Usually NiCd batteries are not soldered, they are spot welded. The spots are small and sometimes multiple with cooldown time in between. The stainless steel doesn't like to accept solder. and the batteries don't like the heat. Agree, but these NiCd batteries had the spot welded tabs but the other e...

Mike, Many years ago I ran across a lot of NiCad batteries that had leaked due to overheating the terminals. Surprisingly, the best soldering method utilizes a large iron with lots of thermal mass to heat the terminal quickly. This keeps the heat from propagating into the battery terminal and breaki...

Benjamin D, A metallurgical scope uses axial (epi-) illumination, so the light is coming down through the objective and then the image is returned back up through the objective to the eyepiece and/or camera. Even though a microprocessor may appear flat, it actually has some depth because the circui...

I ran into a similar issue with missing exposures and things getting out of sync (move, wait, MUP, wait, raise front shutter curtain, wait, trigger strobes and close rear curtain, wait, move, and so on). I tried many things, some mentioned here and some others not. One very interesting issue is the ...

I use the Stackshot focus rail connected via USB to a MacBook Pro running Zerene stacking software. Zerene has the ability to directly control Stackshot. The Stackshot controller has an output to trigger your camera, you need a special cable which Congisys offers. This works well for my use; Nikon 1...

Superb images. Very nice.

I was lucky, I already had the 70-200F2.8..so I only needed the 77mm to Mitsutoyo adapter ($20).

I have used a Nikon 70-200F2.8 @ 200mm as a tube lens for the Mitutoyo objectives with good results. I also have used the Raynox 150 reversed as a tube lens with good results. The Raynox requires a bunch of 42mm screw tubes and a few adapters, but overall not expensive. You can find lots of informat...

I like the diffuser, good idea!! I have been using large styrofoam cups and also light tents (actually two, one inside the other) trying to get uniform lighting. The tents work well with the 4 strobes in double diffused light boxes, but create a large setup. I have been using the Ikea LED lamps with...

I found that mounted the base plate on a sheet of styrofoam and/or thick cardboard helped. I have the aluminum base tilted at about 30 degrees from horizontal on some thick cardboard and held up at one end with a tripod sitting on cardboard. All this sits on a foam table top cover on a sturdy table ...

Neils, I went thru some of these issues shooting silicon chip images. Vibration can come from all sorts of places. I turn the AC off, pool pump off, TV sound off and don't walk around during exposures. Lately I have been using a tube lens setup with a reversed Raynox, this setup is very long and sub...

I picked up a extruded rail from Thor Labs, they sell them in different lengths. The rail bolts directly to the base. Thor sells plates that attach to the rail, I used one plate with Stack Shot attached to the plate and another plate where the subject positioners (two cheap focus rails) were attache...

Thanks daemonoropsis.

Mike

Chris,

Santa Barber Instrument Group, SBIG, has astrophotography cameras that might be useful. I have an old one that utilized a Kodak image sensor. These cameras have thermal electric coolers to cool the sensor, which improves the noise.

Thanks for posting this, very nice setup! Do you have any issues with the LED lamps giving even illumination on the subject? And, how did you attach the LEDS to the ARCA mounts (these look like the Ikea LED lamps I have, that have a clamp on the opposite end)? I assume you drilled a hole in the moun...