arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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While I was doing the Fan Mod on my CPC 1100, I decided to go ahead and fork mount my dew controller while I had everything broke down.
I have always been annoyed by the mounting of my dew controller and wanted it out of the way.
So I decided to install it in the fork arm.
Very easy install. Only took about an hour to complete.
The only extra parts I had to buy were 4 new RCA jacks and a Type M 12v DC connector for power.
Drill a few holes...Measure twice,drill once....
and some solder and everything is working like a champ.
Here are a few pics of the process.
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Dew Controller.
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Dew controller guts. 
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Fork arm cover.
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Fork Arm guts.
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Here is the dew contoller board mounted in the fork arm.
I drilled holes for the LED's,the power adjust knobs,4 holes for the new RCA jacks and a hole for the new power plug. Soldered the power plug and run wires to the dew controller. Run new RCA plugs from the controller to the new face mount plugs.
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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And here is the front of the fork arm.
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Powered up and heating like a champ.
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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jetsfan122
member
Reged: 07/17/09
Posts: 62
Loc: Long Island,New York
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Great job ! That is sweet looking !
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_____________________________
Vinny
_____________________________
Celestron CPC 800
Orion EON 80mm ED APO
Celestron eyepiece kit ( ugh )
Baader Hyperions 8mm,13mm,21mm
Televue Nagler 11mm
Explore Scientific 82 degree ( 18mm )
Agena Astro 38mm
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b1gred
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 15715
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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Nicely done!
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / W0RDR
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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Digital Don
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 01/20/04
Posts: 1287
Loc: Manteno
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Nicely done! Actually that's a pretty slick idea.
How did you attach the circuit board to the cover?
Don
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Quote:
Nicely done! Actually that's a pretty slick idea.
How did you attach the circuit board to the cover?
Don
The power adjust knobs have a nut and washer on them.
So I used those to attach the left side to the fork arm cover when I drilled the holes for the knobs.
The right side.. I used two small pieces of 1/4 solid plastic tube. I super glued the plastic tubes to the fork arm cover, and threaded the other end so I could use the existing screw holes in the circuit board.
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3961
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Joey,
Very slick. A smart use of the free space in the arm and a very clean installation.
But don't those look awfully like orange LEDs? 
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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rboe
Reged: 03/16/02
Posts: 45411
Loc: Phx, AZ
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Full Marks! 
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Ron
NS11GPS
Pronto
16" dob
15X70 Obies
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Quote:
But don't those look awfully like orange LEDs?
There yellow. 
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Thanks to everyone.
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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NGC007
super member
Reged: 06/02/05
Posts: 114
Loc: England
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Nice work. Now why can't Celestron do this as standard. After all, I've never heard of an SCT that doesn't need dew control. Think I'll ask them.
Clem
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CPC 1100.
Ethos 17
Earthwin Power/Filter Slide
Giant Moonlite Focuser
Canon 10 x 42L image stabilised binoculars
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Not sure about Celestron, but I have recieved some feed back
from other CN'ers on my mod.
And so far, the only negative I have recieved is by those who use more than one scope set-up and only have one dew heater controller. If the controller is mounted inside the CPC, then they cant transfer it to another set-up.
Which makes perfectly good sence.
I have only one set-up and it's the only one I want. So it works out great for me or anyone else who only uses one scope.
But you are right. If Celestron sell's the scope with a built in Dew Controller, then those who have a seperate controller can use it with all there other set-up's.
CS's
Joey
Edited by arowana (10/29/09 05:24 PM)
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b1gred
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 15715
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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It'd be a cool option, but there IS a subset of users who live and use their scopes where dew just isn't an issue. They'd run the price of the scope up for that device which would, at least for some of us, be a useless feature.
Like I said it is a VERY cool adaptation, but let's not suggest be added to production...
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / W0RDR
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3961
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Folks, When you start to suggest that Celestron should add some neat new feature ask yourself one question: Would anyone not buy a Celestron scope because it didn't have the feature? (apologies for the double negative).
Dew shields, extra eyepieces, right angle finders, and integrated dew strip controllers are all great features but they all have one downside ... they add cost without adding sales. Sure Celestron could charge more (a new "deluxe scope" for example) but it's not likely that they will sell many more scopes. The other reality is that each new product costs the company in overhead so while adding cost can be covered by increasing the sales price unless the overall sales numbers go up too the net result to the company could be a loss.
I'm sure the product marketing managers at Celestron have a list of features they want as long as their arms but if they can't prove to the bean counters that sales will go up or down with or without said features they remain in the box. Anyone can add value (and therefore cost) to a scope but the real trick is to reduce the cost ... that's generally where the real innovation resides.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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b1gred
Enginerd
Reged: 04/01/04
Posts: 15715
Loc: Castle Rock, CO 6677' MSL
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That's what I meant. Mark, you said it much more eloquently than I.
