Question: What is the best light source to use for the basic microscope?

stevie is asking a question about basic-microscope
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by stevie | January 22, 2018 20:58 | #15586


We're starting to get a parts list together for this project. I think people have tried out different lights for it, which one works the best and where can we source them?

Here's the parts list we're working from: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OqMXgvXylNk1M_qGHsEokPIKP4ipG3ca2QKLd4EXV0E/edit#gid=0



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@kgradow1 what's your best recommendation now based on things you've tried?

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I've been looking into these two lights (here and here), and also heard that a cell phone could work with a holder like this.

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Has anyone tried these? or have other ideas that could work?

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This post has a lot of information about lighting for this project - some buying options and also a build option https://publiclab.org/notes/partsandcrafts/02-26-2018/4-lighting-your-sample

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Here's a really cheap $1.50 keychain light that we could tape to something:

https://www.amazon.com/Favorict-Colorful-Flashlight-Keychain-Batteries/dp/B01MUH6UX6/

Screen_Shot_2018-03-09_at_2.14.04_PM.png

I'm not sure if these stay on when you click them, but we can probably find a similar product that does. I also wonder if we could put a diffuser in front -- it did seem that diffuse light was nicer, no?

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How does the Cell Phone flashlight compare to the LED? Have the folks who have been using the microscope found that there are benefits to brighter or dimmer light?

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Out of the two posted above, when we were testing them out, I had a preference for this one . It's currently unavailable, but perhaps they could be sourced from somewhere else. Also interesting to note, we had better success when the light wasn't directly over the sample, but rather when it illuminated from the side.

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