A Space & astronomy forum. SpaceBanter.com

Go Back   Home » SpaceBanter.com forum » Others » UK Astronomy
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

LX90 First Light (longish)



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #11  
Old April 26th 04, 04:02 PM
Chris Taylor
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"""and also a mains inverter for the laptop"""

If your laptop operates from 12 (or 13.8V) no invertor should be necessary,
power it straight from the battery box you'll be making.

"""Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of suitable
batteries ?"""

Try Maplin www.maplin.co.uk for a larger range of 12V lead acids. Mine works
from sunset to 2am with no sign of being in a severely discharged state and
its a 1.2AH about 10cm x 5cm x 4cm. I also sometimes use one of the cheap
multi voltage-multi connectored mains adapters AKA Travellers Power Supply,
again, from Maplin.

Regards


Chris


"Andrew Cockburn" wrote in message
-service-com...
Hi Colin


It's alot cheaper, and you don't need to dedicate it to the scope.


I suppose - but I always loved gadgets of any sort, one reason why the
whole scope thing appeals so much ! You're right though, no real need
for a compass, and any cheap level will do the job.

I've been working on it this weekend. Just need to get the battery

voltage
monitor circuit working. Then build a box to house the battery and

circuits.
Here's a sneak preview of some of the work so far...
The clear blue box shows the insides of the box really well.

It certainly does - that is looking pretty damn cool ! I like the way
you are doing this, it is giving me a lot of ideas for power. I'd like
to build a combination battery box including your dew heater design and
also a mains inverter for the laptop when I get it up and running. I'd
like to include a charge indicator so I look forward to seeing how yours
works out, also might include the obligatory red light, and a built in
mains charger. I hadn't thought of using a breakout box mounted on the
scope to stop trailing wires though - great idea.

My immediate need is to not have to buy another set of those damn C
cells, so I think I'll pick up a small lead-acid battery and hook it up
as per your power cable specs, then think some more about my master
project. Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of
suitable batteries ? Chris mentioned he used an alarm battery from B&Q,
that will probably do for starters, but I can imagine I'll need
something fairly hefty when I get all of the above in and running !


Let me guess. The blinking lights. They're always popular.

Yep ;-) They look pretty simple to rustle up and would instantly label
me as a techno-geek. Is geekery possible in the telescope world ?


hehe yeah. And those long cloudy nights when there's no point settting

up
the scope. Feel free to drop me an e-mail anytime.

Thanks - I had another look at the dew heater on your website today, I'm
definately tempted to give it a go !

I've just taken a quick look at your website. I can't wait to see the
images that you'll be producing with your Coolpix and Scope combined!

So much to do, so little time ... Yes, I need to source some kind of
mounting kit for that, but will probably try piggybacking first, and of
course there is the LPI to play with ..

Regards,

Andrew

Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com




  #12  
Old April 26th 04, 04:19 PM
Andrew Cockburn
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Chris Taylor wrote:
"""and also a mains inverter for the laptop"""

If your laptop operates from 12 (or 13.8V) no invertor should be necessary,
power it straight from the battery box you'll be making.

That might just work :-) I'll have to research it a bit though.

Damn, just checked and its 20v :-(


"""Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of suitable
batteries ?"""

Try Maplin www.maplin.co.uk for a larger range of 12V lead acids. Mine works
from sunset to 2am with no sign of being in a severely discharged state and
its a 1.2AH about 10cm x 5cm x 4cm. I also sometimes use one of the cheap
multi voltage-multi connectored mains adapters AKA Travellers Power Supply,
again, from Maplin.

Thanks I'll have a look - I think a small battery like you suggest will
do for now, but later when I get the dew heater, inverter, red-light,
bum warmer and laser-assisted Street Lamp eradicator built I might need
a little more ;-)

regards,

Andrew


Regards


Chris


"Andrew Cockburn" wrote in message
-service-com...

Hi Colin



It's alot cheaper, and you don't need to dedicate it to the scope.


I suppose - but I always loved gadgets of any sort, one reason why the
whole scope thing appeals so much ! You're right though, no real need
for a compass, and any cheap level will do the job.


I've been working on it this weekend. Just need to get the battery


voltage

monitor circuit working. Then build a box to house the battery and


circuits.

Here's a sneak preview of some of the work so far...
The clear blue box shows the insides of the box really well.


