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richardc

By richardc
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richardc

richardc

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Paul Kent (narrowbandpaul) and I have been corresponding for some time. He has interest in narrowband imaging and since I was the fellow that pioneered it for the amateur community we found each other. He recommended that I join this forum for a bit of European perspective.

I have been working in the semiconductor industry since 1977, designing a lot of CPU and memory chips for the past 32 years for companies like Intel, Motorola, Rambus and several others. My first chip design was the Motorola MC68000 CPU, a real ground breaker when it was introduced in 1980.

I am a hard core semicondutor guy, a design geek that loves semiconductor device physics and all things technical related to semiconductor technology.

I only took up astronomy for a hobby in late 2000, and got into imaging at the beginning of December of 2000. It has been a lot of fun.

I like to do things my own way so I quickly tired of RGB and trying to do what everyone else was doing so I created the narrowband method used by amateurs starting in mid 2001. Two years ago I began experimenting with Stokes Parameter imaging usign orthogonal polarizers. So far not many have expressed interest in that as they have in my narrowband work.

These days I am applying my semiconductor knowledge to image sensor technology and have been tearing into the low level details of image sensors. I am keenly interested in developing scientific CMOS image sensors. So if anyone is interested in funding a startup company to do this contact me off list. I presented a paper at the SPIE's "Electronic Imaging" conference on RBI in January of this year. It was hobby work but got into a professional conference.

I have been the chairman of the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) the premier semiconductor conference sponsored by the IEEE. I have also chaired the memory program subcommittee as well. I have in the range of 20 issued Patents and several more pending.

I live breathe and eat imaging technology for fun.... It is my overwhelming passion these days but my approach is from the theoretical side although I have a lot of practical experience.

I also build things in my machine shop to assist me in my imaging. I build everything from scratch..... So I can handle tools, soldering irons etc. I've even replaced transmissions in cars.....

I'll post a few images I have taken recently to give you folks a flavor for my style.

in the meantime here's a characterization report I did recently using Photon transfer methods:

Proline 16803 RBI and Photon Transfer Characterization Report

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iamjulian

iamjulian

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Hello Richard.

I'm not an imager so most of what you wrote made a wooshing sounds as it went over my head :D but if you take fantastic pictures like all the other clever folk on this forum, then I'm looking forward to being in awe of your work too.

Welcome!

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MartinB

MartinB

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Great to have you with us Richard. I hope you hang around because your advice and expertise will be invaluable. The UK is just about the cloudiest country in the world. There are a few islands in the southern ocean which are cloudier but that is about it. Most of us also suffer terrible light pollution. The two in combination mean we get little imaging time and LRGB is challenging. So we are looking for the best ways to meet the dual challenge.

The LP means that NB imaging is very appealing but our poor weather makes it a challenge, any advice on maximising use of our time will be much appreciated. Issues such as exposure ratios, chip sensitivity, the role of binning and so on. There are a lot of questions I would love to ask!!

I hope you enjoy your time on here, we are a friendly bunch!

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richardc

richardc

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Great to have you with us Richard. I hope you hang around because your advice and expertise will be invaluable. The UK is just about the cloudiest country in the world. There are a few islands in the southern ocean which are cloudier but that is about it. Most of us also suffer terrible light pollution. The two in combination mean we get little imaging time and LRGB is challenging. So we are looking for the best ways to meet the dual challenge.

The LP means that NB imaging is very appealing but our poor weather makes it a challenge, any advice on maximising use of our time will be much appreciated. Issues such as exposure ratios, chip sensitivity, the role of binning and so on. There are a lot of questions I would love to ask!!

I hope you enjoy your time on here, we are a friendly bunch!

thanks for the nice comments

your sky situation sounds bleak...

the best advice I have is:

1) use fast optical systems (the Epsilon series from Takahashi and the ASA fast corrected Newtonians come to mind)

2) use high QE cameras (the backside illuminated ones using the Tektronix TK1024, the SITe, Fairchild Imaging and E2V chips are good choices, albeit pricey)

3) stick with brighter objects....

4) use narrowband emission line filters to combat the light pollution

5) have fun!

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MartinB

MartinB

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thanks for the nice comments

your sky situation sounds bleak...

the best advice I have is:

1) use fast optical systems (the Epsilon series from Takahashi and the ASA fast corrected Newtonians come to mind)

2) use high QE cameras (the backside illuminated ones using the Tektronix TK1024, the SITe, Fairchild Imaging and E2V chips are good choices, albeit pricey)

3) stick with brighter objects....

4) use narrowband emission line filters to combat the light pollution

5) have fun!

Well I'm using a Tak FSQ at F5 and F3.7, an F4 newt and a 10" LX200R at F6.3 with a QSI 532 so fairly brisk. We have some hyperstar users on here as well

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GordonH

GordonH

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Hi Richard

Welcome to the group and I'm glad you finally managed to make it over the pond albeit via the internet, as others have said prepare to have lots of questions asked about narrow band and everything that it incorporates.

I also build things in my machine shop to assist me in my imaging. I build everything from scratch..... So I can handle tools, soldering irons etc. I've even replaced transmissions in cars.....

And folks, believe me he isn't joking, I've seen his workshop and it is like a miniature factory

Best wishes

Gordon

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