Wild Heerbrugg M400

Everything relating to microscopy hardware: Objectives, eyepieces, lamps and more.
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JWW
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Wild Heerbrugg M400

#1 Post by JWW » Wed Jun 09, 2021 10:30 pm

I am slowly piecing together an M400. I believe I have all the components I need at the moment. I was wondering if anyone knows of a LED kit for my base or modified one like this to accept a LED setup? The fan motor is extremely noisy, probably ready to die.
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JWW
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#2 Post by JWW » Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:59 pm

Does anyone have a manual in English for the M400 (that's free)?

Dubious
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#3 Post by Dubious » Wed Jun 16, 2021 6:30 pm

You should be able easily to cobble together LED illumination using components from one of the electronic supply companies. One such that specializes in this area is https://www.ledsupply.com/. It sells the LEDs and the required drivers. I've been considering it myself for one of my microscopes. You can get LEDs in various tones (I've heard "warm" gives more even output across its spectrum, but that probably depends on the specific LED). Best that whichever driver you get works by controlling voltage not by using PWM (pulse width modulation--ie blinking--probably don't want that). It appears that LED'Supply will also provide advice, so should talk to them. They have both 5w and 10w kits ready to go; but looks like the housing would not fit the M400's space, so I would probably go for just the components.

There are also people on Ebay selling retrofit LED kits for vintage microscopes for around $160. If they don't already offer yours, they could probably make one up to order--they seem to 3d print the housings.

Are you sure you don't want to replace the fan, instead? Both halogen and LED lighting have pros and cons, but I generally prefer halogen, myself.

JWW
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#4 Post by JWW » Wed Jun 16, 2021 7:19 pm

Thanks. I've never owned a Wild, so I'm a total novice on its operation. Now that I've smartened up a bit, I realized I should have been using 12v instead of 6v. Lighting doesn't seem to be an issue at all now. I also didn't have it set to complete extinction :oops: I did remove the fan. If it's replaceable, I'd gladly do the change out. I snipped the wires near the fan motor and removed the actual motor. I still need to find a camera adapter for my 50D. The one I have is defective. The flange isn't centered so it's just loosely placed on the top of the M400. Since I just moved to Bigfork Montana I don't have access to my home machine shop so I can't fix it.

https://pbase.com/smokedaddy/image/171725111

https://pbase.com/smokedaddy/image/171725192

-JW:

Dubious
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#5 Post by Dubious » Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:00 pm

Nice photo. The M400 macroscope is an interesting device and probably well worth restoring, but I don't have any actual experience with it (maybe someone here does). I would think it would be easy to find a small cooling fan on Ebay of the appropriate voltage--it wouldn't need to be exactly the same size so long as it was small enough to fit and did a reasonable job blowing air. If the problem with the camera adapter is just that it's loose, but it otherwise works, maybe you can find some way of attaching it until something better turns up on Ebay. Here is a company in Austria that makes adapters for the M400 and provides some information:

https://www.lmscope.com/en/Wild_M450_mi ... er_en.html
https://www.lmscope.com/en/Wild_macrosc ... nt_en.html

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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#6 Post by JWW » Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:11 pm

Thanks for the links. I've been to that site and their prices are insane (to say the least). I would never pay nearly 2K for those two adapters. :lol:

https://www.lmscope.com/en/lmscope_out2 ... mit=Search

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mrsonchus
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#7 Post by mrsonchus » Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:20 pm

JWW wrote:
Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:11 pm
Thanks for the links. I've been to that site and their prices are insane (to say the least). I would never pay nearly 2K for those two adapters. :lol:

https://www.lmscope.com/en/lmscope_out2 ... mit=Search

-JW:
Good-grief - those prices are bonkers! How, oh how can they possibly be justified?
John B

Dubious
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#8 Post by Dubious » Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:21 pm

Yeah, prices are crazy. One wonders where they find their customers?

Scarodactyl
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#9 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Jun 16, 2021 10:49 pm

Their customers are probably institutions spending grant money.
Here's a simpler way:
https://i.imgur.com/h7xnRKb.jpg
3d printed adapter bolts onto the four holes in the top plate and has a smooth inner diameter to accept standard Chinese m42 spacers. Get a bolt to act as a set screw (I think m5? don't remember what I set it as), some spacers, an m42 helicoid and an m42 adapter for your aps-c camera of choice and you're good to go.
Just put it up on thingiverse https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4887720

JWW
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#10 Post by JWW » Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:13 pm

Thanks very much. That's what I was going to model. I use Rhino. I too have an Ender 3 but I haven't set it up yet. I was using a Robo R1+ but it started losing steps and I couldn't resolve the issue. Once I get it set up and printing correctly I'll send you a few bucks for your time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT-mekWh9h8&t=2s

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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#11 Post by Scarodactyl » Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:29 pm

No worries, I had to do it for my own M400 anyway.

JWW
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#12 Post by JWW » Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:28 am

Now that I have the M400 somewhat set up, I thought I'd try an eyeball image stack with the Wild M400. Since there are no divisions on the focus knob I'm calling it an eyeball stack. Naturally, I need to work on the lighting but I thought it was pretty good for a quick stack. BTW, the Wasp really is that color. I wonder if the M400 is capable of hooking up a stepping motor to the focus knob?

https://pbase.com/smokedaddy/image/171725573

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mrsonchus
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#13 Post by mrsonchus » Thu Jun 17, 2021 9:31 am

Great image to my eyes!
John B

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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#14 Post by Phill Brown » Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:00 am

Result. Great images to inspire kit cobblers and winter projects everywhere.
Sure you will find a budget solution for stepper.
A known thickness of slide or cover slip would be easy to measure/calibrate fine focus,
Smudge or dust on both sides?
As part of the plastic rebellion the Canon 50D is still a complete magnesium bargain.
Will do top quality video with magic lantern,no sound.

Dubious
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#15 Post by Dubious » Thu Jun 17, 2021 5:46 pm

Very nice!

JWW
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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#16 Post by JWW » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:23 am

Phill Brown wrote:
Thu Jun 17, 2021 10:00 am
As part of the plastic rebellion the Canon 50D is still a complete magnesium bargain. Will do top quality video with magic lantern,no sound.
I've had excellent results with my 50D. That being the case, I've snagged several with super low shutter count for a couple of hundred bucks.

-JW:

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Re: Wild Heerbrugg M400

#17 Post by JWW » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:24 am

Thanks for the comments.

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