exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

Might try tomorrow if I feel better

terriblefire wrote: 18 Apr 2020 20:09 Might try tomorrow if I feel better

No rush at all, happy it works well so far and feel better soon.

My cheap USB microscope broke late last week, right after I'd finished soldering up the TF536 but fortunately that worked right first time.

So I've invested in another cheap but slightly more expensive one. Last one was £15 and this one was £58.99. Yeah I know Im still being a cheapskate but times are hard.

I got myself a 5mp Maozua microscope. Just plugged it in and first opinions are that it's not bad. It even works fine with my old iMac. It certainly saves struggling with a magnifying glass.

Pic shows a TF530 pcb and the smaller xilinx chip as the Guinea pig.

They do make things a lot easier.. This is the one I got...

https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 2041#p2040

Something I've been considering too. The big magnifying glass is ok for most normal size stuff, but as it gets smaller.......

rubber_jonnie wrote: 21 Apr 2020 15:31 Something I've been considering too. The big magnifying glass is ok for most normal size stuff, but as it gets smaller.......

If you wanted to do something like the TF536 then you really need a microscope to spot the bridges and unsoldered pins but saying that, my latest one I had to do without as it broke. Guess I was just lucky.

I did my TF534 with just a magnifying glass, not a very pleasant experience and probably a great deal of luck involved :lol:
Should really get myself one of those nifty USB microscopes!

It does take a bit of practice to get the hand eye screen coordination up to par but I'd never do another FPGA without one

PhilC wrote: 21 Apr 2020 16:57

rubber_jonnie wrote: 21 Apr 2020 15:31 Something I've been considering too. The big magnifying glass is ok for most normal size stuff, but as it gets smaller.......

If you wanted to do something like the TF536 then you really need a microscope to spot the bridges and unsoldered pins but saying that, my latest one I had to do without as it broke. Guess I was just lucky.

Even the small stuff on the H4 was tricky with my main magnifier, and though I do have a smaller one, which has better magnification, the trouble with optical magnification is the distortion around the edges, so something clear would be a definite win.

I'll let you know how I get on with this one @rubber_jonnie