DIY illuminated reticle

[doug mc]

Has anyone managed to illuminate the cross hairs in a standard GSO raci viewfinder?

[glend]

Yep, sure have. Just hold a red headlight torch up near the front side of the Finder scope at about 85 degrees to the glass, obviously shining in just enough to illuminate the wires. The star field will still be visible. It's free, assuming you have a red led torch.

[doug mc]

Has anyone managed to put fluro paint on the cross hairs. Shine a torch into the eyepiece for a second and they should glow for a while. Maybe.

[Tinderboxsky]

I have found a simple hands free solution involving the use of a head touch on a low red setting for a Bintel non-illuminated RACI finder.
Firstly, use the the finder in the usual manner to place the target (star, planet or other bright object) as close to the centre as possible. Just a best guess will do.
With your head torch on and pointing near but not directly at the eyepiece, slowly move one’s eye away from the eyepiece keeping the target object in the narrowing FOV. I find that at about 150 mm away, enough red light is entering the eyepiece allowing me to see the target object and the illuminated cross hair. Final entering is then dead easy.
This has become second nature with a little practice. I have even shelved swapping this finder for an illuminated one. Simpler, cheaper, lighter and avoids the dreaded flat button battery problem.