[Elecraft] Optivisor?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Yeah, working on tiny stuff with loupes and strong magnifiers a lot I know
what you mean. 

For me, there's a point beyond which it becomes really clumsy keeping things
in focus because the depth of field is so tiny. 

I made that comment because I've seen a lot of bad lenses and their defects
are magnified right along with the object being studied. Often, it seems,
the defects grow larger faster than what we're trying to see! I've seem some
"Optivisor"-like binocular magnifiers at very low prices that are terrible! 

I normally wear reading glasses, so that may be why 4X is ideal for me. I do
a lot of work with only the Optivisor and then add my reading glasses when I
need really strong magnification (actually I have small reading glasses so I
can peer over the top of them then tilt my head slightly to add them to the
optical path instantly when needed, just like I do without the Optivisor). 

Like so many things, there is no "best" solution for everyone.

A word of warning to all the  young gentlemen who want to look "cool" out
there, I've been wearing Optivisors for 30 years now, ever since I handled
my first SMDs. As a single fellow on the prowl I always wanted to look good.
One day I jumped up from the bench in the lab to head into the front office
at the company where I worked. As I walked through the facility, several
attractive young women smiled broadly at me. I winked back and  even chatted
up one or two, wondering why I was suddenly so noticeable. 

My errand done, I returned to the lab to discover that I had  flipped the
Optivisor up over my head without thinking about it. They work great that
way, getting the lenses out of the way without removing the nice padded head
band. So what the YLs were smiling about was me walking through the facility
with this ridiculous looking contraption sticking up on my head. 

Sigh! 

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Mike
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 8:49 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Optivisor?


I'm sure distortion was a bad choice of words; it was not a cheap knock-off.
Field of view was far too short with the 4x for me.  The 3x has proven to be
perfectly usable for me, with a much better field of view.  The fact that
I'm accustomed to progressives with a high power *may* be a factor here.  As
I said, I realize a lot of guys like the 4's.

As an aside, I live less than 8 miles from the Optivisor company.

--
73,
de Mike, KC0KBC