Have You Bought Refurbished Equipment?
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Have You Bought Refurbished Equipment?
I have found some Nikon equipment for a price I can afford, but the information on shipping is a little scarce. Have you dealt with a company, buying rebuilt/refurbished equipment? I am primarily interested in crating and shipping costs. The company does not seem to mention any of that on their website and I have not contacted them yet to ask. Just curious what your experiences have been.
Thanks Sonya. I have already done that, and the company seems to be quite reliable. In fact, I just recieved an e-mail with about a dozen closeup shots that were not listed on their website.
The scope I am looking at is rather large, a Nikon, with all the bells and whistles, and to tell the truth, I am more interested in what it's going to cost to crate it and ship to me than I am about the price of the scope itself. LOL, this sucker is huge.
The scope I am looking at is rather large, a Nikon, with all the bells and whistles, and to tell the truth, I am more interested in what it's going to cost to crate it and ship to me than I am about the price of the scope itself. LOL, this sucker is huge.
Mitch: At the risk of someone buying this scope before you (unlikely) it might be useful to mention the Nikon model and the bits and pieces; there's a lot of talent here on PMG.net and their collective knowledge might prove useful.
I have bought 5 microscopes from the US, mostly for parts. The most I have had to pay for shipping (to Canada, always at least 2x as much as shipping costswithin the US) is $200.00 (FedEx from California) for a heavy Olympus BHS.
I have bought 5 microscopes from the US, mostly for parts. The most I have had to pay for shipping (to Canada, always at least 2x as much as shipping costswithin the US) is $200.00 (FedEx from California) for a heavy Olympus BHS.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
Well, apparently I am the big winner of a NIKON Fluophot Microscope for the price of $495. From what I have read here, a single objective lens off this puppy costs more than that. LOL
NU, the bad news is, shipping and crating was an extra $250, but it will be shipped to my door.
Now, here are 5 pictures of it, the forum limit. They sent me more though. Maybe you can tell me what I just bought. LOL
NU, the bad news is, shipping and crating was an extra $250, but it will be shipped to my door.
Now, here are 5 pictures of it, the forum limit. They sent me more though. Maybe you can tell me what I just bought. LOL
Last edited by Mitch640 on Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Harold Gough
- Posts: 5786
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 2:17 am
- Location: Reading, Berkshire, England
Harold, it depends on the shipping company. UPS and FedEx only deliver packages up to a certain size and weight, and all the other shippers will have different rules. To the curb, to their warehouse, sometimes the driver only opens the door and you have to have a forklift to take it off, or a pallet jack. Some don't deliver to a residence at all, only a warehouse with a loading dock, because the trucks are too big for a residential area. So, with something this big, you have to ask. 
Last edited by Mitch640 on Tue Nov 02, 2010 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wow! that is some awesome looking scope; you are going to need
a sturdy bench to support it plus a couple of muscle men to get it on the bench.
I am not familiar with this model but it looks as though it was designed
for Flourescence microscopy - both for reflected Epi-flourescence
and transmitted. I assume it will work for normal brightfield microscopy.
The base light setup looks familiar to that on an Olympus BHS,
I removed this setup on mine and placed a flash there. I don't like the
colour that the halogen light generates.
I imagine there is a photo projection eyepiece on the tube below the camera. You can probably remove the camera and the box beneath it and replace it with a digital SLR.
You will need special BD lenses to use the reflected light system.
Unfortunately, from what I can see of the objectives they are low quality Nikons - but of course easily replaced (maybe not cheaply).
I believe the limit on numbers has been removed for this technical forum.
Most likely much of the above will be corrected from someone with more knowledge.
a sturdy bench to support it plus a couple of muscle men to get it on the bench.
I am not familiar with this model but it looks as though it was designed
for Flourescence microscopy - both for reflected Epi-flourescence
and transmitted. I assume it will work for normal brightfield microscopy.
The base light setup looks familiar to that on an Olympus BHS,
I removed this setup on mine and placed a flash there. I don't like the
colour that the halogen light generates.
I imagine there is a photo projection eyepiece on the tube below the camera. You can probably remove the camera and the box beneath it and replace it with a digital SLR.
You will need special BD lenses to use the reflected light system.
Unfortunately, from what I can see of the objectives they are low quality Nikons - but of course easily replaced (maybe not cheaply).
I believe the limit on numbers has been removed for this technical forum.
Most likely much of the above will be corrected from someone with more knowledge.
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
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fpelectronica
- Posts: 1808
- Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:56 pm
- Location: España
The way scrap is escalating its probably worth that in scrap metal. 
Strange thing is Nikon's site doesn't seem to list it:-
http://www.microscopyu.com/museum/index.html
DaveW
Strange thing is Nikon's site doesn't seem to list it:-
http://www.microscopyu.com/museum/index.html
DaveW
I have edited the post above to include all the images they sent me.I believe the limit on numbers has been removed for this technical forum.
I have found out what BD lenses are, but what is the reflected light system? That thing under the eyepiece head?You will need special BD lenses to use the reflected light system.
Francisco, as soon as I saw this, I was thinking of your videos and images. I am sure I will be quite happy with this scope, and I can slowly add or subtract parts to make it a much better scope than what I have now. Have you found a manual for yours? I would like to see images of your setup also, if you have some.
Dave, I already saw that page. They aren't the only ones that have no info on this model. I googled it to find that page, and that's about all there is, other than a few forum posts listed. But that's OK, I love tracking down stuff like this.
I'm guessing here, but that big white box in the last image, sends light down inside the BD objectives to illuminate the subject - a great system for reflected light.Mitch640 wrote: I have found out what BD lenses are, but what is the reflected light system? That thing under the eyepiece head?
NU.
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
student of entomology
Quote – Holmes on ‘Entomology’
” I suppose you are an entomologist ? “
” Not quite so ambitious as that, sir. I should like to put my eyes on the individual entitled to that name.
No man can be truly called an entomologist,
sir; the subject is too vast for any single human intelligence to grasp.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
The Poet at the Breakfast Table.
Nikon camera, lenses and objectives
Olympus microscope and objectives
Mitch, after you've gotten a good look at what you have, you might sign up with Nikon support and contact them for manuals. If they have them in PDF format, they may be able to send them out to you. (I obtained a Labophot user's manual in this way.) These will be basic user's manuals, not technical manuals for microscope technicians, but they will still be a good place to start.
John
John
John, thanks for that. I must have been doing that very thing when you were posting. I did sign up, but did not have a S/N to include, so not sure they will respond. I could not read the one on the picture above. LOL
The fact that even Google does not have anything on the Fluophot model is kind of strange though, unless it is really old. Does yours look anything like this one?
The fact that even Google does not have anything on the Fluophot model is kind of strange though, unless it is really old. Does yours look anything like this one?