Cheers

What is your microscopy history? What are your interests? What equipment do you use?
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Zuul
Posts: 212
Joined: Fri May 01, 2020 9:01 pm
Location: California

Cheers

#1 Post by Zuul » Sat May 02, 2020 6:31 pm

Hi all,

I’ve been running reef tanks (salt water aquarium with coral) for nearly 2 decades. I recently decided that I wanted to have a better idea of what was going in there. To the naked eye dinoflagellates, diatoms, cyanobacteria, and phytoplankton don’t always look very different, but of course they are! Being able to ID the critters can give you a better idea of what’s out of balance when things get ugly. So I needed a microscope.

I was very close to buying a low end Amscope. The only feature I considered mandatory was rough/fine focus. And frankly, that would have been all that I needed. But I’ve always had a soft spot for well engineered vintage machines, so I started looking around at used scopes. In my research I stumbled into this forum and learned a lot in very short order. (Thanks!) I decided I wanted an American Optical. The One-Sixties had my eye but I wasn’t sure if I should spend a couple more bucks on a One-Fifty. (What’s the difference, BTW? I never did find a definitive answer.) In my period of indecision, I spotted a Model 10 on eBay that seemed like a really good deal. It only has 3 of 4 objectives (4x missing) and the mechanical stage is missing it’s specimen clips. There may be more serious issues lurking, but the condition looks good to me, so hopefully not. I’m fully aware of the gamble eBay represents, and I kind of enjoy it. It’s a weakness, I suppose. To sweeten the deal further, I made an offer $10 less than the listing ... and it was accepted! So now I’m anxiously waiting for it to arrive! Wish me luck.

Hobbyst46
Posts: 4277
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:02 pm

Re: Cheers

#2 Post by Hobbyst46 » Sat May 02, 2020 6:38 pm

Zuul wrote:
Sat May 02, 2020 6:31 pm
Hi all,

I’ve been running reef tanks (salt water aquarium with coral) for nearly 2 decades. I recently decided that I wanted to have a better idea of what was going in there. To the naked eye dinoflagellates, diatoms, cyanobacteria, and phytoplankton don’t always look very different, but of course they are! Being able to ID the critters can give you a better idea of what’s out of balance when things get ugly. So I needed a microscope.

I was very close to buying a low end Amscope. The only feature I considered mandatory was rough/fine focus. And frankly, that would have been all that I needed. But I’ve always had a soft spot for well engineered vintage machines, so I started looking around at used scopes. In my research I stumbled into this forum and learned a lot in very short order. (Thanks!) I decided I wanted an American Optical. The One-Sixties had my eye but I wasn’t sure if I should spend a couple more bucks on a One-Fifty. (What’s the difference, BTW? I never did find a definitive answer.) In my period of indecision, I spotted a Model 10 on eBay that seemed like a really good deal. It only has 3 of 4 objectives (4x missing) and the mechanical stage is missing it’s specimen clips. There may be more serious issues lurking, but the condition looks good to me, so hopefully not. I’m fully aware of the gamble eBay represents, and I kind of enjoy it. It’s a weakness, I suppose. To sweeten the deal further, I made an offer $10 less than the listing ... and it was accepted! So now I’m anxiously waiting for it to arrive! Wish me luck.
I wish you luck. I believe you chose well. Nothing like old fashioned well made microscopes.

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