DARK site finally found...

[LewisM]

... and CLOSE to home (30 minute drive)

Went to a friends place last night down at Glasshouse Mountains. He lives toward the pine plantation, amongst the macadamia groves. I immediately noted:
a. size of his back yard (and a VACANT block next door) and
b. NO STREET LIGHTS ANYWHERE!

Well, I commented on this, and I am free to come whenever I like - either his backyard (about an acre :) ) or he'll mow a small patch in the vacant lot next door.

We finally left at 2230, and the first thing I did was look UP outside. I could see Eta Carinae nebula "shadow" EASILY with the naked eye, the vastness of the Milky Way was SO apparent... I could not even see my outstretched hand!!! I saw stuff I had not seen in YEARS.

Driving home, I checked the road ahead and turned the lights off... ENVELOPED IN INK! LOVE it.

So, now, the question - how can I go about powering the laptop from a powerpack/jump starter? DO I need an inverter etc? Typically, my laptop will give me about 3 hours fully charged, which is NOT enough, as I typically image 2 targets a night, 2 hours per target. This assumes I cannot run a long extension lead over his fence :)

[Larryp]

Get a cigarette lighter charger for your lappie, Lewis. Then you can run it from a 12 volt battery.

[strongmanmike]

Nice find, sounds convenient, that's the key or you'll baulk at going there.

Not sure on your exact needs but access to mains power would be preferred for me.

Mike

[LewisM]

I should be able to run a long extension out, but just never know.

Even my wife commented how DARK it was.

[pmrid]

I hope you've made an offer on that block next door - before Woolies put a supermarket on it.

Peter

[Astro_Bot]

As Laurie said, a car charger for your laptop will work. I run on without problems. Nice find on the dark site.

[BPO]

Hmmm... "Glasshouse Mountains Star Party"... That has a nice ring to it...

[tlgerdes]

Can't have been that dark if you can see EtaC but not your hand.

Dark is when you can read be the galaxy glow :-D

[omegacrux]

It's good you found a dark site
Must be frustrating for you trying to image from town , and
It's good to be able too look up and actually see things !

David

[Ric]

Good value Lewis, it sounds like a great find.

[LewisM]

Still cannot get to image until the darned GOTO upgrade kit comes in. GRRRRRRRRRR.

[Larryp]

Lewis, have you thought about retaining your dual axis drive and fitting an Argo Navis?

[LewisM]

No Laurie, I have not.

If this frustration with Tasco continues, I will order it either from teleskop-espress in Germany, or the iOptron GOTO Nova. I have waited too long now for an EQ5 upgrade kit, and am NOT willing to pay some retailers exorbitant prices.

[pluto]

I bought the MiGear jumpstart thing from Tricky Dickies when it was on special a few months ago. It has a 17Ah SLA AND it has an inverter (plus an air compressor!), was a bargin at $75 but now that it's back to it's normal price ($150) I'm not so sure. But from memory the adapters to go from 12v cig socket to whatever voltage your laptop charges from are about $100 anyway.

I have only charged my laptop once from the MiGear and charging the internal plus battery slice (total 8.8Ah) completely drained the MiGear battery.

[lazjen]

Sounds like a good site. And it looks like you'll have some time to get ready for it given the current weather conditions...

[Steffen]

Wow, that's lucky! Time to get a big Dob, eh? ;)

Cheers
Steffen.

[LewisM]

Can't image through a big Dob :) I really do VERY VERY limited visual.

[Shano592]

I bought a 150W 12-230v converter from Hardly Normals (about $150, 5years ago). Then I went to Supercheap and bought a ciggie plug thing, on croc clips, plus a multi-port ciggie plug set, and a $60 car battery (7-cells).

I can run my laptop, dew heater with 4 ports all running, and the 10-inch LX-200, right in to the night (and morning) and still have plenty of juice left for another run the following night.

In my youth, I would have whipped the 1000Ah tractor battery out of the boat, and I reckon I could have run the LX-coffee grinder all year!

[Hzadbhat]

Personally I would NEVER run a laptop off an un shielded source.
Spare batteries are the best option. You can usually grab one for 75 or so.
Then, charge one, remove, replace, you get the idea.
Whilst it is very uncommon to have a surge or spike from inverters etc, if you do, goodbye laptop and everything on it.
That's worst case.
But as decent inverter that could do it is usually more than the cost of a couple of spare (chargable) batteries, why risk it.