Polar Scope Illuminator (My Attempt)

[Mav359]

Hi guys

JamesF posted his polar scope illuminated mod http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-astronomer/175561-eq3-2-polar-scope-illuminator.html which i liked so much i thought i'd have a go.

I'm still learning to solder so rather then trusting my new skills i decided to mount a battery pack and not risk burning my obs down

My electronic knowledge at this level is limited as well. I bought a 3xAA battery pack and some 5v red LED's but soon realised that running a single LED off 3xAA caused the LED & the batt's to heat up (super hot). Running a second LED solved this issue so i decided on a power indicator out front and topped it all off with a toggle switch so i can power it on and off.

oh yeah, i painted it black....

I havent tried it yet so i'll let you know but so far so good.

Cheers James , great idea.

[RogerTheDodger]

Did you put a resistor in series with the LED? If not, that's why it was getting hot.

P.S. good innovation on the piping there

[Reggie]

a 1k ohm resistor would do the trick, although I'd put a 330ohm resistor and a potentiometer on it so that you could adjust the brightness to a suitable level.

[JamesF]

Nicely done.

(I used an LED with a built-in resistor in mine which is why there's no separate component. I thought I mentioned that, but I'll go back and edit the original posting if not.)

James

[Reggie]

If the OPs led is a real 5v led then it should be geared up to take that voltage and it getting warm shouldn't be an issue as such as it will be within spec with 3xAA batteries, of course, the OP could also see if it works on 2xAA batteries too, that would have the same desired effect if the led lights at that voltage.

[Mav359]

Hey James

According to maplins web site the LED's have a resistor build in, i may have been doing something else wrong but its not an issue now anyway so i'm not to cocearned.

I have since plugged it into the mount and its bright, i dont know yet if its too bright only time will tell but some sort of dimmer control as Reggie sugests should be do-able.