LED lighting for observatory

[h0ughy]

picked these up at Aldi during the week and the thought was to put it in the observatory under the dome internal lip

[Tandum]

How much?

I got 8 meters for $5 off fleabay.

No box though...

[h0ughy]

24

[Tandum]

Bugger .. I bought red though ... Should have got white. You only really use them when there is a problem and if there's a problem you want lots of light :)

[h0ughy]

If you look cclosely it is rgb I can choose whatever including white I think all with a remote

[Tandum]

With a bit of luck it will be all on for white ;)

[h0ughy]

Not sure I will check the manual later today

[Tandum]

Manual ... well larr de darrr ....Hi end stuff.

[Astroman]

Great idea... All I got was a Neon from a car :D Might look into the LED strips though, maybe with dimmer also...

[h0ughy]

According to the manual these can dim ;)

[Astroman]

cool!

[Marke]

If they're just 12v then you can dim them by just adding a resistor on the pos wire .
I have white around the top and red around the bottom in my obs

[Lee]

I put one of these in my obs.... not a strip, but 12V and gives off plenty of light...
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SL3447

[h0ughy]

do you run off a transformer or a battery?

[Lee]

Off a 9Ah 12V SLA battery that is solar charged....

[Garbz]

If you can DIM them I highly recommend it. We have a few of these strips and when run at full ball on 12V supply then some of the LEDs have a tendency to fail starting with blue ones and the ones closest to the controller.

Cheap LEDs have a tendency to either be poorly designed from a heat dissipation point of view or just pushed beyond their limits to seem better at the time of sale. Heat is the major killer of LEDs.

[alpharipper]

Sorry to drop in on your post, these may help, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111046974149?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX: IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Not sure if I am allowed to add links so sorry if I cant.

I have purchased these for my house and camper trailer. They come with a dimmer switch, and you can cut them to any length. they also have double sided tape to stick them, I have found though you need clean areas really well prior to sticking.

I use a 4AH 12 volt battery to run 2 meters and this runs them in the night them a small solar panel to recharge.

I have pulled most of my light in the house out and run a full 12 volt circuit for these lights with switch in all rooms. The way power is going up ? have to do what I can. Anyway just a thought and maybe they might be useful.

BTW - they are silcon covered and sealed, some are not.
Andrew