Illuminated Crosshairs - THE FINISHED GUIDESCOPE!

[asimov (John)]

Geez mate! you better take a trip over & see whats in my shed...I aint throw anything away for 30 years...AND I inherited all my dads junk too!

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

hehehe! Where do you think I'm going while you are in USA! Your Shed!!!!

[Dennis]

Ken

You are the original Mr. Fixit. Or is that Gadget Man? Or is than Bush Mechanic? Anyhow, you are a resourceful and entertaining genius whichever you be.

Cheers

Dennis

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Thanks Dennis LOL! I love to tinker and make things work. It is very satisfying. I think I picked it up from my Dad.

Ahhh, the good old days when almost everybody used initiative to make things from what they had. No 'disposable' items back then!

[asimov (John)]

I'll leave it unlocked then. Take what you want!

[RAJAH235]

Ken, fwiw. If you want a simple flasher/pulser unit, then use an LM3909, 8 pin LED driver/flasher chip. ~$3.00.
See attached circuit. Should work O.K. It will flash continuously but you can vary the brightness.
If needed, you might try changing the value, (more/less microfarads but not by much), of the capacitor to vary the flash rate.
HTH a bit. L.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Well done Ken, looks good.

[acropolite (Phil)]

Originally posted by Rajah235 Ken, fwiw. If you want a simple flasher/pulser unit, then use an LM3909, 8 pin LED driver/flasher chip. ~$3.00.

If you can find any of the Lm3909, let me know. National have stopped making them and I have been unable to get any. A big plus with the 3909 is that configured as a simple flasher cct you can expect a LED to run continuously for around 12 months on a single 1.5 volt D cell.

[RAJAH235]

Why not try the 555 timer chip? ~90 cents. Just don't forget the current limiting resistor for the LED. L.
ps. Hope you can make out the details.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Thanks Laurie but I'm no electronics wizz. I'll stick with what I've got. It works well and I'm happy

[RAJAH235]

Here's a simple flasher/timer circuit. Using the stated components it varies between 1 sec on/1 sec off to 1 sec on/4 sec off, approx. L.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

I have completely finished my Guide/Auxillary scope! It is ready to mount on my 12" scope when it goes onto the EQ mount.

And NO AsiJohn, it's not white. It is the exact colour of my GS 12". I took the finderscope to the paint shop and colour matched it. For anyone with a silver GS scope who wants to touch up the paint, the paint name and code in those little touch up cans is: PJ6250 - Kashmir Pearl.

Here is the finished scope! Compare it to the unfinished item. I'm a happy man!!

[beren]

top work

[RAJAH235]

Very chic, Ken. : Wouldn't touch it with a 10 ft pole tho. Looks a little bit iffy to me! L.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Iffy? IFFY?? IT IS WORLD CLASS!!!!

The scope was made by Bert originally. I made a few simple mods and it works a treat!
And the paint job is superb

[33South (Chris)]

Very nice Ken, Im impressed with the fnish.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Thanks Chris.

Hear that Laurie!!!! Iffy indeed!

[janoskiss (Steve H)]

Very nice, Ken! Where are you going to put the switch-box. I'd go with sticky backed velcro tape for mounting where you want, but allow easy removal of the finder.

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

I'm going to glue a magnet to the bottom of it Steve. Then I can move it anywhere on the OTA.

Magnets are handy with steel OTA's.

[h0ughy (David)]

A well deserved result for all the hard work you have put into it Ken. Great result