It certainly does - that is looking pretty damn cool ! I like the way
you are doing this, it is giving me a lot of ideas for power. I'd like
to build a combination battery box including your dew heater design and
also a mains inverter for the laptop when I get it up and running. I'd
like to include a charge indicator so I look forward to seeing how yours
works out, also might include the obligatory red light, and a built in
mains charger. I hadn't thought of using a breakout box mounted on the
scope to stop trailing wires though - great idea.

My immediate need is to not have to buy another set of those damn C
cells, so I think I'll pick up a small lead-acid battery and hook it up
as per your power cable specs, then think some more about my master
project. Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of
suitable batteries ? Chris mentioned he used an alarm battery from B&Q,
that will probably do for starters, but I can imagine I'll need
something fairly hefty when I get all of the above in and running !


Let me guess. The blinking lights. They're always popular.


Yep ;-) They look pretty simple to rustle up and would instantly label
me as a techno-geek. Is geekery possible in the telescope world ?


hehe yeah. And those long cloudy nights when there's no point settting


up

the scope. Feel free to drop me an e-mail anytime.


Thanks - I had another look at the dew heater on your website today, I'm
definately tempted to give it a go !

I've just taken a quick look at your website. I can't wait to see the
images that you'll be producing with your Coolpix and Scope combined!


So much to do, so little time ... Yes, I need to source some kind of
mounting kit for that, but will probably try piggybacking first, and of
course there is the LPI to play with ..

Regards,

Andrew


Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com





  #13  
Old April 26th 04, 04:40 PM
Pete Lawrence
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:19:04 +0100, Andrew Cockburn
wrote:

Chris Taylor wrote:
"""and also a mains inverter for the laptop"""

If your laptop operates from 12 (or 13.8V) no invertor should be necessary,
power it straight from the battery box you'll be making.

That might just work :-) I'll have to research it a bit though.

Damn, just checked and its 20v :-(


There's a chap that used to sell stuff on eBay for about £20 that is
basically a car plug to a variable output power supply for a laptop.

Do a search on eBay for "car laptop power" and see what comes up.
Even if there's nothing there, it may give you some ideas. I got one
device and it's never let me down yet.

"""Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of suitable
batteries ?"""


I understand Lidl were selling off a number of suitable battery units
as one of their weekly deals. I think this particular one may have
gone though.

--
Pete Lawrence
http://www.pbl33.co.uk
Astronomy & digital astroimaging
  #14  
Old April 26th 04, 04:52 PM
Andrew Cockburn
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


There's a chap that used to sell stuff on eBay for about £20 that is
basically a car plug to a variable output power supply for a laptop.

Good idea - I checked and there were a few different ones there - a lot
cheaper than the inverter, thanks.

"""Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of suitable
batteries ?"""



I understand Lidl were selling off a number of suitable battery units
as one of their weekly deals. I think this particular one may have
gone though.

I'll check it out, thanks.

Regards,

Andrew
  #15  
Old April 26th 04, 07:07 PM
Colin Dawson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


Hi Andrew

My immediate need is to not have to buy another set of those damn C
cells, so I think I'll pick up a small lead-acid battery and hook it up
as per your power cable specs, then think some more about my master
project. Do you know anywhere on the web that stocks a good range of
suitable batteries ? Chris mentioned he used an alarm battery from B&Q,
that will probably do for starters, but I can imagine I'll need
something fairly hefty when I get all of the above in and running !


I've taken a quick look at an alarm battery that B&Q do. It was 12v rated
at 1.2Ah, which is seriously under powered for the scope, I've tested and it
pulls 2amps when slewing in both alt and azi.

One of those car jump starters will do the job in the first instance. That's
what my 17Ah is in. It'll provide all the power that you need, until you
start playing with bum warmers, also when you manage to finish your master
project, it can be retired to the car, just incase of a flat battery :-).
The product code is L52AT and it only costs 19.99 including charger!

A word of warning about the power cable - Make sure that the polarity if
correct. I can't re-iterate this enough, get it wrong and the electrics of
the scope could get damaged! I've seen it happen!!!!! (not to my scope
though)



Let me guess. The blinking lights. They're always popular.

Yep ;-) They look pretty simple to rustle up and would instantly label
me as a techno-geek. Is geekery possible in the telescope world ?


