Carbon Brush

The currently accepted age for the universe may not be correct. Only 100 years ago the 'wisdom' said our galaxy was everything. Only 50 something years ago the little green men (AKA pulsars) were discovered Only 30 something years ago explanets were a theoretical concept not yet seen. Shortly after it was thought by some scientists evidence for life on Mars had been found on a meteorite.

If you want to freeze anything quickly.... There are aerosol based circuit freezers for electronic circuits. Easily taking things down to -25C, some claim -40C. Here is one example of the many available.... https://www.rapidonline.com/kontakt-chemie-33168-aa-freeze-75-circuit-freezer-200ml-87-0665 Then there are plumbing pipe freezer products. HTH, David.

Your first task is to define the power requirements. How much is on 12V? Dew heater go from eyepiece size to 12" OTA. Does anything need 240V? etc. A laptop may be a power miser, or a power guzzler!

Sorry to drift off topic. Having seen various electrical equipment with FAKE mains fuses - HRC fuses that aren't. Then mains 'fuses' made from thin PCB tracks. Many other dangerous build practices that the man in the street doesn't know how to find, I don't trust them. Once I queried a mains cable they told me was correct and sent me the certificate to prove it. Actually they sent me an extract of the standard that proved they had used the wrong cable! I was once asked to look at a Segway copy type of machine that was having battery problems. It was stuffed full of lithium cells - about 10 laptops worth. It had been air freighted from China without air transport approval on the battery pack. Yes if we are daft enough to buy drill bits that struggle on stale cheese it is our fault. But often the fake materials and shoddy construction are not detected early enough. E scooters bursting into flames while charging for example? Back on topic. Yes hopefully plastic will filter short UV.

Yes an interesting thought. It is well known there is an association with catarcts and UV. I once saw a TV programme about people who lived in a high mountain region (sorry I forget the who and where details). The important thing is they had a really high incidence of cataracts, blamed by the professionals on increased UV at altitude. We all use 'white' lights now that are often derived from shhorter, ultra violet wavelengths. There are basically two ways to make a white non-filament light. The first is to build it from separate red/green/blue LED emitters and balance the colours. The second is to shine UV at phosphors. The phosphors convert the short wavelength UV to longer wavelengths that we can see. A technique used in fluorescent tubes and LEDs. But how much UV (invisible but harmful) gets through? Spectacles for screen users, cutting down UV, are available from many sources. From branded stuff to the untested and uncertifed stuff from the landfill generating country to the east. Looking forward to someone more knowledgeable tham me (which should be easy) contributing.

I looked at this a few years ago. Not all dessicant bags are created equal! My first thought was recycling in a conventional oven. This method is only financially viable if you are going to put lots of bags in the oven. A microwave at first sight looks a good solution. It acts on the water so limits to 100C. So you think. If the bag contents absorb microwave energy, you can have very high temperature in the bag. In other words don't walk away. things can go bang or catch fire. Maybe not on the spectactular level of placing ali foil trays in there, but you get the idea. For example some crockery absorbs microwaves, others don't. You see this when warming liquid and the container can remain cold, or can heat more than the liquid! I did not have (one of these new fangled) air fryers at the time I looked. It sounds like a good idea. A couple of litres of temperature controlled environment. On the list to try for the next drying session. Some dessicants can absorb a lot of water, some very little. The idea of a new dry weight marked on the bag is good. But what is dry weight? A new bag from the factory in a sealed poly bag can be assumed to be dry. A useful looking bag removed from something shipped to you has of course been exposed to indeterminate moisture before delivery. Then not all bags contain indicating pellets. When should I swap? The final hurdle is that the adhesive to seal the bag, and the bag material may not be suited to high temperature. Glue can melt and bag fibres break down. So yes it can be done but it is not a 'one size fits all' solution. HTH, David.

Having read that you have owned the scope from new, my advice on swapping out the transformer may have been hasty. The issue with old equipment is that you often don't know if someone has left it outside in all weathers, or attempted their own repairs and modifications. You can see where I am coming from. If you have had the scope from new, stored it sensibly and not repurposed the transformer, or modified wiring, you should be fine. I will give you an update on the stuff I have when I have negotiated the depths of the garage.

On the exterior wood protection. My 2007 build shiplap shed based observatory still has good walls. Tanalised (treated) wood was used. Since then I have been out with the cuprinol a few times. When assembling, be generous with the cuprinol (or whatever) on areas you can't get to afterwards. For example shiplap that is fastened to a batten. Or timber that is at the bottom. The pent roof needed quite a bit of additional timber. If starting again I would make a frame non-flat roof for rigidity. The original floor joists rotted about 10 years in. They were sitting on the concrete base. I replaced them by pressure treated 3" fence posts. Jacking the shed to avoid having to remove the contents & dismantle. Ask me in a few years how they have lasted. But I can jack it again. Like you I used a garage door opener. Excellent choice😁. The roof covering is pond liner - not roofing felt. Still good 2007 - 2023. While building consider putting thin vertical wires in the walls. Eventually linked to your alarm. When Burglar Bill tries to pry off planks to gain entry a wire breaks and you get lights and bells. Other security arrangements can be made later in the build. Following with interest. David.

