I'm new to this forum and haven't used a microscope since college which for me was a turn key operation meant for observation and not “playing with the microscope”. Now that I’m starting from scratch I have many questions.

I got concerned with what might be in my pool water after Montezuma paid me a visit last summer. Thanks for asking; I’m just fine now and hope to remain that way. I believe around 250X and higher should work fine. At this moment I’m just concerned (obsessed) with setting up to check my pool water for anything that shouldn’t be there. If anyone has experience with this particular investigation I’d appreciate any and all help.

I bought two scopes off of eBay a while back and since have done some maintenance because the mechanical stage and both Abbes were frozen in place. I lightly cleaned the one eyepiece I have with Windex and a Q tip but have yet to clean any objectives until I’m sure how to do this the safest way.

I did tear down an old web cam and made coarse adjustments to see if it was going to be able to do what I was hoping for; so far so good. My hair at 430X…

I have some concerns and questions about the B&L.

From the top of the tube (without the eyepiece) to the bottom of the nose piece (without the objective) is 155.4mm. It’s my understanding that the standard is 160mm, which is exactly what my AO Spencer is.

Are my B&L’s optics interchangeable with the other “standard” scopes or are they proprietary? Would I need 4.6mm shims under the eyepiece lip to use a common eyepiece? The reason I ask is because I believe I might want a wide field eyepiece.

I assume a wide field would be a lot easer to look through than the pinhole I have now. I also have so little eye relief I can’t wear glasses.

I haven’t been able to get any information on this B&L scope. I assume it’s from the 40’s or 50’s and a student scope model. Tag on base says “New YorkUniversity”. Are there any old catalogues on line I could browse?

Would an apochromatic objective give make that much difference? If so, would I have to change anything else to accommodate it?

I’ll stop for now so as not to wear out my welcome. I hope in the near future I can pick your brains some more. I have many more questions, and I’m sure as I get answers I’ll have even more questions.

Thanks,
Bob

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