Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

Here you can suggest and discuss Websites, books, and other resource materials.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#1 Post by wporter » Sun Apr 23, 2017 11:57 pm

Here is a link to the manual that I recently finished translating (with thanks to Google Translate for significant help) from the public-domain German-language version (1975 ed., off the internet). Minor edits for clarity:

http://blueplanettechnics.com/wp-conten ... l-v1.1.pdf

or, you can go to my website & download it from there:

http://blueplanettechnics.com/downloads/



Feel free to copy it & distribute it elsewhere.

If anyone notices any egregious errors, please let me know via this forum. Thanks!

User avatar
zzffnn
Posts: 3200
Joined: Sat Jun 20, 2015 3:57 am
Location: Houston, Texas, USA
Contact:

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#2 Post by zzffnn » Mon Apr 24, 2017 1:14 am

Great work, thank you for sharing!
That is an impressive microscope as well.

apochronaut
Posts: 6272
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#3 Post by apochronaut » Mon Apr 24, 2017 10:56 am

Another really great offering. Thanks for doing that and thanks for sharing it.

User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#4 Post by wporter » Mon Apr 24, 2017 2:36 pm

Thanks, guys, glad to share. It was a ton of work, but I had no alternative, as I'm restoring one of the beasts.

Apo, do you know the production years of the Univar? I'm guessing that it came out in 1973, and was maybe produced until 1978? I think that's near the time the Polyvar first came out, but I am not sure of any overlap...

apochronaut
Posts: 6272
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#5 Post by apochronaut » Tue Apr 25, 2017 1:36 pm

Can't help you on that. I see the date 1973 on some manuals but how long before that date the microscope was in production, I don't know. It would seem odd that such a scope was only built for 5 years but then, maybe the Polyvar pretty much duplicated it's capability at a lower price.

I know that the Zeiss Axiomat was discontinued , partially due to it's excessive cost.

User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#6 Post by wporter » Tue Apr 25, 2017 4:45 pm

Thanks, Apochronaut.

Info about this microscope does seem to be extremely sparse. Perhaps someone from Austria who knows something about the Reichert company will chime in and educate all of us.

It's too bad that the company absorptions and mergers (especially, in this case, the Leica Group formation?) resulted in the loss of so much information about previous products, like the Univar. But, gotta make way for the new stuff, and purge those pesky products and support issues from the past!! (BTW, burn all those old manuals, they're interfering with sales...)

apochronaut
Posts: 6272
Joined: Fri May 15, 2015 12:15 am

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#7 Post by apochronaut » Tue Apr 25, 2017 9:57 pm

The Bausch & Lomb archives are at the U of Rochester. As of about the year 2000, when they were still making the Microstar and Diastar with the Leica brand on them, the AO archives were at the plant in Buffalo, because I had someone dig out something from them, for me. Since the plant is still going strong, only has shifted to exclusively opthalmic products, I would guess that the archives are still there and since Reichert is still going strong but has shifted to instruments for sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy, my guess is that the Reichert archives are still at the plant in Austria. Since the two companies were in a degree of lockstep, there may be quite a bit of Reichert info. in Buffalo....just surmising.

It is odd that the Bausch & Lomb archives were not retained by Leica.

I have found out a fair amount of technical information by searching patents. The patent literature contains a list of citations that the patent refers to and additionally, it is referenced by succeeding patents. Following the citation and reference trails can bring up a lot of information about whatever specific detail or design feature one might be looking for from a specific manufacturer. It helps to know the name of a patent applicant but once into the text of one patent, you can get to a lot of information not directly related to the original patent search by following the trails.....helps to fill in some gaps with respect to the designs of older equipment.

User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#8 Post by wporter » Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:42 pm

Good tips, Apochronaut. I hadn't thought of researching patents.

