done through the File menu: There is an item in the settings for switching the program interface to Russian, but something went wrong on my computer, so I left English: The following settings are available in the program: • Image resolution (320x240 or 640x480); • Rotate the camera image clockwise / counterclockwise; • Displays the current time on photos and videos; • Tongue; • Switch to full screen mode;











    Shooting is carried out using the F11 key or the mouse, by pressing the button on the toolbar.

    Distance
    measurement To measure, double-click on the image in the program window or use the context menu: In the "Please enter the magnification" field, enter the value set on the focusing roller: After that, the program will calculate the ratio of the image and the actual size. Available measurement tools: cut, broken, radius, diameter, angle. Segment Radius Diameter Angle Maximum magnification of a millimeter Video recording
























    The video in 640x480 resolution and a frame rate of 30 frames per second turned out to be very voluminous - 7 seconds fit into 160 MB, apparently compression was not applied at all. On youtube, this video has shrunk to just over half a megabyte. Video playback is accelerated, it is noticeable. However, in the application window there is the possibility of "single-frame" viewing. There was also an error in the application - when you move the mouse cursor in the video viewing area, the file starts playing again.





    The impressions of the device are excellent, I could not even imagine how interesting ordinary things might look. The most interesting and impressive pictures are taken of precious stones and biomaterials: own skin and teeth, plants, insects. In any professional field where detail is required, a portable microscope will be a must. And how curious your child who is interested in the world will be happy with such a gift is nothing to say. Now I know that I’ll go for a purchase of expensive accessories with a microscope (unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes in stores these days).

    Portable microscope

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