Enhancing the Nexstar mount

Last time I pulled the whole setup to a nearby playground, I managed to put the OTA, the tripod and every accessories inside a medium sized backpack.  And the Nexstar mount was placed inside another bag.  It's very portable indeed.

The backlash has to be adjusted further for high power imaging. 

For the power, I used 8 AA rechargeable batteries, and it gives ~2400mmAh at around 9.6V, after playing for around two hours, I guess only 50% power was left.

I've tried to fit 3 pieces of 18650 inside the battery compartment last time, and it's even smaller than 8 AA!  So I took the plunge to remove the original battery box and replace it with a 18650 battery box.

With higher quality 18650, say 3400mmAh (measured by myself), now I've 3400mmAh at around 11.1V so it should last even longer.  With my current charger, I could recharge them at once, instead of two times (i.e. four at a time), and it's much more efficient, too.  The cost of the 18650 is similar to AA rechargeable, by similar, I mean the cost of one piece of 18650 is similar to that of the cost of one piece of AA rechargeable!  So, the overall cost is less than a half.

And it's lighter too!

 
The modification is simple and even reversible, just some very simple soldering work.