Cute little AO scope

[Rossf]

Saw this on eBay-anyone up to it?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3939401134

[PeteM]

We sometimes use one of those - just the bridge with two AO10's below it - in the kids' "Micronaut" program.

A lot larger and more cumbersome than it looks, but kind of cool for a generation raised on "CSI" shows.

[Rossf]

I thought it looked more “Quincy M.D” era than CSI....

[PeteM]

Yep, it's pretty much old school in the digital age. Put a digital camera on it, though, and it might still be usable. The prism to compare two specimens side by side is apparently still part of the newer units.

[Scarodactyl]

For that type of money you can get a more modern one (Leica has kept making them through the years, I'm not sure if they're direct AO descendants but there's no reason they couldn't be). I'd kinda like one of these if only because they often have long working distance, low-mag objectives that seem like they'd be great for gem examination.

[PeteM]

Yes - the Leica is the direct descendent. Early "Leica" dual bridges differed mainly in the paint job and logo.

[wabutter]

The K1453 was a bullet and tool mark comparison scope produced by the special jobs shop at American Optical. It was also called a UFM. There were several iterations that led to the UFM 4 aka K2700. As models of AO scope changed Series 2/4; Series 10, Series 110: 410, the UFMs were updated as well. The last UFM was produced in 2003 when Leica introduced.
AO also produced a second nosepiece and condenser option, so the UFM could be used for trace evidence. In parallel, they also mounted the bridge on top of two compound scopes for Trace work (CFM). However it was not offered with a true PLM so some of the Trace application was not viable on the CFM
Wayne

[wabutter]

My earlier post should have include “when Leica introduced the FSC”