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I do not have A1, but this may work:
I would switch to the lowest spectral resolution (10 nm per channel), open the 
pinhole, and on the beamsplitter select a dichroic mirror that transmits in the 
orange/red (e.g., the standard 405/488 or 457/514,  or even better if the 8-
position turret has an empty slot without any filter, use that).

of course turn the lasers off.
the 20x objective may be a better choice than the 10x (higher NA, collects 
more photons).
Do a slow scan, if necessary use averaging. if you do raster scan (instead of 
just a single spot scanning), use pixel spacing comparable to resolution, or 
bigger (i.e., do not try to do Nyquist sampling).

Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University
  

On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 07:21:09 +0000, Guy Cox <[log in to unmask]> 
wrote:

>*****
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>
>I'm not terribly familiar with the A1 but in general I'd suggest the following 
approach.  Acquire a confocal (reflection or fluorescence) of the device and 
move the sample to position one of the regions of interest at the centre of the 
frame.  Park the beam at this spot and turn off the laser, open the pinhole,  
turn on the current to the device and acquire a spectrum for as long as it 
takes.   (Could be hours).   Repeat for the other light-emitting areas.   In 
other words, separate the collection of the image and the spectrum.
>
>Having said that, you can get a pocket spectrometer from Ocean Optics, 
with a microscope adapter, for a very low price.   This will do the job much 
more simply and effectively.  
>
>And don't forget that you'll need metallurgical objectives if you want to get a 
decent image.  
>
>                                                                                                        
        Guy
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Confocal Microscopy List 
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of George 
McNamara
>Sent: Monday, 20 August 2012 11:45 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: odd use of an A1
>
>*****
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>
>Hi Christian,
>
>Am I correct in assuming this was without any laser illumination? That 
is, "electroluminescence" (I forget the official phrase).
>
>If this is correct, then you are using the scanning mirrors to create the 
image. Since you are not using a point illumination source (the focused lasers), 
you will probably be better off opening the pinhole to collect more light. 
However, on the spectral confocal systems I am familiar with (Zeiss LSM710 
and Leica SP5 and SP1) opening the pinhole compromises the spectral 
resolution.
>
>To get a sense for how this behaves with more standard confocal specimens, 
a good test specimen is a bright DAPI labeled nucleus
>(nuclei) excited using the microscope arc lamp and DAPI filter set. This test 
might help you compare behavior of the spectral vs standard PMTs in "not a 
laser illumination" specimen.
>
>George
>
>On 8/19/2012 9:10 PM, Christian wrote:
>> *****
>> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
>> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
>> *****
>>
>> Listers,
>>
>> I have a Nikon A1 with the spectral detector.  Last week, yes on Friday at 
4pm, I had some users trying to capture the spectral output of a weak silicon 
chip with some sort of metals on the surface with current running through it.  I 
could view the light (orange to red) at both 10x and 20x through the oculars, 
but could not figure out how to configure the A1 to detect the photons.  Of 
course there are plenty of set ups which are far better designed for this 
application, but that's not my question.  My question is simply how best to 
detect several wavelength (between around 600 and 750nm) of light being 
emitted on the A1 or if it is possible.  I was able to get a very weak and 
pixelated image with one set of setting, and a huge blob of photos with just 
the standard "Cy-5" via the normal PMT's.
>>
>> Ideas?  Ultimately, the PI would like to view the light emitting areas and 
characterize the wavelengths coming from those areas. 
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Christian
>>
>>