This is description of this part:
Semi-reflective MIX plate - (beam-splitting filter) for the Reichert Austria Zetopan microscope.
The Reichert Zetopan microscope has a single light source (an illuminator connected at the rear of the microscope base). This light source is shared by both the transmitted light (DIA) and the reflected light (EPI). Inside the base there are two light-reflecting mirrors, controlled by knobs located on top of the microscope base housing. These switches are labelled "EPI" and "MIX". The "MIX" switch introduces a semi-transparent plate filter into the optical path; it reflects 50% of the light onto the reflected-light path (vertically upward, through a special lens fitted in the base) and passes the remaining 50% onward for transmitted-light illumination. It is precisely this module - the MIX switch with its beam-splitting plate and the mechanism that moves this filter - that I present here.
Information from the manufacturer's English-language catalogue "Zetopan Research Microscope. Price List, Effective December 1, 1976":
- This is an element from the base of the microscope stand. This stand has the catalogue number: 9 90 00 01
This part - or its individual components - is frequently damaged. Replacing it with the part presented here allows you to solve, among others, the following problems:
- if the "MIX" knob on the base that controls the semi-transparent filter has become bent or has broken off
- if this plate-type light-beam splitter has cracked or chipped, has become scratched through improper cleaning, or its reflective surface has oxidised
- if the movement mechanism has been damaged: the gear, the spring or the pin
In the last photos of the gallery, an arrow indicates exactly which element is meant and where it is located in the microscope. This allows for unambiguous identification of this element.
Additionally, the video gallery contains two films. One shows the operation and the movement mechanics of this beam divider when it is installed in the base of the Reichert Zetopan microscope. The second film shows this part already removed, with close-ups from various angles and the moving components.
What is this part needed for?
- this is a service element, intended for repair by replacing the entire element, should the MIX light divider in the Reichert Austria Zetopan microscope become damaged
