When Was the First Time You Used a Spectrophotometer

age 10 or so in a science/photogrphy demo/class in summer camp

I had not even thought of it being used in directly normal image photography. What was the application? ie. What did you do with it, or what was its use?

A series of photos as we'd heat up various materials on a Bunsen Burner....

You were using it to take photos? Spectral analysis for identifying materials?

More than, umm, let's simply say a long time ago, but I remember at least putting blocks of (what looked like salt/NaCl) onto the grills then comparing block #1 with #2, etc. They looked the same on the prep table but were very different when heated...

We did something much more crude in high school chemistry. We would just stick a piece of material in the flame of a bunsen burner and note that it changed the color of the flame depending on what the material was.

Since a tool I figured was more likely to have seen common or semi common use got no traction I figured I'd ask about a tool I have no current use for (but I have used). When was the first time you used a spectrophotometer?

-- Bob La Londe CNC Molds N Stuff

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in the summer of 1966, between my college freshman and sophomore years, I received an NSF research grant that involved analyzing my chemistry results with an Infrared Spectrophotometer. I began to suspect that I liked the electronic instruments better than the chemistry and maybe should have chosen Electrical Engineering, though I stayed in Chemistry to a BS degree.

I also used a room-sized visible light spectrograph built in the 1930's whose spectral output went on 4" x 10" glass photographic plates instead of an electronic photometer.

This and a glass prism are all I presently own.

By then the grad school draft deferment has been cancelled, ending that career path beyond a lab tech job. The Army appeared to offer the best choice of electronic school, and when they saw my test scores they offered me their invitation-only longest and hardest school, repairing crypto machines which are nearly computers. We had to memorize them well enough to not need to carry the classified manuals on field service calls. After the draft ended and science and engineering grads became unavailable the Army was forced to degrade the task from component level troubleshooting to board-swapping.

Perhaps because I listed German as a foreign language I was deployed there, instead of Vietnam, Turkey or Ethiopia (Yuk!). However I met Vietnam vets who were eager enough to go back to Saigon that they reenlisted.

We did something much more crude in high school chemistry. We would just stick a piece of material in the flame of a bunsen burner and note that it changed the color of the flame depending on what the material was.

------------------------ A variation of that enables prospectors to smelt and identify ore in the wilderness.

I can't remember ever using one ... but I almost bought a refractometer to check moisture content in my honey . Then my bees all started dying and I didn't need one because there was no honey to check . I and many other beekeepers suspect there is a direct causal link between bee die offs and the chemicals they're spraying from those airplanes .

Since a tool I figured was more likely to have seen common or semi common use got no traction I figured I'd ask about a tool I have no current use for (but I have used). When was the first time you used a spectrophotometer? Bob La Londe

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The first time I used a thermal imager I knew I had to have one when the price became reasonable. In addition to revealing house insulation defects and hot wiring connections they are great for walking in the dark.

Who has used a spectrum or vector network analyzer?

The cables connected a computer memory chip tester to the RAM chip wafer prober head on the production line. The cables held three sequential address and data write patterns going out and three reads coming back. The tester detected and marked faulty chips and measured the access speed to sort them, the faster memory brought a higher price.

Around here I think Permethrin is one of the big pesticides. I have a small container of it around here somewhere a farmer buddy gave me for my vegetable garden to keep borers out of my sweet corn.

That being said we have healthy bee hives in the area including wild hives. Last year I had three hives side by side under a shipping container. They had started to become aggressive and I was stung several times over a couple months. I am not afraid of bees, and except for the painful initial sting have little reaction. I still had to have them removed. The removal guy didn't know what to do to get to them, so I jacked and blocked up the container on one side. That's when we saw there were three separate hives. They may have been getting ready to swarm as we pulled out a 8 or 9 queens.

The bee guy said he thought they might have been africanized hybrids which is why they started stinging me. Somebody who normal doesn't get stung. I think they were over growing their space and were getting ready to swarm and create some new hives. We tore out most of the combs, and sprayed it a year ago last spring, and the other day there were bees flying under the container again. They are persistent buggers. I'll leave them alone until they get aggressive again.

"Permethrin is a highly toxic synthetic pyrethroid insecticide that acts on the nervous system of insects. Direct contact with wet spray or lingering residue can cause severe paralysis and death in honey bees and wild pollinators.

Sub-lethal exposure also alters bee foraging behavior.Key Effects on Bees

High Toxicity: Permethrin disrupts the sodium channels in neurons, leading to rapid muscle spasms, paralysis, and death. It is considered highly toxic to honeybees and other beneficial insects.

Contamination: Permethrin can bind to beeswax if exposed, which creates a long-term contamination risk within the hive.

Behavioral Changes: Bees exposed to non-lethal doses exhibit abnormal behaviors, such as excessive self-cleaning, trembling, and reduced foraging trips.

Repellent Properties: Some field observations suggest permethrin has a mild repellent effect, which can deter bees from entering treated areas, though this does not completely eliminate the risk of mortality."

I never heard of one until the early 90s when a store I worked for (Tool & Supply Co of Yuma) bought one used when they bought out a bunch of equipment from a closed paint store. We used it as a guess-o-meter for matching paint samples. A few years later I found the newer model in WalMart's paint department was also just a guess-o-meter.

As a contractor I learned to just drop off a sample at the local Sherwin Williams paint store, let them match it at their liesure, and have them call me when it was ready.

I use a permethrin spray to treat my woods clothing to prevent ticks . The only other use here is indoors for flea and roach control . I don't use any insecticides outdoors except for a limited area granular treatment for fleas where my dog's chain can reach . He loves being outdoors where he can watch the driveway and road but we have a neighbor who is a total asshole with double standards .