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It has been 40 y since I did microscope work in grad school studying marine meiobenthos. Not so much on determining the ultrastructure as watching interactions in petri dishes with thin layers of sand. We had some very nice Wild scopes of various types
I liked the AO following and have tried to amass what I have read. Here is the microscope that came today and what I know and am guessing. It looks very similar to: viewtopic.php?t=9894#p84320
AO Spencer - 812809 (serial number I think - could not find the match with year beyond about 400,000)
Series 10 (Gray - Series 10, 20, 110, 120 (1961-85) Infinity, 34mm parfocal)
Objectives are #1075, #1076, described as "developed" as the first set for the 10" and #1116 (per apochronaut: "As a result of the 1116s tolerance for thicker coverslips it is an ideal objective for the routine viewing of cheaper prepared slides, many of which have cover slips so thick that some 40X objectives have trouble focusing on the subject."
Transformer #1051 - hums
Illuminator #1036a - produces light
Condenser #1084 abbe aspheric 1.25
Eyepieces #176 - 10x wide field
Use:
Look through 1ml soil samples shaken lightly in total 5ml chlorine-free water
Look for larger critters (microarthropods, larger microbes, aggregates, strands of fungal hyphae, etc.) at 4x and 10x
Get to know what the nematodes and ciliates and amoebas are doing/move/etc.
Count several replicate fields of bacteria - learn to dilute to counts around 20-40
I want to just start to learn how to identify major groups (e.g., nematode feeding types based on pharyngeal, mouth, and lip structures)
Don't know if basic brightfield will work or need other choices
Plans:
Check basic functioning of the optics; the mechanics seem fine at this point (all controls turn, slide, etc. easily)
Add another objective to the 4, 10, and 45x. Probably a 20, maybe a 100. Stay dry for now. Oil later.
Learn this microscope and how far it can get me
Join the AO fan club (I just could not get myself to get a new $250-ish AmScope/Swift - altho they do have their place) - apochronaut, you have so much great information and you seem very patient with what must seem the umpteenth time almost the same question gets posed).
Do photography through one eyepiece for now - start with cell phone camera to learn
Questions:
1. What are upgrade paths for objectives and matching oculars? I would plan on plan objectives as the next logical step to improve field of view in focus
2. Upgrade path for condensers - combined/separate? (I should know soon whether I will have a lot of organisms with the same refractive index as water). From reading I think there are some set ups and approaches that get a bit close to darkfield - all a bit of a new area for me. In grad school I had true scope masters to just tell me how to make images look better
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
3. Upgrade path for illuminator if necessary?
4. Apparently trinocular heads are available (would love to get my Canon 80D DSLR set up on that if my skill and the optics make that a reasonable upgrade when the time comes) - which part numbers would these be?
And thanks to those who regularly read the posts and assist newcomers like myself.