Re: ATM Beyond the fan

[Richard Foulk <richard@skydive1.com>]

} Somewhere in the archives is a post I made about Peltier devices...
} The same info is true today. A 2 inch square Peltier cooler/heater
} operated at 12 volts (13.6 vehicle battery) will draw between 2 and 4
} amps (24 to 48 watts if using the 12 volt figure). This amount of
} energy must be applied to EACH device and the resulting heat sent
} somewhere out of the optical path. So far I've seen a lot of
} daydreaming about cooling mirrors etc with Peltier devices but not
} much thought given to hauling the power source or dissipating the
} waste heat.
} 
} If I can jog your collective memory... ATM's are making thin mirrors
} and lightweight scopes to save a pound or two for ease of transporting
} our scopes then, adding hundreds of pounds of support equipment to
} make up for the compromises made.
} 
} Some of this doesn't make sense to me!
} 
} Ken Hunter
} 

Seems like overkill from various angles.  When I first saw it mentioned
I thought; "Wow, they've got such amazing scopes the mirror overheats just
collecting starlight!"

Reminds me of putting a 455 cubic inch engine in a VW bug.  Touch the gas
wrong and jump to lightspeed instantly in some random direction.

There are so many crazy problems with this idea I'd take a bet against it's
success in a heartbeat.

Peltiers transfer BTUs through contact, either direct or with a
water-jacket of some kind, perhaps.  So a cold 2-inch square patch in
the middle of your mirror or, how to construct a water-jacket ...  Wow.

:-)


Richard