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Clipboard Field Table for Smartphone Microscope - Part 2


The idea is to have a table that makes doing field microscopy a bit easier. I still have to work on a few pieces to make setup faster. For one, disassembling the body of the microscope currently requires the undoing of every screw and bolt. I'm considering cutting a channel in the base of the wood so that the body can be mere loosened and then taken off. The same cannot be done for the phone holder (arm). It would make the construction too weak. Additionally, I have to consider what components to use instead of binder clips (or use different binder clips). The clips were not supporting the slide or microscope as flatly, but I'm sure the table wasn't flat either so that is an added factor. It functioned, but the aesthetics are bad. Lastly, I am learning that each step forward is satisfying, and not the least reason due to the next set of questions that present themselves. Of course, I still have refinements with the table and Smartphone Microscope to consider (and maybe major revisions), but the key question before me, given that the table and scope are functional, is establishing a field slide prep method.

The hope is to have dry and wet mount methods that are rapid so that field images can include microscopic images along with the classic eye-visible images. These might be uploaded to a site like iNaturalist to give added detail to a species' descriptive material.

The Smartphone Microscope is shown, less the phone which had to be used to take pics, and an image of prepped slide of a sliced onion (stained). I'm not sure of the magnification but I guess about 100x, maybe more. I zoomed the phone to about 2.5 on a scope which indicates 60x at its lowest power (to which it was set). Thinking of a field slide prep method will be no small feat for wet mounts of thinly sliced material, especially when conisdering fixing, staining and dehydration. In fact, I may have to abandon the pursuit altogether. Or drastically modify. I may, for example, have to leave out the finalizing of a permanent slide, instead opting for a slide that I can get a picture of, and having that be my permanent field specimen, and the slide prep would have to wait for home.
I haven't mentioned this yet, but my rationale for this is that I must get done what I can in the time I have alotted for a certain expeditionary task. There is no guarantee that I will be able to do permanent slide preps at a later date and time, so I have to consider that I may not. Though, if I can plan my time out, perhaps I can. There seem to be competing projects all of the time, and that's not even considering the "honey-do" projects or the family time. So, yeah, field slide preps. Go!

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