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a collection of photos by Eric Chesak

www.ericchesak.com

  1. Galleries
  2. DIY

CCFL Flat Panel

Read More
  • Rear of my trimmed laptop back-light flat panel

    Rear of my trimmed laptop back-light flat panel

  • Front of my trimmed laptop back-light flat panel<br />
<br />
This is constructed from an old laptop screen, with a dead back-light.  I happened to have another Cold Cathode Fluorescent light, from a discarded scanner, so after removing the LCD, I modified the size of the back portion of the display, to fit my lamp.  Many of these panels are constructed from a tapered piece of diffractive plexiglass with multiple diffusion screens.  Others use a flat piece of plexiglass with small etched dots & several diffusion layers.   I found that with my backlight, the diffusion layers had the effect of narrowing the field of view.  So once the panel was cut to size and the light installed, I added 2 layers of drafting velum, spaced by~1/4" of Cardboard.  This made the illumination very flat and non-directional.<br />
<br />
The final layer was a 1/4" thick piece of milk-white plexiglass.  On top of this is placed the foam ring, to slide over the dew shield of the scope.  Since I had an exciting electrical experience with the inverter, during a previous astrophotography session, I also enclosed this into a small box. The entire panel runs off 12V and is quite portable, as I found, somewhat robust (as long as bulb itself is not broken).

    Front of my trimmed laptop back-light flat panel

    This is constructed from an old laptop screen, with a dead back-light. I happened to have another Cold Cathode Fluorescent light, from a discarded scanner, so after removing the LCD, I modified the size of the back portion of the display, to fit my lamp. Many of these panels are constructed from a tapered piece of diffractive plexiglass with multiple diffusion screens. Others use a flat piece of plexiglass with small etched dots & several diffusion layers. I found that with my backlight, the diffusion layers had the effect of narrowing the field of view. So once the panel was cut to size and the light installed, I added 2 layers of drafting velum, spaced by~1/4" of Cardboard. This made the illumination very flat and non-directional.

    The final layer was a 1/4" thick piece of milk-white plexiglass. On top of this is placed the foam ring, to slide over the dew shield of the scope. Since I had an exciting electrical experience with the inverter, during a previous astrophotography session, I also enclosed this into a small box. The entire panel runs off 12V and is quite portable, as I found, somewhat robust (as long as bulb itself is not broken).

Unless otherwise noted, all Photos, Images and Videos are Copyright C. Eric Chesak
Unauthorized use is prohibited

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