I had checked with Reichert Microscope Services (now at http://www.reichert.com/microscopes/) about a year ago, back when they sold parts and serviced microscopes; the guy who responded (Raymond Halbert), who worked for Ametek (Depew, NY), didn't have any of the Austrian manuals and didn't service any of that equipment, either.

xrayvision
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:27 pm

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#9 Post by xrayvision » Fri Jul 07, 2017 4:00 pm

Hi wporter,

I'd like to translate my German Axiomat manual to English. What program did you use for layout on your Univar project? It looks very good.

Regards,

Will

User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#10 Post by wporter » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:45 pm

Thanks very much for your kind words.

I used Softmaker Presentations, a slide-based presentation program like Powerpoint. It was much, much easier to use this than a word-processing program, since the slide-based approach uses text-boxes and graphics boxes that you can position anywhere, and matched the format of the Univar manual (drawings and paragraphs in sort of a two-column format), whereas a word-processor would involve magnitudes of greater difficulty in handling and formatting the mix. At least to me, a non-professional at word-processing. If I ever had to write a tech manual from now on, I would do it the same way.

Softmaker is a German company, coincidentally enough (and they offer a non-time-limited, free version of their office suite called Freeoffice). Very nice, very stable, and the Presentations can export directly to a pdf file. I have to admit that I went directly from using Libreoffice Writer to Freeoffice (and then to Softmaker) Presentations; I never tried Libreoffice Impress (their Powerpoint clone), since I was so disgusted and demoralized by trying to do the project with Writer; Impress might have done the job equally fine.

By far the hardest part was translating from German, as I don't speak it. Google (or Bing) Translate is very literal, and frequently misses the mark, although occasionally they are exact. Sometimes they will offer up a slew of alternate meanings for words, so you have to pick and choose, and know the subject, and make good guesses about what they are trying to say. All complicated by the fact that the verb/object/subject order is different, and they don't always get this right, so there is frequently some confusion. Did I say it helps to know the subject? Lol. The whole project took months, so patience and frequent breaks were helpful.

I am looking for more documenattion on the Univar, particularly service manuals, electrical schematics, and the like. On my website download page there is the latest proofread version (1.4) of the Operating Manual, and an English-language brochure, but I have nothing on certain specific attachments, and no circuit diagrams for the scope or its control systems. That hasn't stopped me from tearing into the innards and fixing a bunch of stuff, but I do need some more literature. Anyone have any? I will be glad to translate any non-English docs. Possibly, Leica offices in other countries would have old literature in their archives that they wouldn't mind sharing for dissemination; an old 'scope like this is hardly a threat to their modern sales, but would enable the history to live on in more substantial form than just legends or old photos.

User avatar
wporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:18 pm
Location: United States

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#11 Post by wporter » Sat Jul 08, 2017 1:35 pm

Xrayvision, as far as the Zeiss Axiomat goes, there is this available on the internet:

https://microscopy-news.com/download-ce ... s-axiomat/

an English-language operating manual, but maybe not the one you want to translate?

BTW, I forgot to mention (though it may have been obvious), that one page of the Univar manual equals one slide in the presentation program.

MichaelG.
Posts: 3976
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Reichert Univar microscope operating manual (English-language version), v.1.1

#12 Post by MichaelG. » Mon Dec 10, 2018 6:53 am

wporter wrote:Xrayvision, as far as the Zeiss Axiomat goes, there is this available on the internet:

https://microscopy-news.com/download-ce ... s-axiomat/
Just a quick update :
This copy of the manual seems to have been removed
The link is still on the site, but no PDF [error 404]

I did however, find an alternative source:
http://lastmanuals.com/manual/ZEISS/AXIOMAT

MichaelG.
.
.
Caveat: Having posted the above, I looked at the three 'reviews' here
https://www.mywot.com/scorecard/lastmanuals.com
These do not reflect my experience; which was a simple download to the iPad, of what appears to be a clean PDF file.
... But I felt obliged to mention it.
Too many 'projects'

Post Reply