Search found 134 matches

by ldflan
Tue Feb 28, 2023 3:42 pm
Forum: Home-made microscope adaptations
Topic: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC
Replies: 43
Views: 8398

Re: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC

What's a "moderator?"
If your history is correct, why do HMC objectives built on short barrel 160TL Olympus objectives have the gradient stip inside the lens assembly, deep in the barrel? Clearly your recitation is not fully correct.
by ldflan
Tue Feb 28, 2023 5:23 am
Forum: Home-made microscope adaptations
Topic: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC
Replies: 43
Views: 8398

Re: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC

The modulator sits on top of the last lens element as a seperate add on. It is possible that i might have to move a bit up to find the back focal plane. That might be the one causing dark shadow on one side and light creeping on the other side. Given that not much spec information available for HMC...
by ldflan
Mon Feb 27, 2023 4:22 pm
Forum: Home-made microscope adaptations
Topic: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC
Replies: 43
Views: 8398

Re: Simplified Variable amplitude contrast (VAC) setup & DIY HMC

That's starting to look right! Nice job. The analyzer slit needs to be at the back focal plane of the objective. For low power objectives, your insert is probably at close to the right place - the back of the objective. For higher power objectives the back focal plane seems to be in the barrel - har...
by ldflan
Sun Feb 26, 2023 3:58 pm
Forum: Specimens, samples and slides
Topic: buyer beware!
Replies: 4
Views: 2116

Re: buyer beware!

Perhaps the insects were cleared in KOH before mounting in Berlese's, but insufficiently washed? Too bad...
by ldflan
Sat Feb 25, 2023 5:39 pm
Forum: Specimens, samples and slides
Topic: buyer beware!
Replies: 4
Views: 2116

Re: buyer beware!

Small insects will clear to complete transparency - completely invisible- in Berlese's medium, for example. Try checking with DIC.
by ldflan
Fri Feb 24, 2023 12:37 am
Forum: Identification help
Topic: What are these in Lactic Acid Bacteria solution sample??
Replies: 5
Views: 1034

Re: What are these in Lactic Acid Bacteria solution sample??

What's the medium? Could it be a very large variety of yeast? If not, I go with fungal spore, too, in the course of germinating. Be nice to have a scale bar. Fungal spores have a very broad range of sizes.
by ldflan
Thu Feb 23, 2023 3:01 pm
Forum: Articles and images to be published
Topic: Zetopan focus block
Replies: 4
Views: 4332

Re: Zetopan focus block

Just go slow, write notes and don't force anything. You should be ok. Use good screwdrivers that fit... Exactly. And take pictures. The Zetopan is a brilliant piece of design and manufacturing. Very readily repaired, very logically and precisely constructed. Also if you mess up somehow, there are l...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 23, 2023 6:22 am
Forum: Microscopy accessories
Topic: Rectangular Glass Capillaries
Replies: 5
Views: 2408

Re: Rectangular Glass Capillaries

Sure, lots of other ways to do it, some more permanent than others. VALAP is much easier to work with than straight up petroleum jelly, and much less likely to leak or make a mess on your scope. Or you can make pine-tar based temporary support, or whatever. I think the capillaries (lots of different...
by ldflan
Wed Feb 22, 2023 6:33 pm
Forum: Specimens, samples and slides
Topic: Micro Safari Aqua
Replies: 4
Views: 1313

Re: Micro Safari Aqua

This one looks promising, if the claims (film being porous for air but water tight, ect) are true. It is not optical equivalent to 0.17 mm cover glass though, so as the web page says, higher NA objectives may not work well. I wonder what is thickness of that film and what is its glass equivalent th...
by ldflan
Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:45 am
Forum: Microscopy accessories
Topic: Rectangular Glass Capillaries
Replies: 5
Views: 2408

Re: Rectangular Glass Capillaries

So, it looks like #3524 might be the most useful. It's 4mm wide, the gap is 0.2mm, wall thickness is 0.2mm; material is borosilicate glass. The 50mm lengths would fit on a slide. These are $30 for a vial of 36 pieces. Trouble is you have to order at least $250 from the US site, and I can't get it to...
by ldflan
Wed Feb 22, 2023 4:17 am
Forum: Microscopy accessories
Topic: Rectangular Glass Capillaries
Replies: 5
Views: 2408

Re: Rectangular Glass Capillaries

I like the idea for fast-set plankton slides. What are we calling "expensive"? Depends on the size you want, it looks like. Here's the relevant page for the UK site (cheaper?) https://www.cmscientific.com/products/Rectangle%20Capillaries The US seller has 4mm wide ones that look useful for a bit ov...
by ldflan
Wed Feb 22, 2023 12:31 am
Forum: Microscopy accessories
Topic: Rectangular Glass Capillaries
Replies: 5
Views: 2408

