LED Feet & Dew Controller Mod

[Mav359]

Hi guys

Whilst at Six Penny Handly John (Astro Merlin) came up with what i thought was a great idea so i have with no shame decided to copy him. What he did was take a role of the red LED strips cut of three LED's at a time and place and power them at the bottom of each tripod leg, run 12v cable to a dimmer switch and powered them up. as we all stumbled across the field in the dark John & Kes could see their scope from a distance, it was brilliant. So heres my attempt.....

Just like John i went to ebay bought a role of LED's, a few lenghts of 12v cable, some DC & component heads, a project box's and some other bits. Firstly i have gone a bit cable mad at the minute so i wanted put in place a system that never left the tripod. Also john had mentioned that he bought a dimmer switch to dim down the LEDs so they werent blinding anyone, it occured to me that i already had a power supply and dimmer control on the mount so rather then buy additional material i aldo decided to mod my dew controller. It supplies the power for the LEDs as well as giving me dimmer control.

Firstly the Dew Controller, with my new modular cabling in mind i wanted to leave the controller on the bracket i created but be able to disconnect the power cable from it, in its stock config the power cable is permenatly attached. As i would now be disconnecting the power cable i thought it best to add a power switch so i could turn off before dicsconnecting. i added a switch to the top and a threaded DC socket to the bottom, the power cable i have extended so that it can stay attached to the tripod leg and used a screw down barell connector so that the connection stays attached. The dew controller is still used for my dew strap.

The LED feet will be a permanent addition to the tripod. The LED's can be cut every 3rd LED so i have taken 3 LED's for each leg and measured from the bottom of the tripod leg, up and over to a central point on another leg where the Junction box will reside, the LED's are soldered to the 12v cable lenghts and soldered together, each then connects to the same side as the connector block. From the other side of the connector block it runs up out of the project box and connects to the dew controller as any heater strap does. I have tested all of it and it works a treat.

I do still need to place heatshrink over the soldering connections to the LED's, a proper component head for the power connector and i need to attach the whole thing to the tripod. I also need to find the best way to attach the project box to the top of the tripod leg, velcro is winnning at the min.

Cheers

[Mav359]

Thats my feet finished, the ends have all been heat shrink wrapped to keep them all water tight and i had added a component plug & connected it to the modded dew shield, works a treat!!!

Theres excess cable so that once the legs are extended they fit just right, i need to find a better adhisive to attach them to the scope but otherwise done.

[RobertC]

Quite a rather neat idea ! I am always knocking my legs even though i am right next to it

[astromerlin]

Nice job there Alan, good bit of lateral thinking with the dew controller mod.

I did have a tendancy to keep kicking the tripod legs at the star party the previous year so I was quite glad I made some, now what to do about the tent pegs I keep falling over! :grin:

[Mav359]

Cheers John

As well as kicking the tripod i also found it was  helpful to have a reference point walking back from the pub in the dark

[haitch]

Nice - I've been thinking about trimming some bits off my roll for illuminating individual bits of gear but had been wary of how easy it would be to solder on to the tabs - I take it that bit was simple enough?

[Mav359]

Cheers

I taught myself to solder properly (the basics) in a week and then did this and it all works. If i can do it anyone could.

Positive on the left and Negative on the right if i remember correctly.

I will deffo be looking to see if it has a practical use on or around any other bits of kit.

[RobertC]

If there is one thing to go along side astronomy my pick would be to understanding electronics. I studied it at college for one year and loved every bit of it ! Nothing better than building your own contraption to help you instead of paying for a ridiculous overpriced heap of junk that will break not long after