Quote:
Originally Posted by erick
OK, job done and tested. I went for overkill - four red LEDs fitted into the dewshield of my Finderscope, each in line with the end of the crosshairs (which are in the eyepiece end)
Batteries, on/off switch and pot (and resistors) are fitted into a small black box screwed to the mount for the finderscope and wires run to the dew shield which can be removed to put the end cap on, then the dew shield reversed and placed over the Finderscope objective lens for storage or transport. (I have to remove the Finderscope from the dovetail to transport my 8" in the car boot.)
Initial testing at home worried me - I couldn't see any illumination! So I made up an annulus of aluminium (a pain with a jig saw as the only tool!) and jammed that into the dewshield, up close to the LEDs, in an attempt to reflect more light towards the objective.
Finally got two dark sky nights of testing. It's working well. A nice red glow set against the sky - I had to turn the brightness back from maximum. Crosshairs nicely set off against the brighter sky objects. I could find the balance where I could see the crosshairs against the illumination, but the sky wasn't too washed out.
It helps that my cross hairs are now the size of treetrunks! See:-
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=20812
I can hide Jupiter behind a crosshair 
Eric  |
And it works terrific Eric.
On Friday night when you showed me I could see the crosshairs and the stars. Just like you are supposed to. Well done.
