Is this a "Must Have" tool?

At the current time, the flight controllers are not 'plug and play.'  This means that for at least the next few years you'll need to be good at soldering.  If you're 15 years old, you probably have fine eyesight.  If you don't, all you need to do is pick up a pair of high powered reading glasses and you should be set.   However, if you're over 40 years old your eyesight starts to get worse.  And the magnifying power you'll need just can't be found in anything but more drastic measures such as



Or



I've tried both.  The powered light ring works okay, but sooner or later you get your forehead on the glass and sweat gets on the lens.    The lighted glasses work much better, they have better magnification.  But it requires you to bend over and get your eyes close to your work for long periods of time which may not feel good.   The goal is to have your hands at hand level on a desk while sitting upright.   Here's something that may work.




It's an LCD display microscope.   It's really too low powered to be considered a microscope but for soldering work, it's more than perfect.  Ring lights around the lens illuminate the work area A small LCD screen for you to see your work in real time.  A MicroSD card on the side allows you to also record video and take still images.  I can see the need for still images more than video.

Thanks to the Chinese, these scopes are affordable. What used to be hundreds of dollars is now found easily for under $100 and often in the $50  or less.   Thus, it's no longer a toy for professional or rich kids.


This is a highly rated tool by those who have bought them on websites like Banggood. Though I have bought one and I am anxiously waiting for it to arrive in the mail I can pretty much tell you how it works.  It works much like the old black and white enlargers some of us old people remember from the days of film.  There is a knob on the back that is used for moving the microscope closer to or further away from the work area.   This changes the field of view.  With this you can look at the something thats 150mm wide or you can zoom into around 10mm.   For example, you can look at a an entire flight controller board.  Then you can bring it closer to the point where you're looking at one or a few pins.  When you get closer in the depth of field, or the area that is in focus gets greatly reduced. You may find that the area you solder is in focus but the board is out of focus below.

About the only negative I've heard about this is that cheaper plastic base models are flimsy and it's difficult to hold the unit still and push a button to get a good, sharp picture if you're taking stills. It's surprising they haven't thought of a USB remote.  But a piece of advice should you need to do a lot of this would be to shine a more powerful light onto your work areas before taking the picture. That should help with the issues of motion blur, especially if your not using it for high magnification.

There are quite a few different models out there.  Check around and see which one works best for you. I ordered mine from Banggood.  It's an upgraded version of an existing model that had a plastic base. This model comes with a metal base.  Click here if you would like to see it.

I will admit that I had "Solderphobia" or the fear of soldering when I first started with the RC hobby.   It wasn't until the power died and I watched a plane fall from the sky that I started taking solder and crimp connections a bit more seriously  But, then again, this was all 12-16 AWG fun.  Now, I'm in 22 AWG hell.  To me, the RC hobby is a continues series of hoops to jump through.  Flight controllers are their own small hoops.  But, this is where I want to go.  So, any tool that I can find that will help make my life a bit easier when chasing down this dream that is priced reasonably and is usefull I will buy.