New microscope for the workbench

  • April 2, 2021
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Snapshot of the screen showing part of the calibration card included with the microscope's camera. The magnification goes much higher but this is the highest at which a meaningful bit of the card is visible.
Snapshot of the screen showing part of the calibration card included with the microscope’s camera. The magnification goes much higher but this is the highest at which a meaningful bit of the card is visible.

I recently acquired a new workbench microscope (a SHOCREX 3800W) from the manufacturer’s (or rebadger and reseller’s) Tmall store. I opted for a package with a 38-megapixel camera (complete with a little IR remote) and a 10-inch screen.

The base doubles as the microscope's stage. Here's a view of the stage at the same time that I snapped the preceding photo of the screen.
The base doubles as the microscope’s stage. Here’s a view of the stage at the same time that I snapped the preceding photo of the screen.

And an LED ring light. The camera, screen, and ring light all run on 12V DC and three separate AC-DC adapters are included (non-polarized, American-style plugs). Hong Kong runs on ~240V (compared to 120V in the United States) and we use UK-style, comically ginormous plugs. Fortunately, the adapters can take 120-240V AC and so, after sticking on UK-style plug adapters, I was off to the races.

The microscope, with camera and screen attached. Image from manufacturer's Tmall storefront's product page.
The microscope, with camera and screen attached. Image from manufacturer’s Tmall storefront’s product page.

My setup is like the above image, but with the monitor on the right and the power cables and HDMI cable that connects the camera atop the microscope with the monitor.

The bolt hole in the metal base was crusty and needed a few turns with a hand deburrer.
The bolt hole in the metal base was crusty and needed a few turns with a hand deburrer.

I’ve got no complaints but could see while putting thigs together that a few (so-far minor) corners were cut. The hole in the base wasn’t deburred after it was drilled, but that was easy to fix. Some of the inner threads on the mounting post show a bit of rust and I may go back and clean and add some sort of corrosion inhibitor to them at some point.