Digital microscope recommendations

Actusreus and Sonnyboy here are my results with this scope.

First, if you are going to check your mounted stylus make sure your watch is off, you are not wearing a long sleeve shirt, there are no pets near, and you will not be distracted. This is difficult work with a high cost for failure.

I used a rectangular piece of glass on top of the platter as the platform for the stylus. The Supereyes scope was right up to the glass, giving almost 400x. I took about 20 photos using the Supereyes software, all with different lighting or scope position. (Remember to make sure antiskate is not on by the way.)

Here is an unzoomed photo that gives a good edge of glass reference for the MB-Ruler software: http://i48.tinypic.com/2n7hzeu.jpg

I then zoomed this image to http://i49.tinypic.com/5vnfb7.jpg

Note the unusual angle of the front facet (facet 33). The back facet is the one I measured (facet 39). The stylus appears to be a Fritz Geiger like design sold by Soundsmith (i.e. optimized contour).

With this stylus design, Wally's approach I do not think is appropriate. Using facet 39 for SRA, I got 91.77 degrees. The patent suggests 90 degrees but I get better music closer to 92 degrees.

Measuring this was difficult because of the stylus type. If you have an A90 or other fritz design stylus, I can help you with the technique. Otherwise, I think most stylii would be easier like the ones in Wally's and MF's posts/articles.

Sonnyboy: Given MF's article about your stylus SRA from the factory, you should probably do this just to ensure you are not dealing with an unusual situation requiring a huge VTA adjustment.

Whew, it has been a long day.

Jragsda,
Thank you very much for posting your feedback and pictures. Sounds like the product is a winner for the price. Btw, I appears it should have come with a stand included in the price so perhaps you should inquire with the seller about it.

http:////toolboom.com/en/USB-Digital-Microscope-Supereyes-B008.php

Jragsda, Do you know if this microscope will work on an Mac? The manual only mentions Microsoft operating systems.

Hi Lew, **In another set they used 200X to get a very close up view of the working surface of the stylus tip. This tells me that anything more is superfluous. Does anyone disagree?**

I used to examine styli professionally with an Audio Technica microscope designed for that purpose. Magnification was 100, 300, and 500X. 200X might be adequate for most styli, but some of the micro - extended contact types, like microridge are very small. I'd think you would need at least 400X. USB scopes are not really designed for stylus wear examination. You need 2 high intensity lights to illuminate the sides of the stylus. Wear is determined by the light reflecting off the sides. When a stylus is new, you only see a dot of light. As it wears that dot spreads into a larger area. That larger area is flat, and reflects the light.

A picture chart came with the scope that showed the different types and examples of wear. 100X is useful for checking for cracks, chips and general condition. I know the old Shure scopes were 200X. I believe these were made before micro type styli were invented. You can see how small the picture is in the link. A micro type is much smaller and it becomes impossible to evaluate wear.
Regards,

Just saw this stand at the site suggested by Actusreus:
http://toolboom.com/en/Vacuum-Stand-Cosview-VS-101-for-USB-Microscopes.php

This is by far the lowest price 360 degree stand for usb microscopes I have seen. I will certainly buy one.