Quote:
Originally Posted by jet486
Sorry fella's being a beginner please excuse my ignorance but what is a servo cat, Digifire 7, and Thousand Oaks. It is mention the problem about the loss of power with GoTo's so how does one ensure to have enough power to enjoy a 3-5 hrs observing?
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Jet
My apologies, sometimes beginners threads divert a little way from your original query. To clarify, in my reply to your post, I mentioned getting dew control. Eyepieces etc can dew up very quickly which can bring an end to a nights observing. This is solved by attaching a heated strap to the eyepiece that warms it slightly which is enough to prevent dew forming. To do this we usually have a dew controller that allow you to run several heaters and control their temperature independently of each other. I use a Digifire 7 by Kendrick (see
http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...oductview.aspx) which works fine for me. John has mentioned that he has had some issues with these and has recommended a Thousand Oaks version ( see
http://www.optcorp.com/th-ddhc-dew-h...ontroller.html ). The main issue is with the Servo Cat which is the controller for the motors on the Go To setup on his scope, which draws so much power the battery powering both systems runs out and voltage drops below the level set in the Digifire, causing it to cease working and resulting in dew on eyepieces etc.
This could be an issue for you as your scope is a Go To (although it doesn't use Servo Cat). I am not qualified to give advice as the issue are electrical.
A stop gap if you do not want to fork out money for dew contol is to remove dew during the night with a hair dryer, not as convenient as you have to regularly stop to do it, but cheaper!
Cheers
Malcolm