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Features and Specifications
At last! - a portable, inexpensive, high quality microscope with precision optics which is perfect for field, classroom and laboratory study. Simple to use, ultra-compact and capable of delivering instant results, it appeals to all age groups - from young children to the mature professional user.
The Trekker field microscope – an exciting and affordable microscope with precision optics and fully integrated lighting. Simply place the specimen on the top of the microscope and focus using the thumbwheel underneath. It’s that easy! The special magnetic holder can also be used to hold the specimen if you wish.
Perfect Magnification
The x 35 magnification – chosen on the recommendation of teachers and professional field workers – is powerful enough to provide great detail but provides images that are not so greatly magnified that the sense of what you are viewing is lost.
Crisp, Sharp Images
This makes the Trekker perfect for general study in the field or in the classroom. The Trekker’s small size (105mm diameter x 25mm depth) comes from the use of folded optics and the high resolution, coated glass optics provide beautifully clear, sharp images.
Built-in Lighting
The high light-gathering power of the large objective lens allows transparent and semitransparent objects to be easily viewed using outdoor or room lighting. Solid specimens can be observed using the microscope’s inbuilt white LED lighting system.
In the Box
The Trekker comes complete with slides, soft carry case, magnetic specimen retainer, battery and full instructions in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. Attractively packaged in a gift pack with window and cut-foam interior. A professional hard case and a camera adaptor are also available. Please e-mail me for details and prices on these.
Using your Trekker microscope
It’s really simple; the top of the Trekker forms the specimen stage with a centrally placed viewing aperture protected by a hardened glass window. If you want to view slides simply place the slide on the stage with the cover slip uppermost. You can use the magnetic ring holder to hold the slide in place, or simply use your fingers. The Trekker is held with both thumbs underneath the microscope and with your fingers curled over the top to move the slide around so that you can view all parts of the specimen. Because most slides are semitransparent there is no need to use the internal lighting – available light will be sufficient. Focus by turning the precision thumb-wheel located
under your left thumb.
If you decide to view a solid object – for example a coin – place the coin on the stage, switch on the internal LED and move the coin around with your fingers. The LED provides white daylight-adjusted light which illuminates the
coin from underneath. The LED is offset to create shadow relief – great for revealing fine detail. Just about any object can be viewed in this way; insects, fossils, geological samples, cloth, newsprint, postal stamps, small circuit boards, botanical samples, miniature engineering artefacts, scene-of-crime forensic material, fish and animal parasites, diseased plants, environmental monitoring material – the list is literally endless. The Trekker can also be used to view waterborne objects. Simply place a small drop of pond water on the clear slide provided. You will be amazed at what this reveals!
More About Trekker
The Trekker portable microscope is extremely compact, just 105mm in diameter and 25mm thick and weighing a mere 225 gms. It is robustly constructed from tough ABS materials with a metal stage and it will survive a one metre drop test without internal damage. It is also splash-proof and the viewing aperture on the specimen stage is sealed against the ingress of fluids. The eyepiece is easily cleaned – just pull it out, remove the rubber eyecup and split the eyepiece mouldings to access the lenses.
Reviews
The Trekker portable microscope has received impressive reviews from users all over the world.
Photography with Trekker
If  you are an SLR camera owner, whether it’s digital or film, the Treklink adaptor is available (email me for details and prices). This camera connector enables you to capture images permanently from the Trekker field microscope. A simple mechanical connector which allows owners of SLR (single lens reflex) cameras to capture images seen through the Trekker microscope. It is shown above both on and off the camera. Note: an SLR camera is the type with removable lenses and these may be digital, or use conventional film. The Treklink is not suitable for use with the simple ‘point-and-shoot’ digital cameras. The Treklink will require a T mount appropriate to the camera make; the T mount will have the correct bayonet/thread on the rear face to mate with the camera body and an M42 internal thread on the front face which mates with an M42 external thread on the Treklink.
Owing to the very wide range of SLR cameras available we are unable to stock T mounts, but they are widely available from good camera stores.
Getting Technical
The Trekker microscope adopts a highly unconventional approach to microscope design. The Trekker comes from the industrial design studio of Rick Dickinson, former Head of Design for Sir Clive Sinclair - Rick is the man behind a great many ground-breaking, innovative and classic designs.
Trekker’s ultra compact shape is achieved by the use of folded optics which compress the normal 150mm tube length of a conventional microscope by the use of precision mirrors. A similar method is used in the McArthur and Swift microscopes which use two-dimensional optical folding, but the Trekker takes the concept a stage further by using a third mirror to fold the light path three-dimensionally. This allows the top of the microscope to be used as a large uncluttered specimen stage with all the optics arranged beneath the stage in an incredibly neat and compact package.
Optical layout
The optical layout consists of eight elements - three mirrors, a two-element objective and a three-element eyepiece. The objective power is x 3.5 and that of the eyepiece x 10, giving an overall magnification of x 35. The eyepiece may be removed. for cleaning and for use as x 10 loupe.
Objective
This is a two-element achromatic ‘doublet’ comprising two elements cemented together; one element is bi-convex and the other convex/concave. The diameter of the objective is 10mm, with 8mm clear. The NA (numerical aperture) is 0.12 and the working distance 32mms. Resolution is typically 3-4 microns.
The objective travels in a precision focusing mechanism consisting of a machined brass leadscrew of 4mm pitch which is attached to a machined aluminium focus wheel. This assembly is mounted on a sub chassis which also holds the three mirrors in perfect alignment. It is possible for focus to be reached from a point slightly below the specimen stage to a point approximately 15mm above the stage. This generous focus range allows a wide range of objects to be viewed easily.
Eyepiece
The eyepiece is of modified Ramsden design and comprises three elements - a single element field lens air-spaced from a two element eye lens. This gives a wide field of view with excellent eye relief. Because the field lens is contained within the body of the microscope it was possible to add a unique feature in that the field lens is enlarged to form a square. This gives a modern ‘user-friendly’ image in line with current day presentation of photographic images and documentation. Furthermore the eyepiece can be pulled out for cleaning, or for use as a handy x10 loupe.
Mirrors
The three mirrors are front silvered and are polished to a high degree of flatness – typically 2-3 fringes. The first mirror is situated between the object plane and the objective and the second and third mirrors are positioned between the objective and the eyepiece.
Coating
All optical air surfaces are coated with magnesium fluoride.
Illumination
Transmitted lighting for examining transparent specimens is simply achieved by the use of available light, whether in or outdoors. With the lower magnification of x 35 a sub stage is unnecessary and would furthermore complicate the simplicity of the Trekker and impede the use of the specimen stage. Solid objects, however, do require illumination because the object blocks light from the viewing aperture. This is achieved with a daylight- corrected white LED which is situated adjacent to a clear annular ring surrounding the viewing aperture. This light ring ismanufactured from highly polished acrylic which disperses light through 360’ around the specimen. The light output is biased to one side to create shadow relief which is a useful feature when viewing very fine detail on objects like coins and jewellery. Power is provided by a single 9 volt battery which is enclosed within the microscope case. Depending on the quality of
he battery employed this can give over 100 hours of continuous light.
Specimen stage
This is manufactured from steel to provide a durable specimen stage and this material enables specimens, and in particular slides, to be held using a simple ring magnet. The magnetic principle will also be used for the attachment of various planned accessories.
Tripod bush
A tripod location is centrally placed on the underside of the microscope. This consists of the photographic standard ¼” UNC internal thread fitted to all cameras. A small table tripod is thus ideal for converting the Trekker microscope into a simple bench instrument
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