AO American Optical 120

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Radazz
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AO American Optical 120

#1 Post by Radazz » Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:14 pm

Here's another one intercepted on the way to the medical school dumpster.
I have the power pack but it is buried somewhere at my brother's house, so I haven't been able to test the bulb or lenses.
Has always been covered, and this is the condition before cleaning!
5 plan achromatic objectives with infinity symbols.
Knobs on the front of the base are all connected and the linkages feel smooth.
3 filter wheels (?) between the base and the illuminator.
Everything seems to function very smoothly.

I prefer older scopes and these look like sewing machines to me, so when I finally find the power supply and test this scope, I will likely put it in the buy/sell space here.

Jim
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apochronaut
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#2 Post by apochronaut » Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:34 pm

Those are actually better microscopes than many people think, which have the capacity to accept many accessories and perform very well with the appropriate cardioid DF condenser. There was a consistency of purpose associated with the AO, Reichert consolidation , which has allowed such a stand to be modernized well beyond what the original designers intended. Was the person that relegated it to the dumpster, one of the case studies of the psychiatric faculty, by any chance?

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zzffnn
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#3 Post by zzffnn » Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:41 pm

Nice find.
My local medical schools use surplus auction sites to sell off their scopes, where some (likely dealers) pay crazy price for those. Their closing prices are usually not far from eBay price.

Charles
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#4 Post by Charles » Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:54 pm

The AO 120 is probably the more desireable of the 10-20-100-110-120 series because of the external 100W lamp.

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Radazz
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#5 Post by Radazz » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:18 pm

I've got to pay off what I spent on the M20, so this one and the Nikon Alphaphot-2 I have in buy/sell will have to go. Happily, I won't have to be Silas Marner since this one was free, and I put very little into the Nikon.

I'm still on the honeymoon with my Wild M20, so even the Zeiss is feeling rejected.
Arnold, Missouri
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KurtM
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#6 Post by KurtM » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:34 pm

I have a 120 and love it. In fact, it continues to enjoy a permanent place on my bench while a few Olympus and Nikon stands don't, because of its versatility.

In case you get curious as to what's in there, the filter wheel assembly is easy to remove and inspect, just the two screws you can see plainly.
Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas
email: ngc704(at)gmail(dot)com
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vasselle
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#7 Post by vasselle » Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:49 pm

Bonjour très beau microscope.
Car nous en France on à n'a pas trop cette marque de microscope.
Mes si un jour je tombe sure cette marque en France hésiterais pas une seconde à ma acheté un.
Car ça à l'air être des microscopes robustes .
Et j'aime particulièrement la couleur des anciens microscopes je les trouve vraiment très beaux.
Bravo pour votre acquisition.
Cordialement seb
Microscope Leitz Laborlux k
Boitier EOS 1200D + EOS 1100D

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Radazz
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#8 Post by Radazz » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:19 am

Thank you, Seb.


Jim
Last edited by Radazz on Sun Jul 31, 2016 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Arnold, Missouri
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einman
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Re: AO American Optical 120

#9 Post by einman » Sat Jul 30, 2016 3:27 am

I have an AO 120 with phase/contrast, It is an enjoyable microscope. Although as of late I have been leaning towards stereo scopes and selling off many of my compound brightfield scopes. Sld off my AO10 phase/contrast and my AO Polstar. Working my way down the line as my focus leans towards entomology.

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