The TAL motorised mounts had a 240V/12V transformer. The 'clock' or RA drive being synchronous motor. That is locked to 50Hz mains. Whether the transformer insulation is still good 30 years on is debatable. Of course in a modern house you have RCD protection...When did you last test it? I would replace the transformer by something new, or if wanting to retain authenticity, put a known good isolating transformer before the old TAL transformer. Again losing originality, yu can easily replace the 12V connectors by almost anything. XLR would be a good choice. Somewhere in the depths of my garage I have a TAL motorised mount. I will try to take a look (not before tomorrow evening though) and see if anything about the plugs looks compatible with modern stuff. Congratulations on the scope. If it has been looked after, it will give very good results. Mechanically and optically they are good. HTH, David.

I have used bar stool covers, like those described. Also been known to 3D print covers, spacer blocks, etc. When making covers for tubes bigger than my 3D printer, it was in pie slice manner & glue together. The finished items looked better than they sound😁

An LS60 is a 'plug and play' solution. That is remove from box, tune etalon and look/image. Unless you are going to dedicate a scope to a Quark, there is a longer setup time. I'm thinking here of adding filters, assembling parts, etc, then the Quark warm up time. To avoid the setup time, is it worth committing an expensive refractor to one job? You could use a cheaper refractor (CA is of course not an issue) and leave the Ha parts permanently assembled. In the UK, I don't think our skies warrant anything much bigger than a 60mm scope for Ha viewing. Going bigger hursts the wallet more than the stable sunny skiy availability. Just my opinion. Others may differ. As for your Australian skies, I have no idea. My solar viewing in Ha is with an LS60. Yes quick views out of the box. Very happy. Don't forget etalon quality/performance does vary. Regadless of manufacturer. Slightly off topic, but maybe worth a mention. My white light is a refractor with Herschel wedge, optional polarising filter and solar continuum (narrow green) filter. By viewing in green, you avoid the CA inherent in a low cost scopes. This has allowed me to 'play' with different low cost refractors as well as leave a scope set up ready to drop on a tripod. HTH, David.

Agreed. RJ type lead assemblies are cheap enough. Not worth the hassle.

I use pressure tuning. The (used) package) I bought included the 'tyre inflator' so it is easy to set the same pressure each time. No need to touch the scope to adjust pressure. The scope is 60mm with B1200. Not having used other combinations, I can't compare.

Hi. Something to add to the good advice from @Franklin. As you increase magnification, mount stability becomes important. You haven't said what mount you are using. As a general rule the package supplied mounts are a bit flexible. How steady is the image with a 12mm eyepiece? It will be twice the perceived wobble with a 6mm eyepiece.

My experience of LED street lighting, near my home, is that they aren't too bad. The fittings are well designed, shining down. Not scattering light all over, as the old sodium lights. Yes they are bright and difficult to filter. But 'out of area' light is not too bad. The problems come from ill designed and thoughtlessly installed lights on commercial and residential properties.

Good choice. The SW127 will delight with views of the moon when the sun is just set. Right now Venus is in a good place around sunset. OK your sunset timing in Sweden varies a little from UK. I don't know how far north you are. What I'm saying is that you can get started with the scope straight away. Become familiar. Review the finder choice. Maybe think about a different eyepiece. Then, in 3 months, you will be ahead of us with longer nights. Enjoy😁

FLO are a retailer with a very good reputation. They have many happy customers over many years. Me included. I have bought new and open box/returned items. The returned items have always had an honest description of condition. In conclusion, I have no hesitation in recommending them for any purchases. Now other retailers can be a completely different situation. Stick with a specialist astronomy retailer who has good reports on a reputable astronomy forum. Take a look at the supplier review section of SGL for example. Absolutely avoid general retailers, ebay and Amazon Warehouse. If you have a particular type of scope (or other equipment) in mind, ask around on SGL for user reports. The sale section on SGL is a god place to buy used equipment. We all want to continue to use SGL so are not going to offload rubbish or known problems without being open and honest. If you look at the items for sale you will see known defects and problems described. I have made a lot of purchases from SGL members and always had a positive experience. HTH, David.

Thank you for posting. By showing actual results, rather than the glossy sales flyers, we can see just what this equipment is capable of.

