WONKO'S MICRODOT EXPERIMENTS -- THE PLAN

Here it goes:

• I want to print a microdot that contains at least one paragraph of text.

• I must use either very cheap and widely available equipment, or stuff I already have.

• It must be able to be done with a minimum of processing.

• The technique must be fairly consistent and easily reproducible.

I remembered a discussion about the 100x handheld microscopes at Radio Shack in the Submini Newsgroup, I picked one up for about $13. I have a copy stand and a binocular attachment. I have a Minox B and a clockwork shutter release. I have some Kodak 2484 B&W film. I am dumb enough to try this.

With that in mind, here is my plan:

I am going to create a test page with scales, lines, text, and circles. I will print this on my 600dpi printer on an 8.5x11 in sheet of paper. I will then photograph this using the copy stand and my Minox, using the clockwork timer shutter release to minimize shake. This will create a negative where 1mm equals (approximately) 1in. The Field of View of the microscope is about 1mm round, thus a 1 inch circle in the center of the page should be easily viewable through the microscope.

Now this is where it gets dicey. I am hoping that by inverting the microscope, and using the binocular attachment, I can reduce this image one further time to .01mm. (Maybe I shouldn't have put this in writing because it is now starting to sound marginally insane)

The microscope will at minimum allow for viewing, and with the binocular attachment placed in a more conventional configuration, the image should be able to be enlarged enough to scan with my film scanner.

If this works even reasonably well, I should get readable information on a negative that would be virtually undetectable.