Clear Tape is driving me nuts!

[Danal]

I am finding it very difficult to get a set of filters that consistently find the holes in clear tape. I have great success with Homing, Fiducials, Black Tape, etc, etc. Clear tape is driving me nuts!

Any tips or hints?

[JuKu]

The brute force solution is a thick felt tip pen. Other than that, you need to pay attention to diffusers, your workshop lights and the tabletop (or whatever is under the tape) color. For specifics, I'd like to see some screenshots about what your camera actually sees.

[Danal]

Thanks, those are good hints.

The table is light blue anti static mat. I've also tried a ruler (white paper).

I believe my diffusers are indeed a large part of the problem, inconsistent lighting around the holes as the angle of the plastic changes slightly along the length. I will mess with diffusers.


And... I did think of the black felt tip pen. This may actually be the solution for a while, as I need to get some boards made.


THANKS,

Danal

P.S. I will also post some photos, just for the long-term debugging value.

[Danal]

First, let me say it is working MUCH BETTER this morning as I try to capture the screenshots of not finding a hole. I believe this is because of daylight in the room. This tells me my diffusers and LED ring need work.

Second, to be clear, I am using the Anondstar "microscope" camera. One of the things I've noticed is a dark hole in the middle of my diffused lighting. Turning up the Anondstart built-in lights just a little bit, just enough to fill this hole, really seems to help. Except, having no diffuser on these, they do create some glare. Again, I need to do more work here...


And, here are some photos, with lots of daylight in the room, all working great:

[Danal]

Oh, at the moment, these holes are overlapping white paper ruler. The table (anti static mat) color is visible through the other part of the tape.

[Danal]

Update for others with the same issue:

I am using the "Anondstar" microscope for a down camera. I modified the kit provided mount to hold the Anondstar. My initial build had the kit provided LED ring against the bottom of the mount, and then a couple of diffusers (from the provided paper). This created a dark hole in the middle of the lighting, due to the size of the Anonstar (it is about 12mm).

1) I moved my LED ring (the one supplied in the kit) nearly to the bottom of the camera. This seems to help a lot. There is now only one diffuser, just below it.

2) For the moment, to get work done, I did "black marker" the holes clear tape. This makes it relatively easy to come up with filters that work.

[WayOutWest]

I am finding it very difficult to get a set of filters that consistently find the holes in clear tape. I have great success with Homing, Fiducials, Black Tape, etc, etc. Clear tape is driving me nuts!

Any tips or hints?

You have to look for the part in the pocket instead of the holes.

FWIW I stopped buying Kemet capacitors because of the damn clear tape. I hate it too.

[michael-yurov]

I stopped buying Kemet capacitors because of the damn clear tape. I hate it too.

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[Danal]

FWIW I stopped buying Kemet capacitors because of the damn clear tape. I hate it too.

Man, I am with you! And they are cheap enough that I may toss the ones I have. Maybe.


And,yes, I am black marker-ing for now. That at least makes it workable.

[WayOutWest]

Yeah, the marker is not such an attractive option when you've got a reel of 4000 components.

I stopped buying Kemet capacitors because of the damn clear tape. I hate it too.

2016-07-07 21-06-53.JPG