LavaAmp: miniPCR
Posted in Hardware
LavaAmp is a thermocycler (aka PCR machine) that promises to bring PCR to the masses. The aim is to have it available by 1Q 2011 for about $400. This…
Category: Hardware
Open Hardware Summit
Posted in Hardware
In academia, we have some nice benefits when it comes to intellectual property. Just about everything we do qualifies as scholarship, and so we take ample advantage of that portion of fair use when…
Measuring the gain of your imaging system
Posted in Hardware
The images obtained from a 2-photon laser scanning microscope, or a CCD-based system, consist of an array of pixel values. For 8-bit…
Laser-like water jet cutting
Posted in Hardware
Micro Waterjet has an abrasive-based technique that enables laser-like precision for machinging small parts. The benefits are: no heat damage/distortion, and materials that are toxic when burned can be machined to laser…
High power LEDs
Posted in Hardware
About 10 years ago, as high power LEDs became available, many quantitative microscopists started changing over from arc lamps to LEDs for illumination because of their rock solid intensity. Philips Lumileds have…
New filters from Semrock
Posted in Hardware
Look at this transmission spectrum from Semrock. It’s a nearly perfect step function. You want to know about the optical density outside of the transmission band? Over 7 outside of the 500-550nm…
More optomechanics resources
Posted in Hardware
I recently covered some alternative optomechanics sources beyond the usual suspects like ThorLabs and Newport. Here are a couple of less well known optomechanics shops.
The unfortunately named Eksma Optics has…
Bolt sizes
Posted in Hardware
Does the length of a cap screw include the head? How many threads per inch for the fine version of a 1/4″ bolt? Bolt Depot has all of this information neatly collected in…
Switching 120 and 220 volt outlets
Posted in Hardware
Switching wall outlets remotely, via the parallel port of a computer, a microcontroller (e.g., Arduino), or other simple switches, is desirable in many rigs. For example, timing/triggering lights in a behavioral environment, switching equipment on and off remotely, or coordinating the…
Lickometer circuit
Posted in Hardware
Lickometers detect when an animal, usually a rodent, licks a water port. They’re useful in all sorts of behavioral tasks, ranging from addiction experiments (spike the water and see how much they consume),…
High NA, Low Mag
Posted in Hardware
Low magnification, high numeric aperture (NA) microscope objectives are popular choices for multiphoton imaging. They offer excellent light collection properties, a wide field of view, and still permit high resolution imaging. However, they…
Your own CNC mill
Posted in Hardware
Most institutions have their own workshops that will machine parts for researchers, but these workshops are of varying quality and capacity. Often researches will become frustrated by their local workshop estimating delivery times on…
A TTL-operated switch
for coaxial cables
Posted in Hardware
This is a little gadget I find handy sometimes. It lets me use a TTL line to select between two routes for a coaxial cable. It’s dirt simple– just an SPDT relay– and…
Alternative mechanics
Posted in Hardware
Where do you get your optomechanics from?
Newport is a big, one-stop-shop. Get your Ti:Sapph laser, air table, and mechanics all in one place.
ThorLabs has a great line of standard…
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