Microscopy - info

Microscope care and maintenance

We can support STE and other microscopes. Please contact STE for details.

Understanding microscopy

If you are new to microscopy, or would like an update, you may be interested in our on-site microscopy training presentation. This is also available on CD. Please ask for details. We can offer telephone advice on microscope selection, too.

Care of microscopes with high power illumination

Always turn microscope illumination off when not needed. Microscopes which have variable illumination up to 20W should not be left indefinitely on full power. As well as damaging samples with the intense illumination it can cause overheating of the microscope itself. The use of cold light illumination is recommended when observing delicate samples.

Calibration of object sizes with imaging software

STE does not support third party imaging software, but we like to assist our customers wherever possible. To calibrate the scale of objects seen with imaging software we are able to provide on request a link to software which enables imaging software to be calibrated with a separate scale factor for each objective used. This software works with USB1 and USB2, and you may need appropriate camera software. email humphry@steuk.co.uk or ask for our Technical Department for details.

You will also need a graticule slide, which STE can supply. This is STE 15660, which is a 1mm linear grid with calibration marks every 0.01mm.