14 replies to this topic

[littlePawn]

I've never purchased a microscope before, but due to my recent interest in longevity and frequent travelling to poor countries, I'm wondering if purchasing a microscope would be useful for things such as viewing contaminated water, examining medicines to see if they're real (would it be possible to compare a real one with a potentially fake one to ascertain a difference?) and viewing my own cells (would this serve any use for anything?).

 

Are there any good online resources for DIY microscopy such as this, and could someone recommend a microscope? I saw a digital one on ebay (40X-2000X LED Digital Binocular Compound Microscope with 3D Stage + USB Image) for $200 which is cheap for me. Any suggestions? And I'm curious why more people don't do this at-home given how cheap and useful these microscopes seem to be?

[YOLF]

Doesn't sound like a bad idea for the $200 one. You could potentially us it for liquid chromatography if the camera is compatible with the free software (can't remember the name, but it's out there... you'll need an internet connection to download spectra for comparison). I'd stay away from binocular though unless you have perfect eyesight, otherwise the single viewing port would be better IMO.

[littlePawn]

Thanks for the help I think I'll go ahead with the purchase.

[YOLF]

Do you sell on Ebay (mouse over)?

[littlePawn]

Do I sell? No why?

[YOLF]

We're a charitable organization on ebay. If you sell stuff you can donate a percentage of it to LongeCity and we have links from this site to the list of items which benefit LC. It makes a good mutual promotion scheme

[littlePawn]

Ohh I see now =) That's a great setup. If I do list something I'd be happy to do that, this is a great site.

[rory_rocket]

Hi!

 

I've never heard of optical microscopy for liquid chromatography.  Are you thinking of a densiometer?

 

The cheapest means of crude drug ID is probably an optical melting point apparatus. 

[YOLF]

http://store.publicl...ns/spectrometry

[John Schloendorn]

I have a USB/LED scope like that.  Skin looks hilarious and creepy.  Omg all these bulges, weird shaped things !!  

 

[random_dude]

http://store.publicl...ns/spectrometry

 

That's awesome!

[YOLF]

 

http://store.publicl...ns/spectrometry

 

That's awesome!

 

 

You should be able to import any pic you take into the software that goes with the $40 unit.

[littlePawn]

Sorry to bump an old thread - just another question about this. Could the microscope be used to examine mucus during an infection to ascertain whether its viral or bacterial as well?

[YOLF]

Possibly...

 

If you want to look at the organism for leads (alot of them look very similar) that could be done with some staining equipment and various nutrient agar solutions (different solutions for different organisms).

 

There are also ways to test for reactivity which might be possible. Diagnosis can be somewhat complex. I'm certainly no expert on the matter though.

[littlePawn]

Sounds interesting, I'll do some further research, thanks.