MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I am considering dipping my toe into the AO/Spencer pond…which AO/Spencer scope would you recommend and WHY? Thanks for any advice I would start with what you're wanting to get out of it and what your budget will be. If one wants a very nice brightfield microscope for very little, the old black-bod...

Nearly all of the AO scopes I can think of are relatively easy to adapt to LED. The 410's as mentioned, the 10 and 20 would not be difficult, I've converted several 10's with the 1036 or 1036A illluminator and have developed a drop-in that should deliver around 15-20w, the 50/60/150/160 shouldn't be...

Looks like it escaped from the Burgess Shale: Screenshot 2023-05-18 110525.jpg That's just uphill from you, right? Haha, interesting find on similarity! I've seen a bunch of what appear to be the same creature (rotifers?) in water from a pond in Wisconsin. Side profile more or less like that of a s...

This isn't one of the ticks I am familiar with, but I think it's in Ixodes. Anyone know if I'm right?

Greetings ADi,
You can't just just drop the words "home made equipment" without at least some description or perhaps some pics!
I've seen your first posted image too, it looks like it performs well!

What are you using?

Hahaha, that's not even a particularly nice example of yesterday's tech!

Dtsh, can you let us know, did your adaptation of an extra 410 eyepiece resolve the chromatic aberration problems we've talked about before on Microbe Hunter? I'm curious how you used it for photography and what success you may have had. It seems a clever possibility and the trinocular head itself ...

I need room in my overcrowded work area for some other things, so I need to get some of the extraneous bulky items gone to make room for other extraneous items. I have a spare bino head for a Microstar IV (410), it's in excellent shape optically and cosmetically, but since I've settled on the 34mm i...

When you said you used Elmers glue ...which type? I would be interested in exactly what you did. Did you use it to just seal the edges of the coverslip or as a complete mounting agent? Elmers has a clear glue. I have wondered how that would work. Although I have no idea of the RI of that glue. Does...

For me, "enough" is 3-4; a stereo, phase contrast, and one for brightfield/darkfield/etc. That said, my current count is 12, but I'd like to get down to about 4. An AO10 with phase contrast An AO10 for darkfield/brightfield/etc as I have some of the advanced plan achromats My Cycloptic (stereo) An A...

Many times when I look at these early instruments I am impressed at the fine work that was accomplished with such rudimentary instruments compared to what is available to me (and my equipment is at least 50 years out of date)

Hi folks, I have a question regarding an AO 10 microscope with a balky focus. The problem is that the nosepiece does not drop with gravity alone and needs a little push. When I took off the binocular head, I could see that one of the two side bearing has quite a lot of rust on it, and this seems to...

Thanks for the info! Awesome slide, really fantastic work!! :) I've had the problem that the wax (for example on bees or stink bugs starts to flake off as yellowish-white flakes but I guess that's because they were stored too long in alcohol and that started to interact. The only way to remove that...

I do as many others, I take images of a stage micrometer with each objective and measure the distance (in pixels) of the markings and divide by the number of markings to get an average. The advice to make a few transparent png images of the scale bars is something I hadn't thought of, but it's a goo...

On my petrographic set-up, the waveplates slide in above the objective and under the analyzer. That's where it belongs for performing any quantitative microscopy, I believe. If you're just looking to create interesting lighting effects, by all means put it anywhere it fits! Some of that stuff can l...

Dennis wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 15, 2023 6:20 pm

Kinda makes me want to grow some Teasel !

Please don't! It's invasive in many areas of the USA!

I have been asked to bring a microscopy sample to an event - tomorrow - but have an issue. I'm in Canada, it's still winter, and my two best source (a pond and birdbath) are frozen solid. Can anyone recommend a place to get a sample with a reasonable density of organisms under these circumstances? ...

That's a mite, which would put it in acari.
My wild guess is a dust mite, but its little more than a wild guess. Maybe if I can find some time from my other distractions I'll look in my copy of "An Atlas of Acari" and see if I can learn something; it's heavy on illustrations, but has very little text.

IMG-20230221-WA0002.jpg Thanks for the info. Looking past Google suggested, it's likely Culiseta annulata/banded mosquito. Most notable for ¾" wingspan and female does bite before IPA quietens them down. Get them here more stripy usually. There was a suggestion on another thread to put a mosquito w...

I am far from a mosquito expert, but I have spent a little time learning about the mosquitos I deal with here. Males have these wonderful bushy antennae, which this does not, so I think its safe to say this one was a female. Using the below linked key, this is my best guess... The proboscis doesn't ...

Water is fine, but it can dry out quickly; for an easy longer lasting mount try the "PVOH-Glycerin" formula from here https://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/Meth/Zander-FourMountingMedia2014.pdf If the housefly is anything like a tabanid wing, look at the leading and tailing edges of the wing for...

I can't help with your main question, but I had remembered a thread from the past where a person (Horace Dall) had been coating diatoms

https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... =6&t=15458

Your typical superglue will be good to around 80C, but will break down beyond much more; there are formulations which are more resistant if you can't find any other solution.
I occasionally use it for holding small/thin parts for machining and hit it with a torch for a moment to break the glue.

That is impressive!

I do as PeteM mentioned and use a stage micrometer for some tests, then I switch to mosquito wings and a diatom test slide I have. I usually end up looking at a variety of fly wings, but much of that is because I just find them interesting at such scales. I'm not going to claim I really know what I'...

Cerium Oxide should be an acceptable polish, I've used it to polish parabolic mirrors for telescopes. It takes off very little material, so will likely take some time to polish out a scratch with any depth, but since it doesn't remove much material it is also unlikely to change the figure of the len...

I do have a light meter and I can measure the spectrum. I’ve read the best is to shoot for 5000K but others imply 6500K might be better. One source said 3000K… I know a lot of that depends on the LED too… Merely my subjective opinion, but I find 5000-5500k most pleasant; the 6500K LEDs I have are t...

Most of my ditch dipping is for mosquitoes, but I do occasionally bring a sample in to look at more closely. I tend to use my AO10 with phase for most stuff, but I will sometimes use darkfield or regular brightfield. Of all the stuff I have, I think my dipper is most interesting. It's just a typical...

It is possible you have lost the movement of the thread. The original post was related to improving a toy microscope but Dolmadis is not trying to improve a toy microscope. He is trying to put a condenser on a quite good quality Meopta AZ-2 portable microscope, yet with only 20mm vertical space to ...

All very thoughtful suggestions, thank you, because I am not a natural in the clutches of diy !! Best, John Given that statement, why are you considering such? I've been known to do many foolhardy things for my own amusement or out of ignorance so I'm not trying to discourage anyone from an adventu...