Mike,

although you mentioned that vibrations are not the case for your imaging
problems: It may be worthwhile to check the whole microscope stand for
vibrations. 

I experienced such a problem with our ZEISS Axioscope FS2 Mot with a LSM510
scanner on top. This microscope is mounted on a Luigs and Neumann base, and
this all is placed on a Melles-Griot anti-vibration table. 

It turned out that the whole microscope showed a resonance. 

The main source of the vibration turned out to be a heavily pulsing stream
of cooling water through silicone tubing on the table connected to our
multiphoton laser. Of course I also tried to minimize this source of
vibration, but could not get rid of it totally.

But I could fix vibrations by mounting two thick type 95 aluminium rails
onto the breadboard (left and right of the scanner, respectively), and from
these posts, two minor rails fix ("squeeze") the scanner housing in between
them (damping material between scanner and side rails).

No problems anymore with vibrations / zigzag lines.

Hope this helps,

Guenter


------------------------------------------
Dr. Guenter Giese
Light Microscopy Facility Manager
Dept. of Biomedical Optics
MPI fuer Medizinische Forschung Jahnstr. 29
D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Phone (+49) 6221-486-360 (Fax: -325)
e-mail: [log in to unmask]  

> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: Confocal Microscopy List 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Im Auftrag von 
> MODEL, MICHAEL
> Gesendet: Mittwoch, 7. Oktober 2009 13:28
> An: [log in to unmask]
> Betreff: exorcising spirits from Fluoview
> 
> I apologize if this is a second message to the list, I think 
> the first one didn't go through
>  
> We are having a bizzare scanning problem. Straight vertical 
> lines in an object become slightly zigzagged with a period of 
> up to 6-7 scan lines, and there also may be some oscillation 
> in the intensity. The period and the magnitude of this 
> periodic noise depends on the scan speed and the scan size. 
> So far we (with the help of an Olympus engineer) have 
> established that:
>  
> 1. It doesn't seem to be the scanner controller or the galvo 
> mechanism 2. It does not seem to be the electric power in the 
> building 3. It is not a mechanical vibration 4. It is not a 
> computer 5. It is not the cables 6. It is not a 60 Hz noise
>  
> Sometimes connecting the scanner controller to the outlet 
> through a long extension cord seemed to help which may 
> suggest a problem with grounding, but as soon as we concluded 
> that, the trick stopped working. The trouble could not be 
> reproduced at the Olympus testing lab.
>  
> Has anyone experienced anything similar and successfully 
> resolved the problem?
>  
> Many thanks in advance!
>  
> Mike Model
>