Rectangular Glass Capillaries

I stumbled on this looking for something else and thought it would probably be of interest to lots of folks here. https://www.cmscientific.com/info-sheets/VITROTUBES-techniques-experiments.pdf The company, CM Scientific, sells them in a wide variety of sizes. Fairly expensive, but it's an expensive ...
by ldflan
Fri Feb 17, 2023 2:29 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

apochronaut wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:46 pm
Yea , terrible in snow. I never used one but I see them disabled quite frequently. You probably don't have that in "Morna Moruna"
A snowy home, is it? I would have pegged yours for a place with a lot of hot air and wind. Funny, that.
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:17 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

apochronaut wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 10:13 pm
SUVs and pickup trucks use a lot of gas.
Sports cars have no clearance.
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 9:40 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

Well, I am going to be interested to see what comes of this effort! I suspect it'll be as though a sports car suspension and steering were installed on a pickup truck. The resulting vehicle might run, and maybe even run well in some circumstances, but it probably won't really be much good as a sport...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 8:49 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

I would plan ahead for not popping the bottom out of a DIY container as there is no fine on the condenser. I have an inverted scope, I'm not understanding the plan here. Yes gravity pulls everything to the bottom but that means any debris will be between the objective and the specimen. So clean wat...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 7:42 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

What about the stage micrometer controls? I would guess that trying to chase down live protists at 1000x is going to require great speed and precision in moving the sample. A lot of inverted scopes are just a blank table with no X-Y controls at all. That's the way most of the Nikon SEs are, though ...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:22 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

Methyl cellulose is the usual thickening agent for protists, from what I have read. I understand it's birefringent, though.
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:20 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

What about the stage micrometer controls? I would guess that trying to chase down live protists at 1000x is going to require great speed and precision in moving the sample. A lot of inverted scopes are just a blank table with no X-Y controls at all. That's the way most of the Nikon SEs are, though I...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:02 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

Ok then well a protist will also have more height when crawling along the bottom of a dish. We're talking fractions of a micron when using immersion objectives Fractions of a micron are my point. I'm not a pondwater guy, so this is outside my area of direct knowledge. But you're not going to squeez...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:01 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

Ok then well a protist will also have more height when crawling along the bottom of a dish. We're talking fractions of a micron when using immersion objectives Fractions of a micron are my point. I'm not a pondwater guy, so this is outside my area of direct knowledge. But you're not going to squeez...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:34 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

He's after protists, not nematodes. If you are flattening your nematodes between glass, that's fine but I don't understand it to be the point here.
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:11 pm
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

I can't think of an application that a high power immersion inverted scope that wouldn't be much better treated by car ful isolation and preparation of the sample to be viewed with a usual microscope. These high power objectives require so much delicacy and the right conditions. Right away I'm thin...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:38 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

[quot e=zzffnn post_id=132961 time=1676524904 user_id=315] Thank you. I have seen those chamber slides made for 1mm slide, but not those made for 0.17 mm cover slips. Do you see any on eBay, what brand / model I should search for? [/quote] Search "chambered coverslip" or chambered coverglass. Single...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:28 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

I can't think of an application that a high power immersion inverted scope that wouldn't be much better treated by car ful isolation and preparation of the sample to be viewed with a usual microscope. These high power objectives require so much delicacy and the right conditions. Right away I'm thin...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 5:06 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

The 1820 properly equipped is a fine scope, but not good for DIY. The condenser mount for the Nikon is a simple clamp, the diameter being a bit smaller than Zeiss standard. That's going to be important, unless you want to kluge a dovetail on. The AO dovetail is very far from anyone else's... I think...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 4:09 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

I've never used a CK or the later Olympus inverted scopes. One strike against it on the effort to make is a high power scope is that it looks like the light source and condenser of the CK were integrated as one unit, is that right? The old Nikon had a separate and completely independent adjustable c...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:49 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

I've owned a Biostar. I'd certainly recommend it for someone who wants a working inverted scope with phase contrast that works well at a really cheap price point, assuming you get it with a decent set of LWD objectives and the phase contrast condenser. Good choice for a high school biology class, or...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 2:39 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Modular high power inverted scope
Replies: 48
Views: 6364

Re: Modular high power inverted scope

Water immersion objectives won't perform well in this role, I think. The water will run off the objective too quickly. You have to use a particularly viscous oil for oil immersion on an inverted scope. While it's possible to do high magnification work with an inverted scope, it's really not their st...
by ldflan
Thu Feb 16, 2023 1:51 am
Forum: Microscopes and optics
Topic: Lomo 7x 0.17 w/ Iris -- Information, please?
Replies: 2
Views: 584

Re: Lomo 7x 0.17 w/ Iris -- Information, please?

It's not clear to me that the glass hemispheres participate in image making - at least I don't think they are part of the objective's design optical formula. I think they are essentially neutral. I think the idea is that the sample (a thin section slide) gets mated to the hemispheres with glycerin s...