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scavenging ccd chips

A

Allan Adler

Jan 1, 1970
0
Has anyone here ever found a reason to scavenge a ccd chip from an old
digital camera? I'd be interested in learning about your experiences.

I don't have an old or new digital camera. I'm somewhat interested in
the possibility of building a CCD camera, following Richard Berry's CCD
Camera Cookbook, but the Willmann-Bell website estimates it will cost
between $350 and $500, the more optimistic figure being based on the
assumption (false in my case) that one has one's own metal working shop
and the skill to make some of the parts. That's way out of reach for me.

I think it would be good to learn to work with ccd chips, even if I don't
build a camera. The book mentioned above assumes that one has a TC211 or
TC245 chip to build the camera around. I don't know if the book would be
of any value if one tried to use a more modern chip and, unfortunately,
Texas Instruments stopped issuing them in 2003. It is still possible to
get them at high prices from foreign distributors and it is alleged that
University Optics still sells them, even though I can't find any trace
of a role for University Optics at the University Optics website; it is also
alleged that they are cheaper from University Optics.

As long as I am considering such things, however tentatively, it also makes
sense to consider scavenging a CCD chip from a camera to learn to use it.
The exercise might even turn up a TC211 or TC245 chip.

One thing I'm looking for is a CCD camera that has RAW output. Conceivably,
if I find a CCD camera that doesn't have RAW output, but does have a TC211
or TC245 chip, then it might be possible, armed with the CCD Camera Cookbook,
to endow the camera with RAW output capability. The reason I want this is
so that I can use the CCD camera to figure out the temperature of a filament
in a vacuum tube; I'm told that this is possible, but that one needs a camera
with RAW output.

Whether I personally can do it is another matter. But I would at least like
to think about it.
 
M

Michael Black

Jan 1, 1970
0
Allan said:
Has anyone here ever found a reason to scavenge a ccd chip from an old
digital camera? I'd be interested in learning about your experiences.

I don't have an old or new digital camera. I'm somewhat interested in
the possibility of building a CCD camera, following Richard Berry's CCD
Camera Cookbook, but the Willmann-Bell website estimates it will cost
between $350 and $500, the more optimistic figure being based on the
assumption (false in my case) that one has one's own metal working shop
and the skill to make some of the parts. That's way out of reach for me.
But there has to be a really good reason for building a camera, especially
if you are thinking about getting the ccd out of an existing camera.

If you want to learn something, and that's debatable, then you'd be
better off starting with a camera and studying what's inside. You're
going to come out far ahead.

This is no different from when I said when extracting parts from
scrap equipment, you can get information from the circuitry that surrounds
it. Given that you are talking about building a camera from a camera,
there's really no reason to extract the CCD and then wonder about the
rest.

If you actually want to learn the basics, then go back 30 years. That's
when digital cameras were virtually non-existent, and if one wanted to
play they'd find a suitable dynamic ram IC, pull the top off and put
it in circuitry to scan the rows and columns. That was what was in
"The Cyclops" in Popular Electronics circa 1976. I remember the
basic concept was shown elsewhere afterwards. But then you are
actually playing with the basics, pull a CCD now and it's so highly
integrated there's not much way to put it back together other than
the way the manufacture designed it to be put together.

Michael
 
P

PhattyMo

Jan 1, 1970
0
Allan said:
Has anyone here ever found a reason to scavenge a ccd chip from an old
digital camera? I'd be interested in learning about your experiences.

I don't have an old or new digital camera. I'm somewhat interested in
the possibility of building a CCD camera, following Richard Berry's CCD
Camera Cookbook, but the Willmann-Bell website estimates it will cost
between $350 and $500, the more optimistic figure being based on the
assumption (false in my case) that one has one's own metal working shop
and the skill to make some of the parts. That's way out of reach for me.

I think it would be good to learn to work with ccd chips, even if I don't
build a camera. The book mentioned above assumes that one has a TC211 or
TC245 chip to build the camera around. I don't know if the book would be
of any value if one tried to use a more modern chip and, unfortunately,
Texas Instruments stopped issuing them in 2003. It is still possible to
get them at high prices from foreign distributors and it is alleged that
University Optics still sells them, even though I can't find any trace
of a role for University Optics at the University Optics website; it is also
alleged that they are cheaper from University Optics.

