Powering a Celestron Nexstar130SLT

[Duckman#72 (Jeff)]

Hi Guys

Great site.

I recently purchased a Celestron Nexstar 130SLT and have used it half a dozen times. I'm only a beginner (and love Robert Bee's book about looking at the night sky with binoculars) but I've noticed my batteries driving the Celestron run out fairly quickly.

I've looked through the threads here and at one stage found some posts about powering the Celestron 130 using a car battery (or something like that). I also remember seeing a post saying I need to be careful that I don't "blow up" the computer. Can someone please explain, in newbie terms (very simply) what I need to do to safely use an alternate power source other than AA batteries.

Also - I am not fussed on the starfinder. Once again, in my searches a few weeks back I came across a post suggesting a better quality finder for about $50 that would fit the mount. I can't find the darn thread (lesson No 1 - write it down and don't assume you'll come across it again). Is the factory issue starfinder known for being "not great" with the Celestron 130?

Thanks very much for the help.
Duckman

[Batfink (Peter)]

Hi,
I believe you can buy a Celestron PowerTank which is made for the job, it has 2 12v outputs, for your scope, plus 3v, 6v and 9v outputs for accessories.
Peter.