All: Why buy expensive Fiber Optic Lights when a flashlight will work just fine for microscope work?
A number of years ago German Perilla from George Mason University put together a lovely ppt presentation on how to convert an LED flashlight into a microscope light and stand. It was on the web for a while and then had to come down. We have now converted that ppt now to a slideshare show (same thing really but on the web). http://www.slideshare.net/sdroege/how-to-make-a-microcope-light-ppt I have used this same flashlight set up at my desk microscope (which often is used all day and certainly gets turned on an off several times a day) for 7 years or so and have not had to put in a new flashlight or bulb or replace anything. In addition to being cheap, it is dead quiet and I have it clamped right through the hole in the stand for the old illuminator that once sat in there. I should also mention that my set up is much more primitive compared to German's and is simply composed of loose wires, binder clips, rubber bands, and electrical tape and it still works. One modification that was made by someone else that is not mentioned here is that instead of using a wall cube to run this flashlight mod, you can use a USB port which is almost exactly the right voltage. It is also very useful in the field as all you need to is to use a flashlight with batteries. While on the site you can also check out our other slide shows on useful lab and field equipment for beemonitoring http://www.slideshare.net/sdroege as well as those on our YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/user/swdroege?feature=mhee Feel free to download, embed, modify as you see fit...no need to ask permission. sam Sam Droege [email protected] w 301-497-5840 h 301-390-7759 fax 301-497-5624 USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center BARC-EAST, BLDG 308, RM 124 10300 Balt. Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705 Http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov Had I not seen the Sun I could have borne the shade But Light a newer Wilderness My Wilderness has made - - Dickinson
