After being assaulted by the dewmonster I consulted the collective wisdom of SGL and constructed a dewshield from a campingmat. The mat is quite... erm.. pink so my always understanding and beautiful wife named my scope 'The Pig'.
Nevertheless it works quite well. It also covers the 'truss' part of the scope and I like to imagine that contrast is better. But perhaps this is only wishful thinking..
I got an AZ3 mount for free some months ago and after drilling a few holes I have mounted the scope on this. I love the slowmotion cables and being able to observe in a more comfortable position is really nice. I have not completely given up on the 'dob-idea' though and will try to make the Heritage foot smoother. Somehow...
What else? Oh yes grease. Being a poor man (family, crises and all this) I decided to try some of my bicycle-lube for the helical focuser. I figured this should be frost-resistant. It worked brilliantly. The focuser was silky smooth and quite a pleasure to use. I set the scope outside to cool down and a few hours later when I went outside I learned that - this particular bicycle-lube freezes. The focuser was completely stuck.
So until I find some cheap alternative I remove part of the focuser before putting the scope out in the cold.
Now I only need to find the selfdiscipline to get out of bed early and see if I can spot Saturn. But the bed is so nice and warm...
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