It looks like I’ll be working part time soon at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy here on Maui as an electronics technician and machinist!
They spend most of their time looking at the sun on the summit of Haleakala Crater. Lots to do with UV and IR and bandpass filters… sound familiar?

I’ve been volunteering part time, just hanging out and sharing what I know like I do here, and I’ve learned so much already!
The lab has six optical benches and the facility has it’s own machine shop with a Brigeport mill. There’s also tons Thorlabs hardware in the place!

I’ll be starting out part time until they get the budget worked out so I’ll keep my day job.

Here’s some lab pics:
1. - A German student adjusting a camera with the sun shining on it from a mirror out in the parking lot.
2. - A large CCD cam.
3. - A small Hitachi camera.
4. - Thorlabs hardware and a deep red 5 mW laser used for aligning optics.
5. - Yes, that is indeed an xbox cam in a lab setup.

Wow that sounds like heaven!  That bench looks great, real time plug and play! Hope it goes well for you and try and find useful stuff for MT apps, Perhaps some great big first surface telescope mirrors! I would like two that are roughly 400mm x 500mm preaty please!!!

Ohhh wow tinker that looks sick!!!…

Big congrats on getting that as a position.. it looks like you could do some fun tests there and create UBER BLOBS…

Doesn’t the sun make enough IR light to power all our vision systems? hehe

Well now… a little update is in order.

Hawaii is so depenent on the tourism dollar… it really sucks for anything tech related.
All businesses here, including Government, are feeling the decline in tourism due to higher costs to travel.
So, we all have to rework our budgets and make a few cutbacks. I did the opposite and bought a new Honda Element.
Just my little way of “stimulating” the economy.
I digress…

Of course, in true form, the first thing the State of Hawaii cuts back on is funding for education!!!! Ugh! This mentality really annoys me, but come election time, the current administration will hear my voice.

Bottom line: my potential job position there is in a holding pattern until who knows when.

A bit disappointing but I’ve still got my day job in the midst of layoffs. I was on the “let’s keep him” list.

At least I can get my techie fix here with all you people from all around the planet!
It’s quite a collective lab we have right here with the NUI Group!!!

Chin up!

Hey Tinkerman, good luck for the future at the University. Love the Xbox cam has made the pics

We’ll all be hanging out to hear how your position goes. Keep us posted.

Nice Tinkerman, sounds like a challenge.
Cool pics, good luck there.

Its kind of the same in the UK with house prices falling the rise in fuel and cost of living but thats the way it goes, Sometimes the economy is up and sometimes it down. People tightening there belts!  I blame the media just because thats the easy option!  Run cars on water thats what i say. Any way less of the economic debate!  Honda, that will last forever! Great cars. I had a Honda Ballade once! It was a right rust bucket, pre Accord. Not sure it they exported that model to Hawaii!!! Look it up on internet she’s a beuty!

Also on a more nui topic i will be rolling out the silicon next week, instead of zylol i am using Heptane analar which is an isomer its used in the medical instrument manufacturing process to thin silicon for bubble free injection moulds and the like i will update on the catastrophic faliure it might be!