Tomatobro

They use solid state cooling elements. When a current flows through them one side heats up and the other cools down. The fans carry away the heat on the hot side. The fans run at a constant speed when on.

I agree with vlaiv. Definitely a aeroplane

My Coast HL4 arrived this morning and it is a nice bit of kit. The top strap might save my head a bit when going in and out of the observatory doorway! The two separate switches (one for red and one for white) means I don.t have to cycle through the various illumination sequences to select or turn the torch off

Here is a picture of the top plate under construction.

Having worn out three already have just ordered a Coast HL4. looks good💀

To answer the question directly............ A small solar panel will just not put out enough power to recharge the battery in wintertime

About 75% based on measurements I have made in the past. I agree about the size of the panel required (about the size of the observatory?)

Given the amount of power taken out of the battery over (say) a 10 hour period to put that back during the winter days will require a sizeable solar panel and controller. In the summer months no problem but in the winter a 150 watt panel would struggle.

Here is mine..... LRGB @ 23 mins total 40 frames each at 8.6 seconds Ha Oii @ 41 mins total 40 frames each at 30.8 seconds

When the new one is fitted put a plastic tie wrap round the camera body where the black connector comes out to take the strain off the heater connection

If its open circuit then peel if off and fit a new one. £22 plus postage from Flo

there are 34 reviews on Flo's website and some setup experiences have been shared so worth a look

Ebay 265677953137 Not sure what you are looking for but this would be my guess

I tried the Pi route but Intel NUC's i3 or I5 for around £100 to £150 (used) are better. They run quite happily on 12 volts even though the power supply is marked at 18 volts. Get one with Windows 10 pro so you can run Remote desktop. The NUC has very good WiFi range. I have one that runs the Pulsar dome, NINA, PHD2, focuser and Sharpcap and a GPCAM for remote monitoring using Altair imaging software. Fast boot up too

male M28. 5x0. 6 thread

In the UK I use a six element Yagi which is tuned for the military radar located in France. The frequency is 143.050 Mhz. This frequency is relatively free from local interference. For reception I use a Funcube Dongle SDR receiver with PC software. For your location you need to locate a suitable transmitter before deciding on the antenna. I can say that building an antenna is something that has to be done with care if its to work well. If a commercial antenna is used it may not be tuned to the exact frequency of the available beacon. Yes it will work but only up to a point. There are folks in the USA who are active in this field and I would seek their help and advice if at all possible. I am sure I have seen some online data streams from stations based in the USA so they will be worth a look also

the mount base is threaded but only enough to retain the threaded bar when its disengaged from the mount. The rod is undercut so its free of the threads when its raised. At least that is what its like on every Skywatcher mount I have come across. If anything the picture suggests that the centre hole in the eyepiece plate is not bored true and square on. If this is the case if you slacken the thumb screw and rotate the plate round one leg at a time the displacement should follow the rotation. If that proves to be the case drilling a larger hole in the eyepiece tray would fix the issue.

Attached is an image stack of meteor activity from last night. Taken by my UKMON camera

last night was the first chance I had to get to grips with my SW GTI. Previous attempts had been hampered by intermittent cloud but last night finally got some results. Does the GTI live up to the hype? Well one version of the Synscan pro software does not work with C du C (mount timeout issues), had to adjust out the as delivered horrendous DEC backlash, its sensitive to wind gusts and draggy USB cables. But it works well with my phone connected so as a portable mount its ok. I think it needs an ASIAIR pro for field use

Wow just look at all that kit that will be bargain listed in the future😀

My approach would be to get a drill, the ones used for wood that have a square cutting face and a small pilot centre spike. I would do some measuring to find out where the limits are of the tube depth and then drill in from the side going gently a bit at a time to expose the layers beneath the flange. If it goes down and a thread is exposed or an epoxy joint at least you would know what you are dealing with. The small drilled recess can be dealt with after the modification has been done

SGL member Tomato painted his white dome green. He's poorly at the moment but if he reads this no doubt he will advise on what paints he used.

As far as my research goes they do not exist. There are companies that specialise in robotics that make high endurance cables for continual movement applications but this is not what we want. ZWO supply the flat cables because the flexibility is good in the flat plane and internally they are well shielded. Some of the textile covered cables seem to be flexible when cold but I have no data to support this. I have gone back to the ZWO flat cables where USB 3.0 is required and rely on careful cable layout.

ZWO harmonic drive wiper blades for refractors will be next

You would need two of these, one for the guide camera and one to image for daytime capture of DSO's.