Ostec Wi-Fi Telescopes, Wi-Fi and USB Portable Microscopes for iOS, Android, and PCs

Ostec Electro-Optical Science and Technology, is a company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, with a factory based in Guangzhou, that manufactures optical devices such as telescopes, microphones, endoscopes, and scanners that connects to your computer, or tablet via USB or Wi-Fi. Charbax of armdevices.net interviewed the company in April at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, and uploaded the video (see bottom of post) very recently. Let’s have a closer at some of the products.

KoPa WiFi Telescope (Model TW501)

The first device is TW501 Wi-Fi telescope that comes with a tablet holder, and allows you to visualize the picture directly on your smartphone, tablet, or other Wi-Fi capable device either via specific Apps or via the web browser. It apparently not suited for astronomy, but can be used for bird watching, building surveillance, hiking, and any application where you may need to take close-up pictures or videos.

Wi-Fi Telescope Specifications:

• Sensor type – 5M 1/2.5″ CMOS
• Max resolution – 2592 x 1944 (5.0MP)
• Frame rate – 40fps
• White balance – Auto white balance, auto gain, auto exposure
• Focus mode – Manual focus, and auto focus (via Wi-Fi eyepiece). Minimal focus range: 5m
• Lens diameter – 82mm
• Magnification: 25X-75X-300X
• Field of view – (25x) 1.6 °,  (75x) 0.8 °
• Connectivity –  Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n @ 2.4000 – 2.4835GHz up to 150Mbps
• USB – Mini USB
• Temperature range – Operating: -10 ~ 50 , Storage: -20 to 60
• Relative Humidity – Operation: 30 ~ 80%, Storage: 10 ~ 60% HR
• Battery – 2400mA lithium battery

The telescope can be used with a computer running Windows XP/Vista/7/8 (32 & 64 bit) via USB or Wi-Fi, Mac OS X (Wi-Fi only), or a mobile device running IOS 5 or 6 (Wi-Fi only). There’s no word about Android support.

The F.O.B price for TW501 Wi-Fi Telescope is $1400. You can get more information in Chinese on TW501 page. You can also read more about an earlier model TW201, which has a page in English.

KoPa W5 Wi-Fi Microscope and M101 USB Microscope

Ostec also manufacturer USB and Wi-Fi microscopes that act more like a powerful magnifying glass than an actual microscope as you may think of it. However, it’s still useful for the education market, beauty care, checking PCB traces, etc… The company lists 4 models in their site, including on that does look like an actual microscope, but during the interview, the focus was on W5 and M101 portable microscope, respectively with Wi-Fi and USB interfaces, both of which allowing for real-time visualization on iOs and Android devices, as well as Windows or Mac computers.

Apart from Wi-Fi support, both have slightly different specifications, but I’ll only list W5 specifications here:

• Sensor type – 5.0MP true color 1/4”CMOS,
• Max. resolution – 2592 x 1944
• Magnification 32X-130X (Display in 21” Screen)
• Image format:
  • YUV – 640×480@30fps,800×600@20fps,1280×960@10fps,1280×720@10fps, 2592×1944@5fps
  • MJPEG – 640×480@40fps,800×600@40fps,1280×960@40fps,1280×720@40fps,
    2592×1944@15fps
• Focus Mode – Single Automatic focus/Continue Automatic focus
• White balance – Automatic White Balance/Automatic Exposure
• Visible Spectrum – 380-650nm (with IR-cut Filter)
• Connection modes – USB 2.0 Micro Interface, or WI-FI (802.11 b/g/n up to 150Mbps)
• Illumination – Built in 8 LEDs
• “Speed Shooting” – 1 second
• Power supply – Replaceable and rechargeable LR123 lithium battery (3.6V/1500 mAh), 5V USB power supply by PC, or 5V/1.5A power adapter
• Dimensions – 62mm (diameter) x 54mm (height)
• Weight – 90g

There’s also a snapshot control API available in native C/C++, C#, and compatible with Direct Show and UVC.

You can use the device with a computer with an Intel Core2 @ 1.6GHz or greater and 2GB RAM or higher, running Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7/8 (32 & 64 bit), or MAX OS X. The specifications also list iOS 5 and 6, but not Android. However, Android support is clearly mentioned (in bold) in the product page… Up to 5 Wi-Fi devices can share the same microscope simultaneously.

The Wi-Fi model is said to cost 100$ and the USB model 50$. Another Wi-Fi Microscope (HD51) with magnifying level up to 365x sells for 800$. All price ares F.O.B prices.

The video below shows the telescope and microscopes, as well as an A4 document scanner (A99) that can be used to display document and larger screens.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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