How to Use a Stereo Microscope for Inspecting Kelp Spools

Introduction to Stereo Microscope for Spool Inspection [00:00:05]

All right, so here’s a stereo microscope for looking at the spools. Sometimes a macro photo isn’t enough to really tell what’s happening on the spool, and we want to be able to get a photo where we can really see the seed string in high definition up close, and we can tell if there’s contamination or tell how the sporophytes are doing. So this is the camera software I’ve already downloaded for this computer, and this is just an image we had before.

Setting Up the Microscope Camera [00:00:36]

So for this microscope, it comes with the camera. To attach the camera, you just take out the little box, which is the camera itself, the lens with a couple lens caps on it. Screw this on, just make sure it’s flat, and then put your camera into there and make sure it seals down nicely. This little dial on the edge, make sure that it’s tight so that this silver piece won’t come out at all. And then you’ll take your camera cord and plug it in, and then plug it into your computer. That’s all you need to do for the camera.

Microscope Setup and Lighting Configuration [00:01:32]

To work the microscope, first start by plugging it in. The light on this type of microscope is from the top, and it’s just a little lamp that comes off of the microscope itself. There’s a button on the side that turns it on and off. Before you start anything, just make sure if the microscope’s brand new, you take off all of the lens caps. And there is one under here that you have to unscrew the light to reach. On the back of the light, there’s a little dial that controls the dimness and the brightness.

Understanding Microscope Controls and Movement [00:02:32]

So basic setup of this type of microscope—it can move in a lot of different ways. It can spin this way, it can move up and down at this angle. This part moves up and down for focusing. The zoom is on this side here, and then your focus dial is this bigger one in the back. You can spin it, you can move it up and down, and you can move this arm inwards and outwards, all using these little knobs.

This one here is very important. It helps prevent your microscope from crashing and potentially cracking that. Make sure this one is screwed in really tight so that if you were to adjust this one, if that is at the bottom, it could potentially fall and hit the table. So you just want to make sure you protect your equipment. Once you feel like that’s all set up and you’ve uncapped everything, you’ve set up your camera and you’ve used the instructions in the box to download the right software, you can go in the software and click your camera in the top left corner.

Preparing Spools for Microscope Examination [00:03:42]

Currently it’s just silver table. We’re gonna put a spool under it, a blank spool just to show how to focus. Always wash your hands when you’re touching the spools, and especially when you’re bringing spools from different tanks out to look at them under the microscope. Depending on your spool size, you might be able to find a tray or a lunch tray size thing that can prop your spool up slightly. It’s best to not have it laying directly on the table, but since this isn’t seeded yet, I just have it on some clean paper towels.

Positioning and Focusing Techniques [00:04:32]

So in order to get a good look at the spool but not get too much touching the microscope or too much splash, you can spin this portion out and be careful not to drop it. And this will give you a nice, clear view with clearance from the base of the microscope. You want to make sure you center the spool so the flat part is directly facing the camera, because if you’re looking under the microscope at one of the edges, it’ll be really hard to focus on a larger area because only one single little spot of that can be in focus.

Zoom Settings and Image Orientation [00:05:09]

So then we can turn the zoom to what we want. We’re gonna do 4.5, which is the max for this microscope. And then you can focus in on the seed string. If you want the orientation of your photo to kind of match the up and down orientation, you can just spin your camera slightly. That might help with the consistency in your photos and looking at them over time.

Camera Software Settings and White Balance [00:05:36]

To use the software, you can use auto exposure and white balance to help get the color right. For white spool, right now it’s a little bit purple, but if you adjust it, it generally looks fine. If you have a spool that looks pretty brown, you might have to toggle with that a little bit more.

Over here, there’s a little gray knob. You push it in to view with both eyes. That takes away your camera view, and you pull it out to view with the camera. And now you can only see through the right eyepiece.

Taking Photos and Recording Video [00:06:12]

To take a photo or video, you would either choose snap or record. We’ll take a photo here, and then you can click on the photo and follow the directions and then name your file based on whatever you want. So typically we’ll do the spool number, what we’re seeing on the spool, the date. If the spool looks healthy, we just do the number of the spool and the date. Anything that’ll help you locate it later and know exactly what you were looking at on that day. So today we’ll just do seed string photo, then you can save it to whatever folder. All those will be there.

And you can also take videos with this of going down the spool or anything that you think might be important. We use Google Drive to store all of our photos, but there’s other photo apps out there that might be a little more helpful with labeling.

Adding Scale Bars to Microscope Photos [00:07:14]

And to add a scale, you have to go into the software and you can just look at a ruler under the microscope and draw a little line that sets the scale and then add that scale to all your photos. But that’s not necessary unless you are sharing out the photos to try and get input on if there’s contamination or not, or if you’re trying to publish the photos in any way.