As long as I am considering such things, however tentatively, it also makes
sense to consider scavenging a CCD chip from a camera to learn to use it.
The exercise might even turn up a TC211 or TC245 chip.

One thing I'm looking for is a CCD camera that has RAW output. Conceivably,
if I find a CCD camera that doesn't have RAW output, but does have a TC211
or TC245 chip, then it might be possible, armed with the CCD Camera Cookbook,
to endow the camera with RAW output capability. The reason I want this is
so that I can use the CCD camera to figure out the temperature of a filament
in a vacuum tube; I'm told that this is possible, but that one needs a camera
with RAW output.

Whether I personally can do it is another matter. But I would at least like
to think about it.


Old PC scanners might be a source of CCD's to play with.. Most of them
I've seen in the scanners are long and skinny,like a wide DIP,with maybe
30pins and a long glass window on top.
 
A

Allan Adler

Jan 1, 1970
0
Allan Adler said:
I think it would be good to learn to work with ccd chips, even if I don't
build a camera. The book mentioned above assumes that one has a TC211 or
TC245 chip to build the camera around. I don't know if the book would be
of any value if one tried to use a more modern chip and, unfortunately,
Texas Instruments stopped issuing them in 2003. It is still possible to
get them at high prices from foreign distributors and it is alleged that
University Optics still sells them, even though I can't find any trace
of a role for University Optics at the University Optics website; it is also
alleged that they are cheaper from University Optics.

I heard from University Optics. They sold the last of their parts for the
kits about 5 years ago.

How different is it to work with more recent ccd chips than it was to work
with chips such as the TC211 and TC245?
 
A

Allan Adler

Jan 1, 1970
0
Allan Adler said:
I heard from University Optics. They sold the last of their parts for the
kits about 5 years ago.
How different is it to work with more recent ccd chips than it was to work
with chips such as the TC211 and TC245?

Someone mentioned scavenging ccd chips from an optical scanner. I found
a HP Officejet 4110 All-in-One Printer-Fax-Scanyer-Copier on the street,
with no cables and have been wondering what to do with it. Maybe I should
try to scavenge a CCD chip from it?
 
M

Michael Black

Jan 1, 1970
0
Allan said:
Someone mentioned scavenging ccd chips from an optical scanner. I found
a HP Officejet 4110 All-in-One Printer-Fax-Scanyer-Copier on the street,
with no cables and have been wondering what to do with it. Maybe I should
try to scavenge a CCD chip from it?

Wouldn't it make far more sense to keep it intact, and try to make
something of it that way?

If you extract the CCD, you'll then have to put it in a circuit, and
you'll have to find data for the device before you can do that. Keep
it intact, and you have the scanner to play with. Remote the the
actual scanning pickup if needed by extending the wiring (though that
may cause problems if the device isn't intended for driving long lines)
and then work around that pickup. Can you make something of it? Is it
worth it? Learn from it by observing the circuit in operation, bring
that scope back that you find waiting for the garbage truck and use it
to study the pins of the ICs while in operation (though be very very careful
to not short the pins with the probe).

Use the real product and then start research. How do the scannes work? How
do digital cameras work? Go to the library, or do a search, and start with
a basic definition and then as the work continues you can get to the more
complicated.

How do you mount a lense against the pickup? Is there enough definition that
there will be some value from it, or is the density of the pickup reduced
because of what it's intending to scan and the fact that the pickup can
be physically moved over the page? Remember a digital camera has the pickup
static so whatever its density it uses it all to take in the picture, using
the lense to concentrate the thing to be photographed on that pickup. If
you have to have the pickup physically move up and down to scan someone's
face (instead of a page) then that will take for quite a while to "take
a picture" since physical movement is limited in speed.

Only when you've learned from it can you then decide whether there is
any future to it all or not. If there's a future, that's when you think
about extracting just what you need.

You may find you've learned all you want out of it, and then drop the
whole project. Or you may find buying a digital camera is far more
reasonable than trying to build one from scratch. Or, the information
and skill you gather from this project will set the stage for something
more grandiose.

Michael
 
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