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"Dark Skies & Great Viewing"
RandyR / W0RDR
GPS 9.25 XLT/Sky Align /FeatherTouch
TV85 w/FeatherTouch
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2121
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
Anyone can add value (and therefore cost) to a scope but the real trick is to reduce the cost ... that's generally where the real innovation resides.
A real pity, and a sad indictment of the modern world. I'd happily pay a premium price - quite a big premium actually - for high quality optics, 1/10 wave PV is probably achievable without increasing the ticket price more than 50%.
A reasonable dew controller built in as suggested would probably cost under $10 at the production line.
If Celestron really want to pare the cost, why don't they omit the 1.25" visual back, the poor diagonal and the awful eyepiece they ship with every scope?
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NGC007
super member
Reged: 06/02/05
Posts: 114
Loc: England
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Every feature adds costs. Would I have bought it without GoTo? No. That added cost. Would I have bought without a tripod, no. That added cost. The point is dew control is not just a frivolous add on it's usually the first thing people buy when the get their new Cat if the haven't already got it. I did.
Clem
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btieman
sage
Reged: 07/24/08
Posts: 483
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I wonder how much of a market there would be for some enterprising soul to market this as either 1) a service they provide post market--send in your fork arm cover and get it back in two weeks with a dew heater built in or 2) fabricate new fork arm covers with the dew heater already built in as an after market replacement.
Heck, Celestron could go the second route pretty easily if they wanted--they know how to make the arm covers. All they need to do is make a few with dew heaters in them and sell them as an option or upgrade at additional cost.
Brian
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CPC 1100
Orion 120st
Milburn Wedge
QSI 520i
Meade DSI Pro
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btieman
sage
Reged: 07/24/08
Posts: 483
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Back on topic: Arowana, thank you for a wonderful idea! I plan to make this mod just as soon as my scope goes off warrantee  I may even think about putting my USB hub in there!
Brian
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CPC 1100
Orion 120st
Milburn Wedge
QSI 520i
Meade DSI Pro
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rboe
Reged: 03/16/02
Posts: 45411
Loc: Phx, AZ
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Very rarely need dew control here in AZ (I've seen dew twice on my scope and being a whimp now it's usually in the winter when I'm not inclined to be out anyway ).
So far it works out well were folks can take a base scope at a very good introductory price so you can tart it up the way you like. It's the amateur astronomer way. 
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Ron
NS11GPS
Pronto
16" dob
15X70 Obies
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Starhawk
sage
Reged: 09/16/08
Posts: 430
Loc: Tucson, Arizona
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When I lived on the gulf coast in New Orleans, dew wasn't as much a problem as it was a crippling affliction. Now I am here in Tucson, it's more like, "Dew?What is this "Dew" you speak of?" Now, a built in thumper, that would be useful.
With that said, I suggest the arm could have a sort of interface plate/station/ power and control port built-in to allow a modular dew controller to neatly lock on from the outside of the arm. Maybe it would have a fairing plug in the location, otherwise, or perhaps that just isn't needed. While we're at it, there should be one for an autoguider as well and both could be commanded from the hand controller or NexRemote/ other software. That would be cheap to include, and those without the need for these dedicated controllers would not have a significant change to cost. Thinking on it, there is such a large convergence now in what accessories are useful, it would seem the time for this sort of modular approach has come- especially since it would be an opportunity to work some of the nastier issues like cable routing, which otherwise take fine scopes and make them look like half-baked grad school projects.
-Rich
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I lost count of my scopes. Now I just want mobility.
Edited by Starhawk (11/01/09 03:30 PM)
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NGC007
super member
Reged: 06/02/05
Posts: 114
Loc: England
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The biggest pain in the dark is cables getting snagged and in the way and anything the really helps that would be welcome, that's partly why this mod is so appealing.
Clem
--------------------
CPC 1100.
Ethos 17
Earthwin Power/Filter Slide
Giant Moonlite Focuser
Canon 10 x 42L image stabilised binoculars
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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The main reason for doing my mod on the dew controller was to keep it out of the way and do away with one more accessory I needed to hook up when I set up to view.
I have to take out and set up my scope every time I view.
So not counting the scope and tripod, there was 10 other things I had to haul out and attach before the scope was ready for viewing.
Two of those being my Cat Cooler and Dew Controller.
Both of which had a permanently attached power cord.
The Cat Cooler had to be placed in the tube which prevented me from installing my Binoviewer set-up untill the scope cooled down.
By installing the new fan in the rear cell and adding a removable power cable, I can cool the scope down with my bino set-up installed. And when the scope is cooled, I just pull the cord and move it out of the way.
This allows my bino's to cool down while the scope is doing the same. And I never have to remove the fan.
Plus, it cools down soooooo much faster.
Same goes for the Dew controller. With the controller tucked away nice and neat in the fork arm, I never have to remove it.And with the removable power cord, I dont have it hanging down in the way when I take my scope out or in.
