Hi guys, any advice / tutorial with hand held spectroscope. I’m unsure how to position it with lighting etc.
Thanks!
Hi Henry,
Here are several YouTube tutorials on the spectroscope.
There is a very short demonstration at 6min into the 14min vid.
Peter Nelson has a fantastic series and this is a good resource to watch!
The OPL student guide he lists in the description is very informative.
I agree with Mr. Nelson’s comment that you need good test stones to truly appreciate the art of using the spectroscope. His stone suggestions are very good candidates.
Cheers!
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I really struggle with a spectrascope, and I also spent quite a bit of time watching vids on how to use, but still couldn’t get good readings with the methods they suggested. What works for me, sort of (but better than not working) is to angle the specraacope so that you can get the reflection of a strong, full spectrum (very important) light source (I used afternoon sun). I stick the scope nearly on the surface, and angle it with the natural reflection angle from the sunlight. This works with a lot of stones for me. I never had any luck shining a light through a stone, except with ones that were tailor made for that (large, flat, thin, transparent, etc). I hope this helps!
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