[Elecraft] Swing Arm Magnifiers - OT

[Tom Hammond]

Gotta agree with most of the posts here... regardless of whether I use a 
MagniFocuser (my personal preference) or an Optivisor, I find the 
head-mounted magnifier to be MUCH more suitable for my particular type of 
building than the swing-arm-type lighted magnifiers... T

he swing-arm maggies just always seem to be in the wrong place every time I 
need to use them, and always in the way when I don't need them at that 
instant. They also seem to tend to be 'jiggley' and never remain as stable 
as I need them to be. As a result, I've never found a swing-arm maggie 
(with all due respect to K3XS <G>) that I've liked or found to be useful in 
my personal manner of building.

Regarding magnification level...

I recently bought a second head-mounted (MagniFocuser) magnifier. This one 
was a bit 'hotter' (#10 lens, 3.50X) than my venerable older one (#7 lens, 
2.75X) of about 25 years. What I found when I put it on, however was that I 
kept trying to solder my nose!!!  I found the 3.50X lens has a focal length 
of 4", while the 2.75X lens has a focal length of 6", which put the nose 
and soldering iron at much safer distances between each other!!!

I now use the 3.50X lens for close-up examination, and the 2.75X lens for 
building... MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE.

What I'd REALLY LIKE is one of those eyeglasses with the specially mounted 
lens magnifier which allows for relatively high magnification (say, 3.5X), 
BUT at a longer focal length... say 10" - 12" instead of risking more 'nose 
branding' by the soldering iron tip.  But all of those I've found are much 
too costly for my
cheapskate wallet.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS