MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Beginner looking to make first purchase of immersion oil. I see there are a few different brands and types (A, B, non drying . . ) available on Amazon. Does it make a difference what I use or is the type determined by objective specs? Are certain brands better than others?

I would like to setup my AO 110 for taking measurements (primarily mushroom spores). I currently have the 180 oculars. The 110 catalog (1985) lists the #475 or #476 reticles (21.9mm) for use with the 180 oculars, however I have not been able to locate the reticles on ebay. Are there any other reticl...

I'm not exactly certain what you mean by "inside the column". Is the shaft bushing accessed by removing the knobs or by taking the stand apart? I did download a service manual for reference. Also, is non-gassing oil recommended here as well?

I bought an AO 110 Microstar (as is condition) at an online university auction. I’ve used it a few times and so far everything appears to be working. However I did notice that the course focus knob is much harder to turn than the fine focus knob. Is this normal? According to the 1984 Reichert Series...

AO began evolving their first infinity corrected system beginning in the late 50's, when much of microscope technology was still in a pre-war state. Glass tech. was evolving too, so during the about 30 years they continued with that system, they frequently upgraded parts of the system in order to t...

In darkfield you don't want any rays going into your objective except if they've struck the specimen. High power objectives frequently get so close that light starts sneaking in around the periphery. You can either grind out some funnel stops on your lathe, which are metal tubes you stick in your o...

The one in the objective lens. I've had maybe half a dozen AO 50x or 100x oil iris objectives and have had one stuck. If you're buying from Ebay, just check the objective upon receipt and return it if it's stuck. Or, if it happens to be stuck open, consider it a regular 100x that should be priced a...

I'm not that familiar with microscopes yet, so I hope this doesn't sound like a dumb question. When you say "the iris could possibly get stuck", are you referring to the iris below the stage or is there one in the objective lens?

Member "Apochronaut" will have more information, but for starters: 1079 - 100/1.25 N.A Oil Achromatic - lower cost option, not as good as the advanced plan achro #1311 1014 - 100/1.25 N.A Oil Planachromatic w/Iris - iris is handy for darkfield 1311 - 100/1.25 N.A Oil Planachromatic - very good qual...

Hello and welcome to a great community which Oliver Kim has developed. I urge you to obtain a low cost: micrometer measurement slide...and a micrometer reticule eyepiece...many low cost. You need a Plan achro 100X oil objective to comfortably measure your target spore dimensions...these too are ava...

Hi, I’m looking to purchase a 100x objective for looking at mushroom spores using an AO one-ten microstar. Everything I’ve read says I’ll need a 100x oil. I looked at a couple AO/Reichert catalogs from the 80’s and saw a few 100x options listed (below). I’ld like to know . . . 1. Which of the object...

Hello, My name is Jeff. I’m a newbie to microscopes and microscopy. I recently got into amateur mycology and realized a good quality compound microscope is needed for looking at spores and tissue samples when trying to identifying mushrooms to the species level. After doing some online research, I d...