Austin BlancoAustin Blanco

Twenty years ago I went to work for an integration and microscope dealer in southern California. One of my first jobs was installing a copy of MetaMorph. I’d been building computers since the days of ISA cards and DOS boot menus, but this was new.

It fascinated me to watch the camera snap images with its mechanical shutter as the filter wheel switched positions, compiling images into a singular display.From Starlyte Nebula: Open Microscopy Control Software · 2025

From building systems, to keeping them running in the field, to selling complete hardware and software systems as a direct rep for Universal Imaging Corporation.

In November 2007 I started writing things down. The first posts were the practical questions I kept running into.

I wanted to provide a single place where anyone can find good information on how to use microscopes, cameras, light sources and imaging software.

From Microscopy 101 · November 2007

I moved back near my hometown for an imaging job with Technical Instruments, covering UC Davis. The territory ran from Bakersfield to Eureka, plus most of Nevada. So I flew my own plane.

I am one of the few, humbly privileged people, to see the majesty of the sky from a unique perspective.From Everything changes… · 2012

In four years:698 landings at San Carlos728.8 hours6,195 gal of avgas

In 2012 I left for a startup. It had risk, like everything, but this was “one path I must follow to its end.” I’d already been solving customers’ problems at home:

Numerous labs across the state have a widget in use on a big scope, which I built in my garage, with the kids wondering what all that racket was coming from the wall.From Everything changes… · 2012

In 2014 I founded Advanced Research Consulting, and the Triggerscope followed.

3D printers, CNC machines, electronics, optics. I call it “project-based” learning:

It’s the way I’ve learned almost everything I know and use today.From On a lifetime of Learning · 2019

1. Take on a project in the field of interest
2. Learn from the experts
3. Take the next class
4. The final exam: get uncomfortable again

MetaMorph would drive almost anything, from anyone. When it stopped being sold in 2023, labs were left with brand-locked software, or open-source tools they had to configure themselves. So my friend and colleague Jacob Gewerth and I launched Starlyte Imaging, and built Nebula.

• Device control first. It’s all about getting data.
• Open Python drivers. Our driver standard is open, so anyone can write one.
• Fair pricing. Fixed licenses or service-based, no huge budget outlay.
• Old and new hardware. Older microscopes still make a perfectly good chassis.
• Honest support. “The simple, fair and honest product support I’ve enjoyed providing to this industry for my career.”

A new, smaller Triggerscope. A hardware list in Nebula that keeps growing. And a long explainer on TTL control, the subject I find myself describing “to a new group” every few years.

Everything from 2026 →