I have a new STXL 6303 and am getting some strange artifacts when imaging with it. There is a large section of the chip (lower right of center) that smears the image when cooling below -10. It does not show this effect when I warm the chip to 0; it goes away completely. I am in FL where is pretty humid so I baked the desiccant but this did not help. I am using Maxim6 to control the camera. I have attached a couple of jpegs that show this "smearing' effect as described on the lower part of the image just right of center. I am imaging at 0.76''/pixel. Am I dealing with a leaking chamber or what do you think? Thanks, Steve
Hi Steve, It appears something is skewed in your optical system. If you rotate the camera 180 degrees and the artifacts show up different area of the CCD it's would be your optical system. It appears to me you have a pinch in your optics somewhere. Are you sure this changes with the CCD temp? Best regards Tim
Hi Tim and welcome! We have met several times at various meetings and you know my friend John N. who owns several Apogee cameras. Yes, this goes away as I warm the chip. My guess is a trailing charge because it gets worse as the ccd gets colder. One of your engineers took a look and was more inclined to think that one of the ccd clock voltages might have drifted or slipped. I never saw anything like this before, but I guess it happens with these CCD's. Not related to the optics though. Shame, it is first light for this new camera Cheers, Steve
A ccd clock voltage was found to be off by almost a volt. Clock signals checked and adjusted as necessary. The camera has been tested and meets specifications for Trailing Charge.