From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

What is your microscopy history? What are your interests? What equipment do you use?
Post Reply
Message
Author
John W. Briggs
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2021 7:59 pm

From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#1 Post by John W. Briggs » Mon Aug 23, 2021 8:15 pm

Hi Folks--

My specialty is telescopes, but who can resist microscopes, especially when my wife is also interested? However, we're just novices in microscopy. I'm keenly interested in the general history of optics, and I'll be posting some equipment questions.

My wife and I just scored a B&L Dynoptic microscope in good condition, made circa 1968. One accessory I'd like to find for it is the B&L camera adapter that accommodated any of the three suggested cameras in that era. Maybe someone here has one!

One unusual thing we have is an American Optical reflecting objective, model number 1200 from their 1953 catalogue. I'll be describing more about that in the equipment forum.

Yours truly,
--John W. Briggs, Magdalena, New Mexico.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#2 Post by Harold » Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:39 pm

eThat's interesting. I've made a similar transition. Had a 10" Ritchey Chretien from Deep Sky Instruments on an Astrophysics 900 mount, and became involved in deep sky photography. Unfortunately, over the years the air over the East San Francisco Bay area turned to pea soup so that even visual observation became an exercise in frustration. So I turned to something not so dependent atmospheric conditions or carting a couple hundred pounds of equipment around the countryside.

Dubious
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 7:55 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#3 Post by Dubious » Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:26 pm

Yeah, unless you want to look at something bright like the moon or maybe Starlink satellites, astronomy near any major city is depressing.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#4 Post by Harold » Wed Sep 01, 2021 6:58 pm

Dubious wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Yeah, unless you want to look at something bright like the moon or maybe Starlink satellites, astronomy near any major city is depressing.
I was in the East S.F. bay area near the delta. I could get around the light pollution to some degree by going to narrow band filters (hydrogen-alpha, etc.) But around 2015, the air quality was so bad even that didn't cut it. Now that I'm in a far more rural environment, I might just take up some visual observation again. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to exploring the opposite end of the scale spectrum.

Dubious
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 7:55 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#5 Post by Dubious » Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:32 pm

I wonder if that dynamic has pushed proportionately more people to microscopy? For more than a century, light pollution has been increasing steadily, making stargazing less and less enjoyable for most people with telescopes, while over the same period nothing has changed with microscopy except for improvements in the equipment.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#6 Post by Harold » Thu Sep 02, 2021 3:23 pm

Dubious wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 7:32 pm
I wonder if that dynamic has pushed proportionately more people to microscopy?
I get the feeling that the degradation of the atmosphere has driven a number of amateur astronomers away from the hobby. As truly dark sites became more and more remote and the heavy lifting needed to load, unload, set up and tear down all the equipment needed for deep sky photography got to be more and more onerous, my enthusiasm waned. As far as why I turned to microscopy, it's a bit like what Issac Stern said when asked why there are so many Jewish violin virtuosos. He said,"It's simple. You ever try to run with a piano?"

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#7 Post by Harold » Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:58 pm

Well the BH2 arrived today. I cannot begin to explain how disappointed and frustrated I am. It is essentially useless. Both the coarse and fine focus controls turn very roughly and actually move the stage only intermittently and then sometimes in only one direction. I've packed it back up. Let's hope the seller issues a refund without a lot of fuss.

Dubious
Posts: 426
Joined: Sun May 09, 2021 7:55 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#8 Post by Dubious » Thu Sep 02, 2021 9:33 pm

Harold wrote:
Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:58 pm
Well the BH2 arrived today. I cannot begin to explain how disappointed and frustrated I am. It is essentially useless. Both the coarse and fine focus controls turn very roughly and actually move the stage only intermittently and then sometimes in only one direction. I've packed it back up. Let's hope the seller issues a refund without a lot of fuss.
Darn. Well, so much for the "New - open box." There's no possibility it's the tension or something? You should be fine with the 30-day return policy advertised. Ebay generally forces the seller to accept returns even when there is no such advertised policy where the item is not as described or non-working (unless sold as non-working). Be sure you check the appropriate boxes so that you get shipping refunded as well. I hope the experience doesn't discourage you from trying again. I've had pretty good luck with the microscopes I've bought on Ebay, knock on wood.