Erm... geekery is a compulsary qualification needed before you're even
allowed your FIRST scope! :-P

You might be interested that Maplin also do a laptop power converter that
runs from 12v. I've got one when they were on offer, and it's great. I
think it was N11BB from the maplin site, but it was on offer at £20.

Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com


  #16  
Old April 26th 04, 08:06 PM
Colin Dawson
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I saw in one of your messages that you are thinking about a charge
indicator. That's one of the things that I'm putting into my box. Also
I'm adding a circuit to show the current setting of the dew heater. Each
circuit will pull about 20mA of power from the battery, so it's not even
worth thinking about :-) Even in high power mode, when it shows a pretty
bar graph, it still pulls about 100mA with all ten LED's lit. I'll be
posting up the circuit diagrams once I've got it all working.

(hopefully tonight!)

Regards

Colin.


  #17  
Old April 26th 04, 09:04 PM
Andrew Cockburn
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Can't wait to see how you did it, sounds cool - good luck getting it
working !

Andrew

Colin Dawson wrote:

I saw in one of your messages that you are thinking about a charge
indicator. That's one of the things that I'm putting into my box. Also
I'm adding a circuit to show the current setting of the dew heater. Each
circuit will pull about 20mA of power from the battery, so it's not even
worth thinking about :-) Even in high power mode, when it shows a pretty
bar graph, it still pulls about 100mA with all ten LED's lit. I'll be
posting up the circuit diagrams once I've got it all working.

(hopefully tonight!)

Regards

Colin.


  #18  
Old April 26th 04, 09:11 PM
Andrew Cockburn
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


I've taken a quick look at an alarm battery that B&Q do. It was 12v rated
at 1.2Ah, which is seriously under powered for the scope, I've tested and it
pulls 2amps when slewing in both alt and azi.

That's a fair amount - no wonder the C cells aren't up to it in the cold !

One of those car jump starters will do the job in the first instance. That's
what my 17Ah is in. It'll provide all the power that you need, until you
start playing with bum warmers, also when you manage to finish your master
project, it can be retired to the car, just incase of a flat battery :-).
The product code is L52AT and it only costs 19.99 including charger!

Sounds like a good start - maybe I can even dismantle it and rebox it
for the master project phase 1.
A word of warning about the power cable - Make sure that the polarity if
correct. I can't re-iterate this enough, get it wrong and the electrics of
the scope could get damaged! I've seen it happen!!!!! (not to my scope
though)

Glad it wasn't yours ;-) I'll be careful ...


Let me guess. The blinking lights. They're always popular.


Yep ;-) They look pretty simple to rustle up and would instantly label
me as a techno-geek. Is geekery possible in the telescope world ?



Erm... geekery is a compulsary qualification needed before you're even
allowed your FIRST scope! :-P

That's a relief - another field to extend my geekery in (evil laugh)

You might be interested that Maplin also do a laptop power converter that
runs from 12v. I've got one when they were on offer, and it's great. I
think it was N11BB from the maplin site, but it was on offer at £20.

Thanks, I'll check it out !

Andrew


Regards

Colin Dawson
www.cjdawson.com


  #19  
Old April 26th 04, 09:18 PM
Andrew Cockburn
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


You might be interested that Maplin also do a laptop power converter that
runs from 12v. I've got one when they were on offer, and it's great. I
think it was N11BB from the maplin site, but it was on offer at £20.


Just remembered that I already have an in-flight laptop inverter that
would do the job - do you (or anyone lese) happen to know what voltage
they use for power on planes ? If its 12v I'm all set ...

Regards,

Andrew
  #20  
Old April 26th 04, 09:39 PM
Jonathan Silverlight
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In message , Colin Dawson
writes

A word of warning about the power cable - Make sure that the polarity if
correct. I can't re-iterate this enough, get it wrong and the electrics of
the scope could get damaged! I've seen it happen!!!!! (not to my scope
though)


I've seen it happen too, but is there some good reason why the
manufacturer (or a DIY-er) can't incorporate a diode in the circuit so
reversing the polarity does no harm?
--
Save the Hubble Space Telescope!
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How many sci.astro.amateur members does it take to change a light bulb? Terry B Amateur Astronomy 18 June 18th 04 09:22 PM
LX90 See's first light - First Opinions Chris Taylor UK Astronomy 19 April 3rd 04 02:24 AM
Milky Way's Big Bang Giovanni Astronomy Misc 30 January 6th 04 11:32 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:36 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 SpaceBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.