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Questions about Electron Microscopes

merphie

Graduate Poster
M
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Sep 11, 2004
Messages
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I recently bought a wholesale lot that included 3 electron microscopes. Does anyone here know something about them? I know they're older models and supposed to work.
 
CaveDave said:
I understand many of the circuits and design factors, but I'm no expert.

Are the transmission or scanning?

Did you get any documentation?

Photos?

I wish I had them to play with. :)

Dave
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They came with full documentation (books). They were working units, but were replaced with newer models. I was told they cost 2.5 million new. I have one rough picture I took as general inventory. I will take better pictures tomorrow.

They were in a wholesale lot I bought. I am not a scientist and I know very little about them.
 
CaveDave said:
I wish I were there to look at them, or talk you out of one!

Take good pics of the control panels and the heads/chambers, please. (It works like porn for me.) ;)

Dave
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Do you know anyone who might be interested in them? I know there is 3 there but I can't tell where one begins and ends from the next.

I'll post some pics later today.
 
Slightly off-topic but can I ask how and why? I mean they aren't the kind of things you find at a car boot sale or a garage sale are they? :)
 
Darat said:
Slightly off-topic but can I ask how and why? I mean they aren't the kind of things you find at a car boot sale or a garage sale are they? :)
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What do you mean? All I know is they came from a university. I don't know which one.
 
I have used TEM and STEMs in the past. Have you got all the associated equipment necessary to view specimens too? You need ultramicrotomes for TEM and a gold coating device for STEM.
 
Capsid said:
I have used TEM and STEMs in the past. Have you got all the associated equipment necessary to view specimens too? You need ultramicrotomes for TEM and a gold coating device for STEM.
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I believe it to be a STEM. It has knee high boxes that I was told were gold coating devices. I was told everything is there, but I don't know anything about them. So I couldn't tell you if there were there or not. I will probably sell them to a salvage place.
 
pictures

I have some pictures. They are too big to post of the forum. If anyone is interested let me know and I can send them to you directly.
 
Darat said:
Slightly off-topic but can I ask how and why? I mean they aren't the kind of things you find at a car boot sale or a garage sale are they? :)
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Around here, both the State Government and the two big Universities have huge warehouses of old junk that they sell at auction. It's really kind of cool. I used to go there all the time and bid a dollar on lots of items. Sometimes this works. Some people go around buying up old mainframes just to extract the gold on the contacts.
 
They tend to be advertised for a lot of money on eBay, so it might be worth sticking them on there before selling them to a salvage dealer?

How cool would it be to get one working though! Are they dangerous to use inexpertly? Careful now...
 
Nucular said:
Are they dangerous to use inexpertly? Careful now...
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Errrmmmm, well, I don't think beta particles (which are electrons) penetrate air very well, so prolly not a radiation hazard, but I expect you could build up a hell of a charge like on the third anode of a TV tube and zap yourself into a heart attack or get burned or something. You could also prolly destroy components in them that way. I'd make sure I read all the warnings and cautions before I started messing with them.

ETA: And as soon as I hit the post button I realized that decelerated electrons can make X-rays, which would of course constitute a radiation hazard, and can burn hell out of you if you get enough without any visible sign or pain until later. So yes, do indeed be careful.
 
Nice pics. You could make a b-grade 80's sci fi flick what that lot!
 
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