prevented sparks

Manuel phoned. We were chatting about various things. I asked if he wanted to go the next DDO event. He did! Awesome.



Then he started talking about powering his new CGEM DX. Said he was trying power bricks from various other equipment but not having much luck. WTF? Stop! You could blow something up!

Got him to send me photos of spec cards on all the power supplies. Tried to explain to him how to read polarity diagrams. Explained how interpret amperage values. Looked up the specs for the DX and relayed them.

• DX requirements: 12 volts, 5 amps, centre pin positive
• CGEM non-DX power supply: 12 volts, 2.5 amps, centre pin positive
• Coming Data power supply: 12 volts, 5 amps, centre pin positive

Lucky. I said he was lucky that the polarities were the same (even though it seems that the DX has polarity protection). And that he was lucky he didn't operate the DX at fast slew rates under load, 'cause he would have popped the old Celestron power supply.

Curiously, the supply for the camera should have worked. I had him carefully try it again. Nothing.

So, on a whim, I had him look carefully at the plugs and sockets. Along with the car Cigarette Lighter Adapter cord for the DX. And in the end, we found that the camera supply centre pin is larger. It wasn't making contact.

I strongly recommended that he stop fiddling with this. Not something to screw around or do haphazardly. I told him he really needed to buy the official Celestron 5 A supply. He agreed and promised to call the store the next day.

§

Heh. Prevented another big Celestron mount from crossing the border...