Tech Help - Diamonds View Gem Scope

[niceice]

Can I get a little help from my Tech Savvy friends? I need a light.

I recently blew out the light bulbs on a Gem Scope that we purchased from Diamonds View out of Israel. It took several weeks for the company to respond to my technical support inquiry, then they told me to ship the $9K scope to Israel for an estimate... I was like, "It''s a pair of freaking light bulbs! Just ship it to me and I''ll pop it in." They said "Oh it''s much more difficult than that..." so I opened up the unit, unplugged the light bulbs from the wiring loom and sent them a picture of the light bulbs out of the assembly and said "Easy enough. Ship me the light bulb." No response. No response. No response. A month later, I called the N.Y. office for these guys and lit into them for not responding... The Israeli office called a few minutes later and informed me that the light bulbs are going to cost $400.00 each and they can''t guarantee that they are going to work

It appears that the scope is an adaptation of a unit manufactured by Scalar Scopes. Needless to say that I''ve already contact technical support for Scalar Scopes and they have been more than helpful in trying to assist me resolve a problem with a product that they did not sell. They have advised me that the Scalar board contained in the unit has been replaced because the manufacturer of the light bulbs no longer makes them - I''m not sure that I believe this explanation, but hey, maybe this is why the people at Diamonds View are telling me that they might not work?!?! Nice.

So anyway, this is what the scope looks like:

The light bulbs look like this:

 

[niceice]

The light bulbs look like this:

The first portion of the picture shows the overall appearance of the light bulb, the second frame is a close-up of the bulb portion, the last frame shows the wiring for the bulb which consists of (4) pink and (4) white wires.

The wiring on the light bulb is stamped SSEI which a search engine quest seems to indicate belongs to a company in India:

Standard Electronics
Plot No. 9/123 Marol Cooperative Industrial Estate, Andheri (e), Near Saki Naka,
Mumbai - 400059,
Maharashtra, India
Telephone No. 91-22-28503986 / 28508653
Fax No. 91-22-28506214

This has been a dead end for me thus far, I can''t find an email address for the company and the fax number doesn''t seem to work.

I''ve tried to find these bulbs on various online lighting companies and would appreciate any help that any of our Tech Savvy friends here on PS might be able to provide.

 

[strmrdr]

adapt it too led lighting?
or round tubes...

 

[niceice]

Date: 2/19/2008 2:27:31 PM
Author: strmrdr
adapt it too led lighting?

or round tubes...

Yea, if only I had a clue how to do something like that. Diamonds, I do diamonds, you''re the smart one!

I left off with Scalar Scopes about two weeks ago with (1) they might be able to convert the board to their new system, but they were stumped by the fact that our system has two light bulbs and theirs only has one... Yet it''s there board sitting in the middle of this thing. They didn''t know what it might cost and I''m not into writing blank checks for R&D.

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/19/2008 2:32:28 PM
Author: niceice

Date: 2/19/2008 2:27:31 PM
Author: strmrdr
adapt it too led lighting?

or round tubes...

Yea, if only I had a clue how to do something like that. Diamonds, I do diamonds, you''re the smart one!

I left off with Scalar Scopes about two weeks ago with (1) they might be able to convert the board to their new system, but they were stumped by the fact that our system has two light bulbs and theirs only has one... Yet it''s there board sitting in the middle of this thing. They didn''t know what it might cost and I''m not into writing blank checks for R&D.

does the lighting do anything special or is it just a light?
With 2 tubes is it top and bottom?

Can you post a pic with detail where the lights go?
What do you use the scope for?

 

[niceice]

The scope is "one" of the ones that we use to take clarity photographs. One light is located in a platform located under the diamond and one is located in a platform above the diamond, the light is filtered using Lucite (like) inserts and controlled by two switches on the side of the scope - the lighting is controlled by the position of the switches for each bulb.

 

[oldminer]

I have asked my manager in Mumbai to check out the firm you listed.

Standard Electronics
Plot No. 9/123 Marol Cooperative Industrial Estate, Andheri (e), Near Saki Naka,
Mumbai - 400059,
Maharashtra, India
Telephone No. 91-22-28503986 / 28508653
Fax No. 91-22-28506214

He may come up with some information leading toward a replacement for you.

I have also asked the electrical engineer at ImaGem for his advice.

 

[diagem]

Here is a name..., if it helps:

From( Reuters):


Tuesday January 25 9:40 AM ET
Internet: A Diamond Buyer''s Best Friend?
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Dealers could soon be buying diamonds on-line after a small Israeli company on Tuesday launched an Internet product which it said will enable them to assess far-away gems without leaving the office.

``This system enables the buyer to study the diamond as if he were holding it in his hand,'''' Yigal Hausman, chairman of the company Diamonds and Jewelry View told a news conference.

``We are seeing a boom in Internet commerce, even in diamonds, but what was missing was the possibility to show the image to the buyer,'''' Hausman, who is also president of the Association of Diamond Manufacturers in Israel, added.

The system consists of a device called a Gemscope, which combines the performance of a microscope with a digital camera. This enables three-dimensional viewing of diamonds on-line (at www.diamondsview.com) with the help of special tweezers and 10-fold magnification.

The stones can be viewed at various angles in the way a gemologist would examine them at the work table, including displaying flaws in the stone. Various levels of color can also be discerned.