Which was an issue with the dew controller velcro'ed to the outside of the fork arm.
I either had to remove the controller, or tie up the power cord.
So both mod's were done just to make things easier and faster for me and my set-up.
The fork arm holds the dew controller perfectly. And by adding the RCA jacks, anyone who does the mod can install the new RCA's anywhere on the fork arm they want. Top,Bottom,inside,outside or on the side of the panel.
Where ever the observer needs them most.
I also agree that including a internal dew controller
from the factory may not appeal to everyone.
But like another CN'er said... Neither does the included accessories that Celestron provides with the scope.
Just about everyone replaces the eyepiece's,visual back and finder scope that comes with the CPC.
And people buy the scope knowing that these things are included and that they are paying for it.
I do not think that anyone is NOT going to buy a scope just because it has a Dew Contoller that they may or may not use.
If nothing else, it would be welcomed by most because it would be one less thing they will have to buy seperatly and one more thing covered under warranty.
But, I did not expose my mod hoping Celestron would pick it up.
I done it and explained it so that the fellow astronomy community could use the idea for there own purpose.
So have fun. And post pictures of your mod so we all can see. 
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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And for anyone interested, here is what a CPC 1100 looks like with fans installed.
CS's
Joey
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CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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Footbag
sage
Reged: 04/13/09
Posts: 468
Loc: Scranton, PA
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Nice mod. I can definitely appreciate getting rid of the clutter. The fewer wires to hook up, the better.
And I believe you found a better place to put the power cord plug then Celestron.
And in PA, dew can be a pain!
--------------------
Adam
Celestron CPC 800, Celestron HD Wedge
Hyperion 17mm, Celestron 40mm Plossl, TMB 9mm
WO 66, SSAG
Modded Canon XS
Lackawanna Astronomical Society
My Gallery
Edited by Footbag (10/30/09 06:39 PM)
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NGC007
super member
Reged: 06/02/05
Posts: 114
Loc: England
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Great job. It always feels like you have to carry more things when you pack up than when you set up. How about an internal rechargeable power pack to run the internal dew controller? You could install the recharge jack near the controller jack. Too much?
Clem
--------------------
CPC 1100.
Ethos 17
Earthwin Power/Filter Slide
Giant Moonlite Focuser
Canon 10 x 42L image stabilised binoculars
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arowana
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/02/06
Posts: 2900
Loc: Pleasant View,Tennessee
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Quote:
How about an internal rechargeable power pack to run the internal dew controller? You could install the recharge jack near the controller jack. Too much?
Clem
It would have to be a pretty small battery pack to fit inside the fork arm. And I dont think a battery pack that small would hold enough charge to run a dew heater all night. But again, I am no expert on Battery Packs.
There may just be a 12 volt pack on the market that would work just fine.
Let me know if you find one. That would eliminate another power cord during observing.
Right now, I am using two of those Jump Start Battery Packs to run my whole system during a night of observing.
One runs the mount and one runs the Dew controller/Fan.
I probably could get away with one pack for one night.
But I dont want to chance it.
The CPC starts to act funny when it runs on low power.
CS's
Joey
--------------------
CPC 1100
Earthwin Binoviewer with Dielectric P/F Switch
Matched Pair of 24 Pan's
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Larry F
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 1598
Loc: Westchester, NY
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If they did everything for you, where would the thrill of invention be?
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C5 Orange Tube SCT, CPC 800 XLT SCT
Orion 127 Mak, StellarVue Nighthawk
Coronado Maxscope 40, Lunt 60mm H-alpha double-stack
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 2140 mm (grand piano)
My Gallery
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NGC007
super member
Reged: 06/02/05
Posts: 114
Loc: England
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I just want to spend as much time observing and less time setting up/tearing down and worrying about wires in the dark. Anything they do to help is welcome. We're not all as gifted as others when it comes modifications.
Clem
--------------------
CPC 1100.
Ethos 17
Earthwin Power/Filter Slide
Giant Moonlite Focuser
Canon 10 x 42L image stabilised binoculars
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Larry F
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/24/04
Posts: 1598
Loc: Westchester, NY
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So here's how I do it: A Bogen Super Clamp (<$30) with some high-quality velco on the face. It clamps securely on the handle. Another piece of velcro on the back of the dew controller and you're ready to go. Quick and very secure.
--------------------
C5 Orange Tube SCT, CPC 800 XLT SCT
Orion 127 Mak, StellarVue Nighthawk
Coronado Maxscope 40, Lunt 60mm H-alpha double-stack
5 1/4" f/5.2 home-built Newtonian
Denk II Binos
Giro 2/Tech2000 Giro Driver/Tech2000 QuickDraw Pier
Mallincam Color Hyper Plus
A zillion eyepieces and some more mounts
Mason & Hamlin BB 2140 mm (grand piano)
My Gallery
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