Opening warning that you hopefully don't need. Solar observing done incorrectly blinds - first time. Baader solar film is a very good low cost introduction. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/baader-astrosolar-safety-film-nd-50.html Make a frame to hold the film over the open end of the scope. Layers of card glued to make a frame and ensure there is a windproof and foolproof method of holding it in place. Tabs extending to the tube sides and a few elastic bands (coving for the odd one or two snapping) for example. If the filter comes off while viewing - refer to line 1. An alternative is a full aperture filter in a ready made frame, that screws to the front of the scope. This costs more. DO NOT try to do any solar energy filtering at the eyepiece end of things. You MUST limit the energy entering the scope. Once you have the solar film installed, you may use any eyepiece and maybe a variable polarising, or moon (dimming) filter for brightness adjustment. You must remember that cheap, solar and safe do not go together. HTH, David.

I signed the petition as soon as I heard of it - months ago. I think there were a couple of hundred signatures at the time. Today I see 1460 signatures. Many SGLers spend thousands on scopes, cameras, etc. Moans about light pollution, or questions about handling it, or questions about dark sites frequently appear on SGL. So why have o few from SGL (not to mention wildlife and energy waste groups) signed up? I could contribute reasons, or ask more questions but it is too much effort🤔.

This is a general mount & power supply comment. Rather than specific to this situation. But hopefully includes useful information. A power supply (PSU) with overcurrent protection may limit the current a maximum value instantly, or it may allow short term overcurrent before activating. Some OCP works to hold a constant value - if you overload a PSU the voltage reduces until the current is reduced to the protected value. Some OCP works in hiccup and retry. The PSU turns off, then retries. This can happen all day. Some hiccup circuits retry automatically, others require a mains off/on to reset. A mount electronics can be regarded as having two major components. Storage capacitors on the input circuit and a microprocessor. These need to be considered separately. If the mount has a large capacitor and you have constant OCP, the voltage will rise slowly, but get there eventually. By eventually I mean usually <1second. Think of the capacitors as a bucket and PSU current as a tap half or full on. If the PSU is 'hiccup and retry' you might never get there. Next the microprocessor. These days they usually have an internal power on reset circuit - so they start in a known condition. This circuit requires the 3.3V or 5V internal supply for the micro meets certain rise time conditions. If the OCP means a slow risetime (think dripping tap and big bucket) the micro may not start If the OCP is a hiccup type, the micro may get told to stop/go repeatedly and get confused. The mount electronics (if well designed) may not start the internal micro supply until the incoming is nearly 12V. Taking all of the above into consideration. Use a PSU with either no OCP, or a known constant OCP. Ensure OCP is significantly more than slewing motors on an out of balance mount. Include a switch between the PSU and mount so the PSU is settled before powering the mount. If the mount has an on/off switch you can omit the switch. If in doubt go over size on the PSU. Also invest in a multimeter so you can measure what is going on for yourself. HTH, David.

Nice to see a PST can be mended. Some years ago I made one from two broken scopes. Rusty objective and broken etalon. Looking at the blue ITF. Is the same size & characteristic as used in Lunt LS scopes? A cloudy blue filter is (or was) a known problem on LS scopes. They have been fixed for free long after warranty, or for a filter only cost (£35 when I paid). Maybe someone will be along who knows more about these.

An idea. Put the PCB into a larger box. Connect half decent switches by flying leads from the box lid to the PCB. Those ten-a-penny slide switches are well known for being troublesome. The annoying thing is they all seem to be different pinning, which makes obtainng replacements difficult.

My view on these DC connectors is they are unsuitable for the application. That being hundreds of insertions and often sideways forces on the cable. But if they get through warranty, especially with a lot of sales to people who don't make a lot of use of the kit....... A simple fix (depending on your skills and tools) is to solder wires from the PCB to an inline socket, dangling a few centimetres away from the box. However, in astro kit generally, the socket is often soldered to a PCB. Repeated use and sideways forces can fracture the soldered joint. Just reflow it - until next time. If reflowing, try to use 'proper' tin/lead solder. not the lead free stuff that needs a higher temperature and doesn't flow so easily. Are you certain the (low cost) cable running into the plug isn't damaged. With use you can get fractured strands in the cable, it the outer plastic sheath intact. A careful look and feel will often identify this. A fix is to buy a DC plug and solder it on yourself. HTH, David.

Yes definitely. Mine was in storage for some years. I pulled it out last year and gave it a 'sort out' for sale. Really well put together. Good mechanical engineering. Excellent optics. Manufacturers of modern under mounted and mostly plastic scopes take note🤣 To the OP. Are you sure you want to move it on, rather than take a peek through it? Even just looking at the moon will produce the 'wow'.