Dew heater for an 80ED

[samir_ansari]

Hi everyone,

I am looking at buying myself an early christmas present in the form of dew control and just wanted to make sure I'm getting the right stuff. I am looking at getting one of these:

First Light Optics - Astrozap Dual Channel Dew Heater Controller

and a 3" one of these:

First Light Optics - AstroZap Dew Heater Tapes

Is this all I need?

Thanks!

Samit

[Bizibilder]

That's it - but make sure you get a strip that will fit your largest scope, you can still fit that to the smaller one!

[samir_ansari]

Ah ha I see, thanks bizibilder! I also have a 127 skymax so are you saying I should just get a 4" one just to be safe and it will work fine on the 80ED?

[Bizibilder]

Yup!

[Earl]

Make sure you can power it ok are you using a Battery or mains? if mains use at least a 5amp adapter.

[samir_ansari]

Yep, I was looking at getting one of these converters:

RING Power System Mains Adapter: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

Seems to have very wildly varying reviews but most of them seem to be by people who didn't bother reading the actual product description

[morimarty]

Hi samir

I have the same dew heater tapes and controller, and they are excellent additions to my setup. ironically i also just purchased the ring mains adapter and it works a treat. just be careful if you are going to use the adapter outdoors it must be damp proof.

ATB martyn

[samir_ansari]

Ok so the deal fell through with the dual channel astrozap but was looking at this instead:

First Light Optics - HitecAstro single-channel, dual-port Dew Controller

However the description has confused me a little:

A simple but effective single-channel, dual-port dew controller with 6-Amp combined output. Simply plug it into an appropriate power supply and connect one or two heater tapes and your good to go.

A cigarette-lighter type plug with 5 amp fuse and 2m of cable is included

Will the 5 amp cigarette to mains converter work with this if I am only planning on using one of the ports?

[Bizibilder]

Yes you can just plug one Dew strip in and it will work OK (and use less power). I suppose that to be safe you should cover the other outlet with a suitable rubber cap - especially if it is wet. If you should short it out you may get a bit of a zap from it.