MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

Superb images and great information! We had a lot of discussion and images of haemotococcus several years ago, but not so much the last few years. Perhaps your post here will renew interest.
CE

Here is the pickle jar after two partial water changes a couple of weeks apart. Things are greening up nicely again. Still plenty of amphipods here, I drop in a few fish food pellets every week or so for them.
CE

Great detail.
CE

I reuse mine many times. Sometimes I'll bleach them out, but only when I worry about cross contamination between sample jars, which is not very often.
CE

You certainly seem to be in a great area for cool specimens.
CE

Good advice. If you can locate a group of amateur radio operators, one of them could probably do the repair work for you in exchange for a cold beverage or two.
CE

Yes, I use this scope regularly for QC. Occasionally I'll take photos to document various issues for future reference. This is the first time I have used it to view "pond life". I'll admit to spending quite a bit of time before work this morning just watching the amphipods, ostricods, and various ot...

I brought some algae and amphiopds to work and tried a few shots with this system, and am so far disappointed in the results. I see a good quality image through the eyepieces, but the photos leave something to be desired. Here is an example, the best of today's lot: https://farm1.staticflickr.com/88...

Thanks Bill, it is a lot of fun, I'm glad other folks are interested. Regarding #3, the pretzel jar, I believe I can blame it's altered state on the amphipod explosion. I was puzzled as I thought they ate leaf litter and such things, but a little reading reveals: "...feeds on detritus and sediments,...

Yes, I have heard of them, they are still in business. 1988 was the year I started here by the way.
CE

apochronaut wrote:Is the company by any chance; Northlake Engineering, in Antioch Ill.?

Our company? No, we are Sun Transformer, part of STC, Inc. in McLeansboro Illinois. Our old files come from the original company, National Transformer.
CE

Both useful links, thanks. I have read the "Hints on Collecting and Growing Algae for Class Work" before, but it had been a while. The other link discusses the algae nutrient medium BG-11, this looks interesting, I'll have to look into that. I am beginning to suspect that the silicone used to seal t...

:lol: Well, with the crazy spring weather we are having so far, I'll have a while to think about that. But getting back to the algae, what would be a reasonable solution to "feeding" an indoor algae culture? I know that the nice layer of mud on the bottom of the tank or jar will go a long way, but i...

They show up as links now... following the links is a little unhandy but it works... gorgeous photos.
CE

These micro environments are a lot of fun to tinker with over the colder months. When it warms up a bit I might try setting up an outdoor ecology similar to what Charlie G described some time ago. I think if I pitch it to the wife as a "water feature" for the front yard butterfly garden I might have...

Odd that it is green, or is that a trick of the lighting?
CE

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/814/40550149154_5344fa7826_c.jpg This 10 gallon tank was started this past fall using aged tap water and gravel, and seeded with water from a pond in town that I often use for cultures. Not evident in this photo is a buried airstone set to release a small stream of bu...

Interesting speculation, but really it could have been just about anything with vacuum tubes.
CE

It just says "prototypes" and doesn't indicate actual quantities. Oh well.
CE

apochronaut wrote:what were the voltages?

6.98v wound with #23 wire, possibly a filament supply.
18.8v with a center tap
460v with center tap
411v no tap

The letterhead on correspondence reads "AO American Optical Medical Division" and the address was Bedford MAS. Dated 1979.

CE

Our company has files dating back to the early 60's, I decided to search the archives for familiar manufacturers. Sure enough I found 2 entries for American Optical. In the late 70's we made prototype units for them that never went into production, a transformer and a choke. From the voltages on the...

Beautiful instruments!
CE

My edit after looking at link to your stereo scope, CE! Guess it's my age...but I would term your fine instrument a: trinoc head stereo microscope....not an: inspection scope! So much for me asking if this instrument would function outdoors! Sorry, my fault really. That's what I use it for so that'...

Thanks all for the nice comments. About the Amscope 'scope, it is adaquate for what I use it for at work, but it's the only one I have ever used so I don't have anything to compare it to. The image out the trinoc port is pretty representative of that seen through the eyepieces, but is likely degrade...

Sorry, I was mistaken , the photos were taken at the 7x setting, it zooms up to 45x. I do have a 2x aux lens that screws in front of the objectives, but have never used it.
CE

No, it is closer to this one: http://www.amscope.com/stereo-microscopes/industrial-inspection-stereo-microscopes/7x-45x-simul-focal-fluorescent-trinocular-boom-stereo-microscope-5mp-camera.html but with LED ring light instead of florescent. I was never happy with the supplied MU500 camera, so I took...

I thought you might be interested in something you don't see every day. Here we have a cross section (via bandsaw) of a small high voltage transformer coil. The larger wires (input coil) are #19, and the smaller wires (output coil) #30. The insulating papers between layers of the smaller wires are a...

The objective was cheap so I thought I would give it a fair trial. It didn't work out so I got a refund. Nothing lost, but experience gained.
CE

Very interesting, thanks for the overview. Your photos look very good, and the price is certainly attractive. The .5x relay lens looks just like the one on the Amscope camera on my inspection scope at work.
I'll be very interested in your further adventures with this camera.
CE

Works fine for me in Chrome after giving Flash permission to run.
CE