Thread: Intel QX3 Microscope

Just bevare of driver issues etc if running vista, I cross my finger hoping that this will do:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/77aa/
Guess I have it in an week or two, so then I see if vista 64bit will be supported, but guess I have to revitalise one of my old computers..

Originally Posted by ByronTodd

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A company called DigiBlue.com bought Intel product line and has discontinued the QX3. If you want one, expect to pay at least $40 or more, and know that it will not work with MS Vista. However, DigiBlue.com has replaced the QX3 with their QX5 and it supposedly has Vista drivers...

Originally Posted by asbjorn

Just bevare of driver issues etc if running vista, I cross my finger hoping that this will do:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/77aa/
Guess I have it in an week or two, so then I see if vista 64bit will be supported, but guess I have to revitalise one of my old computers..

Check my last paragraph - the QX5 has Vista drivers... Not sure if thinkgeek.com's packaging of the QX5 will have the latest drivers and DigiBlue.com has been charging for their QX3 drivers... I would say that you might just want to order direct from DigiBlue.com.

Originally Posted by fotoguru

I was wary of some of the usb scopes out there - I ended up picking up an old college lab microscope. It has drastically improved my honing - but the major issue with the lab type microscopes is that they lit from underneath. You need an additional light source to light it from the side which makes viewing a little tricky. It certainly looks like that Intel Scope is a very viable option.

It depends on the type of scope you buy. A stereo is probably good enough for our uses but you could also buy a reflected light scope like a metallurgical.
A transmitted light source biological scope is probably the least suitable.

Originally Posted by vgod

one of my best shavers was a DD #1 that cut great. then i looked at it under the radio shack micro. holy cow your edge looked super smooth compared to mine. amazing an edge can be so jacked up and yet shave so well.

i have since remedied the edge.

vgod

I have the same issue. One of my favorite shavers is an 11/16 Sheffield. Nice and smooth. Then I looked under the RS microscope and saw two micro chips. Do I need to remedy that if it is shaving well?

Originally Posted by RayG

I have the same issue. One of my favorite shavers is an 11/16 Sheffield. Nice and smooth. Then I looked under the RS microscope and saw two micro chips. Do I need to remedy that if it is shaving well?

No, if it is shaving well, that's THE most important thing. The next time it actually needs to be honed, you can deal with them then.

I've got a qx-3 that we bought for my son years ago. It's great, but I can't use the "standard" application with it. There is some weird interaction between it and my tivo software that keeps the beginning animation from running, generating an error message, and stopping (!) the tivo server.

It works just fine, however, once you get past that, or if you use some other graphics program like photoshop.

don't waste your time with the digiblue support if you hit this issue. It's completely beyond them.

JIm

Originally Posted by jcarey9149

don't waste your time with the digiblue support if you hit this issue. It's completely beyond them.

JIm

You mean the helpdesk doesn't? Who would ever expect that.

Mike

Agreed. I took the pics in Adobe Photoshop. Other than some wierdness that caused the microscope to cut off after a while, Photoshop worked great. (To get the microscope to cut back on, I had to unplug it and then re-plug it back in...)

So I sniped one of these on ebay lastnight and felt a little bit like I was stealing candy from a kid, being that it's a kid's toy and all. Oh well, I won the scope for like $27, was just over $40 after including shipping. They need to have a smiley with horns >=)

Originally Posted by bevansmw

So I sniped one of these on ebay lastnight and felt a little bit like I was stealing candy from a kid, being that it's a kid's toy and all. Oh well, I won the scope for like $27, was just over $40 after including shipping. They need to have a smiley with horns >=)

qx3 or qx5? I was looking a couple of days ago on ebay and didn't see that one. Must have been asleep! Anyway, I discovered today that my digital camera will focus through a telescope lens and I appear to be able to get ~ 100X - 150X although there are lighting and stability issues. It's cheaper than buying something else, even though I've always wanted a microscope.

I'm trying to rehone my blade after rubbing a chip out on 1k Norton, but it still isn't passing HHT. If it ever does, I'd love to get video of it at 100X!