PeteM
Posts: 2989
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:22 am
Location: N. California

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#9 Post by PeteM » Thu Sep 02, 2021 10:08 pm

Be sure to check on the operation of the stage height adjustment - it's the inner knob on the left side with a tab on it. Unlock it and try again? The seller might also not have properly shipped it - blocking the stage from bumps en route?

You might end up better in the long run. Judging by Ebay sold listings it looks like your scope ran $740 (plus shipping and tax)? We've provided a number of BH2 scopes, equipped identically, to families with kids for under $500. Ebay prices seem to have gone up a bit since we sourced ours, but you might be able to get that scope with a trinocular head or an SPlan objective or two for the same money. It just won't claim to be "new - open box."

Steved
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:11 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#10 Post by Steved » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:15 am

A similar experience, I’m still into visual and astrophotography but was looking for something in the opposite spectrum for all of those cloudy nights.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#11 Post by Harold » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:40 pm

Harold wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 6:58 pm
Dubious wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:26 pm
Yeah, unless you want to look at something bright like the moon or maybe Starlink satellites, astronomy near any major city is depressing.
I was in the East S.F. bay area near the delta. I could get around the light pollution to some degree by going to narrow band filters (hydrogen-alpha, etc.) But around 2015, the air quality was so bad even that didn't cut it. Now that I'm in a far more rural environment, I might just take up some visual observation again. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to exploring the opposite end of the scale spectrum.
I tried the same thing. And it did cut through some of the airborne garbage. But getting a tight enough focus for photography still had to be done sans filters. Very difficult. Also the exposure times got ridiculous. Hard to complete a 1200 second exposure without aircraft ruining the frame.

So I'm happily scraping mud & water from the nearby Rogue River and examining my finds in a much more comfortable environment.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#12 Post by Harold » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:50 pm

[quote=Dubious post_id=109220 time=1630618424 user_id=3362
Darn. Well, so much for the "New - open box." There's no possibility it's the tension or something? You should be fine with the 30-day return policy advertised. Ebay generally forces the seller to accept returns even when there is no such advertised policy where the item is not as described or non-working (unless sold as non-working). Be sure you check the appropriate boxes so that you get shipping refunded as well. I hope the experience doesn't discourage you from trying again. I've had pretty good luck with the microscopes I've bought on Ebay, knock on wood.
[/quote]

Nope. Carefully checked the focus lock lever on the left side of the stand and the tension adjustment on the right. Ebay may for the seller to accept the return, but they do not guaranty a full refund. In this case the seller baselessly claimed I had either swapped the focus block out for a defective one or otherwise damaged the instrument and only refunded half the purchase price. I will never deal with that individual again. You can find his Ebay handle if you further check the "sold" listings. I'd strongly advise against buying anything from him.

Harold
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2021 6:45 pm

Re: From Telescopes to Microscopes in New Mexico

#13 Post by Harold » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:52 pm

Harold wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:50 pm
[quote=Dubious post_id=109220 time=1630618424 user_id=3362
Darn. Well, so much for the "New - open box." There's no possibility it's the tension or something? You should be fine with the 30-day return policy advertised. Ebay generally forces the seller to accept returns even when there is no such advertised policy where the item is not as described or non-working (unless sold as non-working). Be sure you check the appropriate boxes so that you get shipping refunded as well. I hope the experience doesn't discourage you from trying again. I've had pretty good luck with the microscopes I've bought on Ebay, knock on wood.
Nope. Carefully checked the focus lock lever on the left side of the stand and the tension adjustment on the right. Ebay may for the seller to accept the return, but they do not guaranty a full refund. In this case the seller baselessly claimed I had either swapped the focus block out for a defective one or otherwise damaged the instrument and only refunded half the purchase price. I will never deal with that individual again. You can find his Ebay handle if you further check the "sold" listings. I'd strongly advise against buying anything from him.

Sorry for the rant. Admins, feel free to remove at your discretion.

Post Reply