AVAILABLE FOR PRE ORDER NOVEMBER 20th Release Date
The ECCO-NTC is a nifty little adapter that bridges the gap between your Celestron Dew Heater Ring and the ECCO2 environmental computerized controller. Unlike standard dew heater straps, the Dew Heater Rings are a bit special because they make use of an NTC thermistor to keep tabs on the temperature of your Schmidt-Cassegrain or aplanatic Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope’s corrector plate. The cool part? It does this all without the need for any additional external temperature probes.
Now, the ECCO-NTC itself is quite the compact and featherlight device, tipping the scales at just 40 grams (or 1.4 ounces, if that’s more your style). It's designed to snugly fit into any standard Vixen-style finder shoe, and it comes with a couple of grub screws to securely attach it to the main body of your ECCO2. Plus, you won’t have to fuss around with external power sources because the ECCO2 has got it covered, supplying all the power the ECCO-NTC needs.
It’s worth noting, though, that the ECCO-NTC is like the ECCO2's exclusive best friend – it’s not going to play nice with the original ECCO controller, so make sure you’ve got the second generation ECCO2 before you dive in. As of November 20th, it’s ready to roll and hit the shelves.
So, diving a bit more into the nuts and bolts of what makes the ECCO-NTC adapter stand out:
- It’s your golden ticket to connecting your Celestron Dew Heater Ring with the ECCO2.
- It's made to hitch a ride on a standard Vixen-style finder shoe.
- It’s not going to weigh you down, coming in at a breezy 40 grams.
- Forget about hunting for an external power source – it draws its juice directly from the ECCO2.
Inside the box, you’ll find all the cables you need to hook everything up. And, good news – it’s all pretty straightforward:
- Secure the ECCO2 into the ECCO-NTC using those two grub screws I mentioned earlier.
- Grab the "12VDC 5.5/2.1 mm to RCA power cable" that came with your Dew Heater Ring and connect it to one of the EAGLE's dew heater ports.
- Now, take the "3.5mm to 3.5mm power jack cable" and plug it into the ECCO’s port that corresponds with the EAGLE’s dew heater port you just used. For example, if you plugged the dew ring power cable into port number 6 on the EAGLE, you’ll want to connect this cable to port 6 on the ECCO2.
- Connect the other end of that "3.5mm to 3.5mm power jack cable" to the 3.5mm port on the ECCO-NTC.
- Now, take the "2.5mm to 2.5mm cable" and connect it from the 2.5mm port on the ECCO-NTC to the thermistor jack on the dew ring.
- Finally, use the "USB-C to USB-A cable" (yep, it comes with the ECCO2) to connect the ECCO2 to the EAGLE. (Just a heads up, this last step is for those using EAGLE models that have dew heater ports.)
And there you have it! You’re all set up and ready to go, no special software required. Just plug in, attach the cables following these steps, and enjoy a dew-free observing or astrophotography session!
