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Dew Prevention

MjrTom

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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Hello,

The last two sessions I have had under the stars, last week at the Peak star Party and also in the garden last night I have been plagued by dew problems on the 4" objective lens.

I have been looking at things like dew strips and controllers and the price is quite high for what they are.

I had the thought of getting a 12 hair dryer for about £10-£15 to run off a power pack to blast off the dew.

Is this feasible and would you recommend it or should I just bite the bullet and spend the cash on a proper dew heater strips and single/dual channel controller?

Thanks!

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Jannis

Jannis

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a hairdryer Will get it away instantly, but it will also dew up again almost instantly from my experience at least... last time i did that i had to de-dew the lens like, every 5-10 min...?

a constant dew prevention is what you probably will want over time.

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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thanks again guys :)

I have priced it up, for a 4 inch dew strap for the achro its £30 plus £39 for a single channel dual port dew controller.

I should be able I guess to use the 4" strap also on the 3 inch ED80 as well :D

Not that I tend to use both scopes together but maybe further down the line I might and then I shall get another strip.

Got to fork out to get my knackered Moonlite focuser fixed by the manufacturer so need to save a bit of cash if possible.

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brantuk

brantuk

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By the time you get to having to use a hairdryer the dew is so bad you have to pack up and finish your session. You also have to be very careful with hairdryers - only use them on low heat cos you don't want to be blowing directly on glass and mirrors when it's freezing cold - things can crack.

A dew heater system is a (non) cracking, good investment. :D

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Veracocha

Veracocha

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I'm surprised that dew affected you at PSP, over the three nights I wasn't affected whatsoever. I almost bought a dew control setup from GW but as I wasn't affected I didn't bother. Sooner or later though I'll have to bite the bullet.

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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I'm surprised that dew affected you at PSP, over the three nights I wasn't affected whatsoever. I almost bought a dew control setup from GW but as I wasn't affected I didn't bother. Sooner or later though I'll have to bite the bullet.

Yeah I was OK on the Friday and Saturday night but Sunday night by the time the clouds completely cleared at 2am and Orion had risen above the quarry lights I had a layer of dew and no way to remove it.

I forgot to ask GW if they had any dew heaters with them otherwise I would have purchased one on Saturday :D

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redfox1971

redfox1971

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I just bought myself the astrozap controller and band and would you belive all clear except about 1 half inches from centre and controllers flat out,but dew does seem bad at moment so hopefully will manage to keep clear in better conditions else dew sheild will have to go back on,so not 100% correct in what they advertise.

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

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You can use the dew shield and dew heaters together. Allways best to cos the shield also blocks stray light from the sides entering the tube or objective lens :D

Very true. The dew shield i made with a camping mat for my Heritage 130P works perfectly wall as a shroud for the open truss design of the heritage.

2 birds,1 stone

cost=about a fiver (still less the 20 squids even if i include the double sided sticky velcro i also bought)

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space3

space3

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Im in the same position as you Mark, im just starting to use my new setup the past two weeks, (weather improving)

but the dew is attacking every time I go out, im using a astrozap sheild but ill only get a little over an hour.

so im going to have to bit the bullet also grrrrr :D

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MjrTom

MjrTom

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Hiya,

Yeah I managed about an hour last night before dew struck.

I was wondering why the ring nebula (M57) and The Blinking Planetary Nebula (NGC6826) were so faint and lacking in contrast then took a look at the objective lens.... :D

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space3

space3

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Hiya,

Yeah I managed about an hour last night before dew struck.

I was wondering why the ring nebula (M57) and The Blinking Planetary Nebula (NGC6826) were so faint and lacking in contrast then took a look at the objective lens.... :D

ya its sickning when all is going well and then things start getting dimmer and dimmer, lol

also on my old scope I noticed after time with several dew ups,

the corrector started to get stained, I want to avoid this with the new kit

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