GPS Status Light mod

September 2023 – the GPS flipped out again. This time around, I just needed to push the reset button that I added a while back. But that does mean removing the fork arm cover. Seems like a great time to add a light pipe!

A light pipe is just a clear, polished length of plastic that carries light from one end to the other, and these are used in lots of electronics these days. A light pipe allows mounting LED’s on a circuit board so they can still be seen externally, as on a front panel or something. This makes it easy to manufacture electronics having indicators. No need to mount LED’s separately and run wires. I happened to have a few of these hanging around from my chess clock project.

I thought about installing a light pipe when the GPS receiver last flipped out, but was hesitant to drill a hole in the fork arm. But it’s not rocket science, and after eight years of use its not like the CPC-800 scope is in warranty or anything! And when finished, the light pipe is attractive and functional, so why not! The only trick is properly locating the light pipe so it will intercept some light reflected from the LED. I just eyeballed the location and it came out just about right. Here are a few photos:

The telescope fork arm cover is removed, and one can see the innards, including the GPS receiver.
The GPS receiver is mounted inside the fork arm (handle side). The cover is easily removed after removing the handle and four screws.
A flashlight is shown pointing into one end of the mounted light pipe, and light is seen emerging from the other end. Illustrates how the light pipe is useful for conduction of light.
I did it – I decided on a location where the light pipe would pickup light from the GPS LED and then pressed in the light pipe, held by a friction fit. Here’s a nice demo showing it in action.
A photo showing the GPS receiver as mounted within one side of the telescope fork arm.
One can see the added GPS reset button (described in another post) and the red GPS LED indicator. The LED faces down but is reflected off the shinny metal mounting plate. The light pipe picks up enough to be seen outside the housing. I’m usually in the dark anyway, I don’t want a bright light. Works out just about right.
I ended up with a nice, neat installation, shown here before re-installing the fork arm cover. The light pipe looks like it was factory installed.
I ended up with a nice, neat installation, shown here before re-installing the fork arm cover. The light pipe looks like it was factory installed.
Here, we see the fork arm cover re-installed and the light pipe conducting light from the GPS LED indicator light. It does the trick!
Here, we see the fork arm cover re-installed and the light pipe conducting light from the GPS LED indicator light. It does the trick!