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WADAS (Wakefield and District Astronomical Society)

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astrotyke

astrotyke

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I've just binge-watched Stargazing Live, but was disappointed that they only did one Back to Earth programme, as I find that the most interesting part.

Me and Terry commented about how "dodgy" the space suits are, to say they cost about £50M each lol

At least they got back inside the ISS safely :)

indeed, there complicated things, i know they have 3 on the iss, but dont know how many more they have back on earth. i presume there going to, if they havnt already test that suit again just like they did after lucas spacewalk

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Matt Scunthorpe

Matt Scunthorpe

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Will they retire that suit now? its the second time at least that its had a leak, rumour has it that they new of a leak before lucas ilfated space walk the other year. dont think id want to go for a space walk in it.

I doubt they will, they only have 1 spare as it is on the ISS. At £50m a pop I can see why they want to keep fixing it, but if its a problem with the water cooling system leaking (as appose to the drinking water) I wonder how much of a repair they can do with the limits of the ISS. Its not like they can send it off to the lab to get the tubing replaced.

Matt.

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As usual the weather was delightful over the weekend so I decided to get a few jobs out of the way which I'd been putting off.

My power tank needed an upgrade and also I had to put all the kit together for the dew controller. Basically I wanted to change the jack plugs I had on the power tank to XLR sockets. These lock in so no more accidental power loss during those long 'imaging' sessions!

post-28847-0-61517900-1453114570_thumb.j

So with the power tank done I built up the dew controller using the LED dimmers inside which everyone uses. I think Matt Goo put a thread together with all the details on.

post-28847-0-04624500-1453114587_thumb.j

So it has three outputs secondary, eyepiece and finder.

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Most of the imagers I've met swear by them Matt.

They are made by a company called NEUTRIK originally and sold at maplin. You can get the copies off a popular auction site the best being REAN. There is a huge price difference.

The female sockets are copies and the male socket on the dew controller is an original so a lot more expensive.

I'm going to buy an 8mtr cable and split it with a male/female plug so I have the two cables I need.

I also finished off the cover for the mirror box on the dob.

Next onto the secondary holder which between me and Ryan I'm hoping it's gonna be sorted by the end of the month.

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Vicky050373

Vicky050373

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Great job as usual Damian - wish I was more techie. Might have to look into doing some kind of course on that kind of thing as it'd be really useful with putting my own kit together instead of having to buy everything ready made. Plus, some things you can't buy, and have to put them together yourself.

It's all coming together for you - here's to clear skies at Galloway for you :)

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How do you change the cable from the mount to the new powerpack sockete. Or did you buy another one.

Forgive my sarcasm Matt as I don't own any AP equipment

If you wanted to do it for a mount you'd either use the standard cable and change the cigarette plug or do what most of the EQ6 owners do and change the input socket on the mount to a screw on plug and socket.

Mine are for the dob.

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MattGoo

MattGoo

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Looks like a decent job on your dew controller Damian. Here's mine that I made a while ago:

Dew Controller


This one is now only used for when I'm 'in the field' i.e. away from home and running off the portable powerpack.


This is the EQ6 mod to use an 'XLR' connector, pretty simple to do.

EQ6 Power Mod Connected

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Cheers Matt. I've had all the dimmers just dangling about for about 3 years now and finally decided to do a full build whilst I've got a spare hour.

Here's a useful link for anyone wishing to pursue the home brew route

http://www.blackwaterskies.co.uk/2013/05/a-cheap-multi-channel-dew-heater.html?m=1

I have fused the outputs internally and also included a spare LED dimmer board inside as these can fail being cheap.

The XLR socket on the EQ6 is for the money the best mod you can do on the mount. Just have to be sure you are confident to do it

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On the subject of plugs, sockets and connectors it has just been brought to my attention by the ever helpful Derek (physopto) that another alternative is the speekON brand sold at a few outlets such as Farnell/CPC.

If I was into the dark arts these would be probably the ones I'd use as they are also water proof.

As you may well know I have no wish to purchase these lol!

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