Paul M

A long time ago in a galaxy not far away......

I started noticing the moon and stars at a very early age. At about 7 or 8 years old I was given the ladybird book "light, mirrors and lenses".

That set me off on a journey that is still ongoing 40 odd years later.

My first usable scope was a 60mm refractor from Dixons about age 11.

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Slightly off topic but those contemplating installing a safety diode to prevent reverse polarity should be aware the diode will drop 0.6 volts from the 12.6 volt input. This may bring on low voltage problems earlier in the battery discharge cycle.

That should only be a problem if the diode is put in series as a blocking diode.

If it's just put in reverse biase across the incoming supply terminals then it will have no effect until reverse polarity is applied. The the protective diode will then be forward biased and effectively short the supply and hopefully blow an in-line fuse in the supply lead.

Hopefully

Thank you AB, that's very kind. Having got my new one I will now concentrate on getting the blown mount working again and then sell it

Kerry

Oooh! I wouldn't do that. You might not even recover the repair cost!

I'll give you £30, bought as seen

Oh dear Might be something and nothing, but here is a recent thread:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/178192-furious-but-saw-jupiters-bands-any-electronics-whizzs-around/

My introduction to Feynman came from reading Genius by James Gleick many years ago.

I was hooked.

Great character but I found a short clip on YouTube of his old work mate, Murray Gell-Mann demonstrating that he could be a real pain too!

Struggling to link it on my slablet but it's worth looking for

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Looks just like my old Prinz refractor from Dixons I got for Christmas as a boy in the mid 70's.

I discovered the universe with it. Admittedly it was in the days when big scopes were rare and expensive and before books full of stunning amateur astrophotography had jaded my expectations of eyepiece views.

In all honesty I reckon I saw more objects with that scope than I have with the 6.25 in equatorial newtonian that superseded it some 10 years later.