Adding a rechargeable battery to a microscope

[crb5]

Some lower-end student microscopes come with rechargeable batteries for powering the LED light source, but not the more advanced models such as the Amscope 120 and Swift 350 compound 'scopes. As these microscopes are light enough to take into the field or use at outdoor outreach events, I thought it would be useful to add this option. For the battery I used a Li ion rechargeable url]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XN ... UTF8&psc=1[/url] which was sufficient for at least 5 hours of operation. This can be extended to more than a day using a USB portable supply https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YYCYDX6/re ... 0cnVl&th=1
With a 1 ohm resistor and a 500 ohm potentiometer in series with the LED to control the current, the maximum current was 0.32 Amp and 3.1 Volt, but this was sufficient for brightfield and darkfield microscopy using a patch stop in the condenser filter holder. In addition to field use, it allows the microscopes to be used at home during a power outage. For full details see video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONGl0wIoqQA&t=28s.

[PeteM]

Well done, Clive.