NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
From: Art Leung
Date: 2022 Jul 20, 05:56 -0700
Mr Loubris - I'm glad that article was useful!
I've read ahead in the thread and I think Dave Pike has the right idea of setting the instrument on a stable platform.
I'm not sure what might be the cause of the bubble not centering, but a couple of things do come to mind. The first is to make sure you have snugged down (not super tight, but snug) all 4 of the long screws that hold the bubble chamber to the chassis. The second is to ensure that you have not pinched the rubber gasket that sits between the bubble unit and the chassis causing the chamber to sit askew.
Reading ahead about the power supply, I have a 28V instrument with the electronic averager. For the lighting, I use a USB-rechargable lithium battery, a DC-DC boost converter (adjustable with a voltmeter to boost the 5V USB output to 28V), an Amphenol connector, and some wire. For the higher current requirements of the electronic averager, I use larger laptop batteries (rechargeable lithium). I can get you a parts list with links to Amazon if you would like. Everything you see in the picture is available from Amazon except the boost converter housing (the thing with the slots epoxied to the laptop battery holder) which a friend kindly 3D printed (if you have access to a 3D printer, I am sure he would be happy to provide the design files for you to print your own).
Lastly, Mr Loubris and Mr Pike - thank you for your service!