Ouch! A red light on the weight shaft of a GEM?

Wayne Watson wrote:

The weight arm on my GEM is fairly high and one can easily bump into it in the dark. So far no big
collisions, but I plan to have a lot of people over for a star party. I figure putting a red LED on
the end would work; however, how does one do this within a modest cost. There seem to be two ways:
1. use a battery, resistor and LED. 2. use a resistor, LED, and an ac/dc converter. The second
choice is appealing but costs about $14.00 if one buys an ac/dc converter from Radio Shack. The
first method probably runs through batteries at a fairly good rate. I actually have a red LED
flasher ($3.00) I bought from the h/w store. It's fairly bright and flashes about every second.
Maybe it would work out by beefing up the resistor to reduce the light output. At a reasonable blink
rate and dimmer, it might work. Comments? Other choices?

We've had some of the blinking red LED's in use for a few months and
they work well to avoid minor disasters. They're way too bright,
though. Stick it on the shaft with a battery and cover the LED with
something to cut the light down and I think you'll be happy with it.
You might also shield it so it doesn't shine towards the eyepiece. I
find the light annoying when observing even when it's dimmed
considerably.

Mike Simmons

Okay guy check this on out
really cheap


http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...200&type=store

or goto http://www.allelectronics.com

click the led and then flashing led
There are several different falshing led that you can built into a AAA
battery holder and velcro to the end of weight arm.
also if you don't want any trouble on building them check this out
CAT# FSH-10

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bi...340200&item=FS
H-10&type=store


Hope this help
SOFJAN MUSTOPOH

I stopped by Radio Shack yesterday and browsed around a bit. I found =
Blinking LED Module, part #276-299. A blinking red LED mounted on a =
little circuit board wired to two AA batteries in a holder. The holder =
has an on/off switch. The box says "battery powered for portability - =
use it anywhere" so i bought one and stuck it on the bottom end of my =
dob tube just for fun. It blinked away all night and made me smile. My =
dob now has a "solid state" component. ;-)

With fresh batteries it blinks 53 times a minute. I'm going to leave it =
on and see how many days the batteries last.

-Florian

WW
From: Wayne Watson
WW
Subject: Ouch! A red light on the weight shaft of a GEM?
WW
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:59:50 GMT
WW
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net

Ro fiddly. Just put a strip of glow-in-dark tape on the weight. I
did this when I ran the Brooklyn Observatory in the early 1990s. The
instrument was a 175mm long refractor on GEM. The weight was dozens of
kilos, so it DID hurt when you walked into it. So did bumping into the
tailpiece of the main scope.
I put the tape on the weight and tailpiece and also on various
sides and edges of the pier and tube. The glow was softm not at all
invasive against observing, and a very major help in waling around th
scope in the dark.

WW The weight arm on my GEM is fairly high and one can easily bump into it in the
WW dark. So far no big
WW collisions, but I plan to have a lot of people over for a star party. I figure
WW putting a red LED on
WW the end would work; however, how does one do this within a modest cost. There s
WW eem to be two ways:
WW 1. use a battery, resistor and LED. 2. use a resistor, LED, and an ac/dc conver
WW ter. The second
WW choice is appealing but costs about $14.00 if one buys an ac/dc converter from
WW Radio Shack. The
WW first method probably runs through batteries at a fairly good rate. I actually
WW have a red LED
WW flasher ($3.00) I bought from the h/w store. It's fairly bright and flashes abo
WW ut every second.
WW Maybe it would work out by beefing up the resistor to reduce the light output.
WW At a reasonable blink
WW rate and dimmer, it might work. Comments? Other choices?

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