16-bit CCD camera

Hi there !!

I am abbasi Gandhi and I am working in Department of Physics in
University of Limerick, Ireland.

I am looking for a Peltier-cooled 16-bit resolution CCD camera (the
type used by astronomers) with a shutter-open time (time to acquire
image) of 1 to 20 seconds for my reseach work on Magneto optical kerr
microscope.

I shall appreciate it if someone can give me good advice on what to
buy. Budget is limited as usual but any advice is welcome.

Thanks,
Abbasi Gandhi

On 10 Aug 2005 10:16:44 -0700, "Abbasi" wrote:

Hi there !!

I am abbasi Gandhi and I am working in Department of Physics in
University of Limerick, Ireland.

I am looking for a Peltier-cooled 16-bit resolution CCD camera (the
type used by astronomers) with a shutter-open time (time to acquire
image) of 1 to 20 seconds for my reseach work on Magneto optical kerr
microscope.

I shall appreciate it if someone can give me good advice on what to
buy. Budget is limited as usual but any advice is welcome.

What sort of chip dimensions and pixel count do you require? Also, what
actual bit-depth do you need? True 16-bit cameras are very rare-
probably non-existent except as custom built units (and correspondingly
expensive). Most amateur and semi-amateur astronomical CCD cameras are
around 13 bits.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

thanks for your answer.
I need least 512 x 512 pixels. I have bought " Meade Sky Imager" and
trying to see the kerr rotation with my magnetic sample by applying
meagntic field (Kerr effect) But I am not getting any result. One
researcher suggested me SpectraSource HPC-1 CCD (512 X 512 pixels,
16-bit resolution, TK512 chip I think) camera as he worked on which I
am working. But unfortunatly, this camera is not available in the
market. can you suggest me any of those kind of cameras? if possible.

Thanks agian for your interest.
Abbasi

On 10 Aug 2005 10:44:13 -0700, "Abbasi" wrote:

thanks for your answer.
I need least 512 x 512 pixels. I have bought " Meade Sky Imager" and
trying to see the kerr rotation with my magnetic sample by applying
meagntic field (Kerr effect) But I am not getting any result. One
researcher suggested me SpectraSource HPC-1 CCD (512 X 512 pixels,
16-bit resolution, TK512 chip I think) camera as he worked on which I
am working. But unfortunatly, this camera is not available in the
market. can you suggest me any of those kind of cameras? if possible.

Thanks agian for your interest.
Abbasi

I'd take a look at the products made by SBIG (www.sbig.com) and
Starlight Express (www.starlight-xpress.co.uk). Something like an SBIG
ST-7i or Starlight Express HX516 or MX916 would probably work great.
These run US$1000-1500 new, or you can look for used ones on Astromart
(www.astromart.com). These cameras use 16-bit A/D conversion and have
true dynamic ranges better than 13 bits. They are cooled to reduce noise
and will give much better performance than the Meade imager you are
trying to use.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

"Abbasi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi there !!

I am abbasi Gandhi and I am working in Department of Physics in
University of Limerick, Ireland.

I am looking for a Peltier-cooled 16-bit resolution CCD camera (the
type used by astronomers) with a shutter-open time (time to acquire
image) of 1 to 20 seconds for my reseach work on Magneto optical kerr
microscope.

I shall appreciate it if someone can give me good advice on what to
buy. Budget is limited as usual but any advice is welcome.


If the budget is tight and you don't mind a bit of simple construction, this
camera with one of the smaller CCDs might fit the bill
http://www.artemisccd.co.uk/

Robin

"Abbasi" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi there !!

I am abbasi Gandhi and I am working in Department of Physics in
University of Limerick, Ireland.

I am looking for a Peltier-cooled 16-bit resolution CCD camera (the
type used by astronomers) with a shutter-open time (time to acquire
image) of 1 to 20 seconds for my reseach work on Magneto optical kerr
microscope.

I shall appreciate it if someone can give me good advice on what to
buy. Budget is limited as usual but any advice is welcome.

Thanks,
Abbasi Gandhi


http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=319-320-323

The SAC8 is a Peltier-cooled B&W CCD camera with a pixel display of 640 X
480 and a pixel size of 9.6 X 7.5 microns. Can do color imaging with the
addition of optional color filter wheel. Cost is about $400.00. It can be
adapted for microscopic work (in fact, I believe it comes with the
adapter).

Chris L Peterson wrote:
On 10 Aug 2005 10:44:13 -0700, "Abbasi" wrote:

thanks for your answer.
I need least 512 x 512 pixels. I have bought " Meade Sky Imager" and
trying to see the kerr rotation with my magnetic sample by applying
meagntic field (Kerr effect) But I am not getting any result. One
researcher suggested me SpectraSource HPC-1 CCD (512 X 512 pixels,
16-bit resolution, TK512 chip I think) camera as he worked on which I
am working. But unfortunatly, this camera is not available in the
market. can you suggest me any of those kind of cameras? if possible.

Thanks agian for your interest.
Abbasi

I'd take a look at the products made by SBIG (www.sbig.com) and
Starlight Express (www.starlight-xpress.co.uk). Something like an SBIG
ST-7i or Starlight Express HX516 or MX916 would probably work great.
These run US$1000-1500 new, or you can look for used ones on Astromart
(www.astromart.com).

Or since he is in the UK the small ads in Astronomy Now and online
whatever AstroAds is called thise week. Maybe be better for a university
to buy one new though since they may need some technical support to get
it to do exactly what they want for calibrated quantitative work.

HX516 is probably the cheapest one available in the UK that might work.

Regards,
Martin Brown

" George" wrote in message
news:I9AKe.240866$_o.237666@attbi_s71...


http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=319-320-323

The SAC8 is a Peltier-cooled B&W CCD camera with a pixel display of 640 X
480 and a pixel size of 9.6 X 7.5 microns. Can do color imaging with the
addition of optional color filter wheel. Cost is about $400.00. It can be
adapted for microscopic work (in fact, I believe it comes with the
adapter).



Only 8 bit though with poor flat field and linearity. A very sensive astro
camera but not good for quantitative work IMO.

Robin

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Robin Leadbeater
54.75N 3.24W
http://www.leadbeaterhome.fsnet.co.uk/astro.htm
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"Robin Leadbeater" wrote in message
...

" George" wrote in message
news:I9AKe.240866$_o.237666@attbi_s71...


http://www.optcorp.com/ProductList.aspx?uid=319-320-323

The SAC8 is a Peltier-cooled B&W CCD camera with a pixel display of 640
X
480 and a pixel size of 9.6 X 7.5 microns. Can do color imaging with the
addition of optional color filter wheel. Cost is about $400.00. It can
be
adapted for microscopic work (in fact, I believe it comes with the
adapter).



Only 8 bit though with poor flat field and linearity. A very sensive
astro
camera but not good for quantitative work IMO.

Robin

Well, it was a suggestion. I use my cannon digital rebel for all my
photography work now. Its a great camera. That might be something he
could look into.