On November 17, John Foust wrote: Yes, they are. But, having gone down that road, I would advise most people to stay away from anything *too* old...going back past 1975-1980 or so, the machines get very large and very heavy. There are plenty of solid machines from JEOL, ETEC, Zeiss, and other manufacturers built in the 1975-1985 range that can be had relatively cheaply (most less than $5k, some as cheap as $1500.00) that would be MUCH more serviceable. They'd be easier to move and maintain, easier to get parts for (and they DO break, they're very finicky machines), and much smaller and lighter. Sure, a huge 60's-era Cambridge Stereoscan would be a lot of fun...but it weighs six thousand pounds, it'll be down more than its up, you'll spend your weekends looking for vacuum leaks, your power bill will be astronomical. YMMV, just my opinions from very recent but limited experience... I'd be interested in casual correspondence with anyone else around here who either has an electron microscope or is planning on getting one. -Dave McGuire