The system is intended for use by diamond manufacturers and their merchant customers. Both sellers and buyers are screened before subscribing.

Merchants can key in information on the type of diamonds they are looking to buy and the site will display gems matching the criteria from around the world.

The system also allows sellers to block certain diamonds with a secret code so that only select customers can view the merchandise.

Company officials said because the equipment is very expensive, they intend to rent it for about $300 a month. Users will also have to pay about $250 a month in membership fees.

Hausman said several large multinational companies with potential inventory of about $1 billion have already signed up to use the system.

The world diamond jewelry business is worth about $60 billion a year, Hausman said, and there are some 150,000 potential customers for this inspection system.

Hausman said the company was already working on a second generation of products, including a system compatible with broadband technology.

Investors in the company include venture capital firm Warburg Pincus and several leading Israeli diamond exporters.

 

[strmrdr]

they sure do get some smoking dope prices for their scopes.

 

[diagem]

Date: 2/19/2008 3:12:20 PM
Author: strmrdr
they sure do get some smoking dope prices for their scopes.

Yep..., thats why they are impossible to reach...

 

[strmrdr]

Date: 2/19/2008 3:16:11 PM
Author: DiaGem

Date: 2/19/2008 3:12:20 PM
Author: strmrdr
they sure do get some smoking dope prices for their scopes.

Yep..., thats why they are impossible to reach...

too busy munching chips

 

[gulliverseyes]

I would look for a consumer product, like a christmas decoration or small lamp, that uses bulbs small enough to fit where these went. Then I''d rip it apart and mount those bulbs in the unit you have. A simple wire job and a power strip for on/off operation with get you going.

Any light that works in a car might be even better, as you''ll know it works off of 12 volts DC. You can them buy a 12v power supply that will convert AC to DC, and you can get your power from that.

The only thing you may have to worry about is heat, you don''t want to melt anything.

 

[niceice]

Date: 2/19/2008 3:12:20 PM
Author: strmrdr
they sure do get some smoking dope prices for their scopes.

Yea, and apparently they get dope smoking prices for light bulbs too! You know, with JCK just around the corner, you''d think that these guys would be doing everything they could to keep their U.S. clients "Happy" because there''s nothing like a dissatisfied customer mumbling something like "good luck getting parts or service if anything ever goes wrong..." when you''re asking new customers to plunk down serious cash. I have a really bad habit of walking around in circles at trade shows, it''s like a nervous tick or something. I''m sure that I have a diagnosis from my Doctor for it lying around here somewhere... And then there''s that case of Tourettes that I probably suffer from "Over Priced Piece o''Sh--! Whoop! Impossible to get @!## Tech Support! Whoop!"

Thanks Dave for asking your manager in Mumbai to look into the company for me, I was hoping that somebody would have a contact over there.

I''m really hoping that I can just find the light bulbs and not have to rewire this thing... Luckily I do have other scopes on the desk to take clarity photographs and such, it''s just nice to be able to move around to different scopes because inclusions don''t always show up (and photograph well) under one scope and it''s nice to be able to switch over to another.

 

[oldminer]

This is a CCFL bulb (The same that is used in laptops and emits white
light). The pink and white wire is convention used (indicates 2000v). In
short be careful about touching the pins which is why I am responding
immediately.
Try Digikey.com or mouser.com
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is from the engineer for ImaGem. You can try these sources.

If it is only available in Mumbai, I can arrange to have it picked up and shipped direct to you.....for a price!!!!. Not a crazy one.
Let me know.

 

[niceice]

Date: 2/19/2008 4:06:31 PM
Author: oldminer
This is a CCFL bulb (The same that is used in laptops and emits white

light). The pink and white wire is convention used (indicates 2000v).

Thanks Dave! CCFL is a better start than I''ve had in awhile to try and track this down... I''ll start sifting through all the options I found for this option when I ran it through Google! I appreciate it.

 

[oldminer]

Here is a response from my software engineer in Mumbai: If you can determine what it is you need, someone will get it and either bring it in to the USA when they travel here or send it.

Dear Sir,
The Information Req. by you w.r.t - Standard Electronics we are able to get
the following information
Company Name - Standard Electricals
Product - CFL
Website - http://www.standardelectricals.com/
Address - D513, Floral Deck Plaza, MIDC, Andheri(East), Mumbai - 400093
Mr. Deshpande(Regional Head) - +91 9323442434
Tel - 28263010, 3009

 

[niceice]

Date: 2/20/2008 6:48:41 AM
Author: oldminer

Here is a response from my software engineer in Mumbai: If you can determine what it is you need, someone will get it and either bring it in to the USA when they travel here or send it.

Dear Sir,

The Information Req. by you w.r.t - Standard Electronics we are able to get
the following information

Company Name - Standard Electricals
Product - CFL
Website - http://www.standardelectricals.com/
Address - D513, Floral Deck Plaza, MIDC, Andheri(East), Mumbai - 400093
Mr. Deshpande(Regional Head) - +91 9323442434
Tel - 28263010, 3009

Wow! Thank you SO MUCH! I searched and searched the internet and couldn''t find a web site. I''ve sent them an email to determine whether the bulbs in question are something they manufacture

This is what I love about PS and the professionals who frequent the forum here, the cooperative spirit and willingness to help and share ideas... It doesn''t exist elsewhere in the diamond and jewelry business as far as I''ve seen.