Regarding the air tables for confocal:
We just purchased a Bio-Rad MRC 1000 UV/vis system which is mounted on a large
air table (TMC 8 x 4). We do a lot of live cell work on an inverted system and
the real estate required for everything is fairly large. While I was initially
concerned about putting the system on a huge air table, I think that there is
no alternative, especially for the UV system. The lasers, optical box, scanhead,
inverted scope, plus several controller units (fluorescence powersupply, heated
stage controller, objective hearter controller, transmitted light controller)
etc take up a lot of space and the large table really works well. I don't think
that the system would be as stable without it. Be prepared though to reserve
a lot of space for the system. I agree with whoever commented that it is not
good planning to spend all that money and skimp on the air table. I think that
you would regret it later.
Paul Robinson
Purdue University Cytometry Laboratories