New member looking for advice!

[mattstarman]

Hello I am new to this forum, and have just purchased my first scope, a Skywatcher skymax 127 Goto.

I have sourced a Heater controller, and wondered which are the best priced dew heater strips? and this may be a very silly question?! But where do you fir the heater strips on the scope?

Is there an adaptor to convert car cigarrette socket to a mains plug?

Thanks for reading,

[Spikey]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Try First light optivs for Dew heater strips, not sure on prices but there is a link right at the very top of this page. The dew strip wants to be positioned on the outside of the scope tube and roughly in line where the glass lens is positioned internally.

[mattstarman]

Thank you Spikey.

[mattstarman]

Another question,

I am looking at the Maplin 2oow portable power pack, does anyone use this?

Would it give enough power to run dew heater & the telescope?

[DoctorD]

You might also want to have a look at Modern Astronomy - Bern has some dew heaters in various sizes that do not need a controller.

Clear skies

Paul

[M4lcs67]

Welcome.... I have a Maplin 2 into 1 powertank to drive my scope and am considering getting a dew heater at some point. I currently have a dew zapper, but as winter moves closer then a dew heater will be a very useful tool. The Maplin powertank only has one power input however, so you will need to get a splitter so you can run the scope and the heater together.

[mattstarman]

Thank you for posting,

I think the 3 in 1 is the larger model Maplin make, I was looking at the smaller 200w unit, it has 2 cigarette sockets, a plug. I think it is advertised as a 200w invertor. Is anyone using these?

[hemihaggis]

Hello I am new to this forum, and have just purchased my first scope, a Skywatcher skymax 127 Goto.

I have sourced a Heater controller, and wondered which are the best priced dew heater strips? and this may be a very silly question?! But where do you fir the heater strips on the scope?

Is there an adaptor to convert car cigarrette socket to a mains plug?

Thanks for reading,

hi there i used to own a 127 mak , was a great scope ,wish i had not sold it , i would not bother with a dew heater , just make a shield out of cardboard or a camping mat ect , i stay in sw scotland where it is wet and cold and i never had any probs with dew after iu made the sheild , keep your pennies for somthing else !!

[JamesM]

On the question of a dew strip, I would certainly recommend the 'Dew-Not' range here that are made in USA and in stead of a heating element they use a gel instead. Makes for a more even coverage of heat and more importantly, uses less energy from your power tank so you can experience longer viewing sessions. A dew shield will work as an effective barrier but if you are outside for long periods then a dew heater will be necessary.

Hope that helps

James

[mattstarman]

Thank you for the advice, I am going to find out more about the Dew not heaters.

Do i need Eyepiece heater too?

I plan on cmaking my own dewshield, I have seen alot of other members have used camping mats, do these work ok, and what length should I make it?