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KSON RDF Finder - eBay £8.00 - Dead on Arrival

johninderby

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johninderby

johninderby

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As many seem to have done a few days ago I ordered two of the KSON RDF finders that were on eBay for £8.00. One of them arrived today but unfortunately doesn't work at all. I checked that the battery was OK by putting it in another finder and also put a new battery in this finder so it's the unit itself that's at fault. I'll wait until the other one arrives and see if that one works before contacting the seller.

Anyone else received one of these finders yet?

John

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russ

russ

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Hi John,

I received one of mine today and also thought it was dead. Heart sank. Swapped batteries with another new one from the shed. But nothing or at least that's how it appeared. Thought i would test it under the stairs in the dark. In the dark it does work but its very faint compared to the Rigel version i already have. Even on level 7 it barely gets going. The Rigel i can use as a daytime finder its so bright on 7. I'm guessing that on closer inspection tonight, you'll find it does work but very faintly. A bit of a disappointment. ;)

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johninderby

johninderby

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Hi John,

I received one of mine today and also thought it was dead. Heart sank. Swapped batteries with another new one from the shed. But nothing or at least that's how it appeared. Thought i would test it under the stairs in the dark. In the dark it does work but its very faint compared to the Rigel version i already have. Even on level 7 it barely gets going. The Rigel i can use as a daytime finder its so bright on 7. I'm guessing that on closer inspection tonight, you'll find it does work but very faintly. A bit of a disappointment. :)

You're right. I just tried it in a very dark room and I could just see the larger dot and the two others when set to 7. Couldn't make out the smallest dot at all though. I'll have to see if it's bright enough under real observing conditions. I also have another RDF that can be seen in daylight when set to 7.

Well at least it works more or less and it was only £8.00. There have been a lot of complaints about RDFs being too bright so this finder would take of that problem all right. ;)

John

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russ

russ

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I used mine in anger last night and can confirm that in use, in 'real' observing conditions, it's actually pretty good. If anything i prefer it to the Rigel for night use. The Rigel is bright, even on 1. I quite like the subtle light of the Kson. Would have been nice if they upped the brightness on 7 but hey ho, as John says, it was only £8.

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russ

russ

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There were a couple of hunderd of these split across various lots... and others in odd's and end's boxes...

Peter...

Ah so we will be seeing them on Ebay for a bit longer yet.

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russ

russ

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My 2 arrived this morning, both work OK but are a little faint while testing them in my front room. They'll be plenty bright enough under the stars.

Absolutely no probs under the stars. They work very well. ;)

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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When mine arrived I also thought that it was dead. Changed the battery etc and found that it worked although faint even on 7.

However, used it last night with my binocular setup and it was ok - if fact against the dark sky it was very good. So for £8 I am quite pleased

Mark

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xboxdevil

xboxdevil

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Silly question but where on this is the battery compartment? Is it in the dial where you choose the reticule shape with the little screw?

I took that screw out before I realised that the brightness dial with the numbers on had a screw cover on the top! although mine did need a coin to get it going.

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xboxdevil

xboxdevil

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Here's the instructions for the Astro-Tech version of this finder if anyone wants some info on setting it up and using it.

http://www.astronomics.com/main/documents/astro%20tech/astro-tech%20atf%20manual.pdf

I'm waiting for the second of the finders to arrive so that I can compare the brightness.

John

Cheers, did you manage to see page 2? or did anyone get the two part base? (I didn't) anyone know the best way to mout this on my Skywatcher 300p?

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johninderby

johninderby

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I just scrolled down to page 2.

To mount it get one of these (also mentioned in an earlier post)

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/mrf/dovetail.html

and a dovetail mounting shoe.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-shoe/quickrelease.html

Then if you don't want to drill holes in your OTA you can get a universal mounting plate that just sticks onto the OTA with foam tape and the mounting shoe will bolt onto that.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-plate/universal.html

John

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xboxdevil

xboxdevil

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I just scrolled down to page 2.

To mount it get one of these (also mentioned in an earlier post)

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/mrf/dovetail.html

and a dovetail mounting shoe.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-shoe/quickrelease.html

Then if you don't want to drill holes in your OTA you can get a universal mounting plate that just sticks onto the OTA with foam tape and the mounting shoe will bolt onto that.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-plate/universal.html

John

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look, I get an error when I try to scroll to the 2nd page then it appears blank, funny that Adobe auto updated itself the other evening....hmmmm......

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russ

russ

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I just scrolled down to page 2.

To mount it get one of these (also mentioned in an earlier post)

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/mrf/dovetail.html

and a dovetail mounting shoe.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-shoe/quickrelease.html

Then if you don't want to drill holes in your OTA you can get a universal mounting plate that just sticks onto the OTA with foam tape and the mounting shoe will bolt onto that.

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/finder/universal-finder-mounting-plate/universal.html

John

Watch out for the self-adhesive jobby. I had one of my WO 66. Worked fine at first and then one night it just plopped off. ;)

If you have a WO style crayford, you can buy a clone of the WO finder base for £15 from Opticstar.

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MarkF

MarkF

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Mine seemed quite bright just holding it under the desk, I think I just picked up a dew shield for it on Astroboot for 3.99 instead of 7.99, looks the same as the one on the scope teknix MRF which is the KSON RDF by the looks of it. Also bought the pedestal which should just slip in my Skywatcher finder quick release shoe for now.

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