Light Shroud for SW Heritage 130P

[LukeSkywatcher]

Bin Liner and elastic bands.

Brilliant.

So simple, yet effective in these lean mean times.

That gets my vote.

[Naemeth]

Will that be enough to take the extra light out?

[LukeSkywatcher]

Bin liners are quite thick but flexible. Some of the cheaper brands are paper thin and you can see through them.

[ObscuredbyClouds]

There is also thicker grade black card which you could blue-tac on. Its not as if you will be standing in the rain is it ?

[acey]

Will that be enough to take the extra light out?

How much light will be shining on it? It's going to be used at night, remember. If the site is really so bright then maybe the answer is a darker site.

I agree that black bin liner would do well enough if a shroud is thought necessary. It's also worth considering what the shroud is actually for. The thread title is "light shroud" but the OP complains of dewing, and the main purpose of a shroud on an open-tube scope is to prevent dewing of mirrors, not deal with light (that's done with baffling - and choosing a suitable site). For dew-prevention, camping mat or cardboard will do just as well.

As I mentioned earlier, thermal insulation is irrelevant to dew prevention: dew is caused by heat radiating from the mirrors, and the way to prevent it is to physically shield mirrors from the sky, as much as possible (obviously you can't do it completely, otherwise you wouldn't see anything). Pointing a newtonian at the zenith for a long time is a good way to get dew on the primary - so it's a good idea to keep it horizontal when not looking through it.

[Naemeth]

At least in my case, it's for the transit of Venus. So Darkness does matter.

[Albenn]

Ahhhhhhhhh ok it the mesh kind of material i was thinking of.

If you want to send it to anyone, send it to Alan. Its his thread and i am in no real need for it.

Nice offer BTW.

Sorry Alan i didnt mean to hijack your thread. I'm just trying to be helpful.

No problem Paul. Never thought that for one second. There are obviously others who need help on this and I just got the ball rolling. I like the ideas that are coming forward but don't think I'll be using the pond liner option though, so we need to find a new home for the left over roll end

[Pappy Nick]

LOL i cant think for the life of me what its called atm (something like goldfish its that simple) but ya get it in a roll, its black and it stops the weeds coming up lol.

I have half a roll, tell ya what ill send it one of you and then pass it along the line, i have no need for it.

Hmmmmm ..... Landscape Fabric ?????

[Moonshane]

could it be garden weed material? http://www.flickr.com/photos/shane58/2748024006/

£14 a roll of 20x1m at Wickes.

[Moonshane]

you can also do this http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=152234 with the rest

[Naemeth]

Almost finished my neoprene version, and it looks like the other one I linked to before.. need to get rid of some of the overlapping though..

[Albenn]

Could you post some pics when finished so we could have a look please?

[Moonshane]

this material might be good too. I have used it for the UTA on my home made dob http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220995327701

[Naemeth]

Could you post some pics when finished so we could have a look please?

Yeah, sure.. when I finally figure out how to get rid of all the gaps without supergluing it to the scope, mind you, I don't think I'll be removing it anytime soon, it might improve contrast .

[Naemeth]

So I've finished .

Bit messy, but it's done, the scope is out now, ready for another clear night.

[SionR25]

Very impressive. Was it easy enough to mould round to the shape and around the eyepiece holder and RDF?

Sion

[Naemeth]

Very impressive. Was it easy enough to mould round to the shape and around the eyepiece holder and RDF?

Sion

I've got to admit, this one isn't one you can easily take off/put on because I had to superglue extra bits of neoprene onto it, so it's by no means perfect. It was very easy, whole thing came in a massive roll, so there is plenty spare if you mess up. Key is to do it slowly... but the 130P is awkward because the tube isn't a perfect circle...

This was trial and error, so it's pretty easy to do . (I can't even cut in a straight line xD).

[Albenn]

Yes but it's a good effort for a first attempt. If you decide to do another it should be easier and neater as you'll know what you can and can't do with the neoprene.

[Naemeth]

The neoprene seems perfect, exactly the right thickness and it's really bendy. So if you don't have anything for the 130P, go with the neoprene like I did .

[AlexB67]

The neoprene seems perfect, exactly the right thickness and it's really bendy. So if you don't have anything for the 130P, go with the neoprene like I did .

Interesting digging up this old thread, so can you comment on how well it performs in terms of dew build up, and in terms improving contrast of the image, keeping out stray light when in an LP area, where street lights are not too far away, has it made a big difference ?

I also recall seeing a thread where someone made it so it fixed onto the inside of the tubes so it is round and slides into the OTA, if that makes sense, so in fact the whole assembly could still be moved in an out without removing the shroud very nicely, but I cannot find that thread, it looked very neat. Swear it was posted in this forum but not found it so far.

I found some of that weed control fabric in my shed, looks like it could do the job. Currently planning to add this little feature onto my Heritage, plus perhaps a hand made version of something like this also

http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/astro-engineering/dark-cap/AC900.html

I welcome any Heritage 130p shroud builders comments.

[Naemeth]

Interesting digging up this old thread, so can you comment on how well it performs in terms of dew build up, and in terms improving contrast of the image, keeping out stray light when in an LP area, where street lights are not too far away, has it made a big difference ?

I also recall seeing a thread where someone made it so it fixed onto the inside of the tubes so it is round and slides into the OTA, if that makes sense, so in fact the whole assembly could still be moved in an out without removing the shroud very nicely, but I cannot find that thread, it looked very neat. Swear it was posted in this forum but not found it so far.

I found some of that weed control fabric in my shed, looks like it could do the job. Currently planning to add this little feature onto my Heritage, plus perhaps a hand made version of something like this also

http://www.scopesnsk...-cap/AC900.html

I welcome any Heritage 130p shroud builders comments.

I remade my shroud so it goes up and down with the tube. All you need to do is stick some neoprene foam (Something like: http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/hobbycraft-fab-foam-sheet-in-black/565433-1000) to the inside with some selotape and make sure it's secure, stick both sides together and it should be fine going up and down the tube. Then you need to make a hole in it for the secondary.

This works rather well, it does seem to improve contrast but it has been a long time since I haven't had a shroud. It doesn't manage to keep all street lights out unfortunately because the hole I've cut is too big, whereas before it was too small (causing vignetting that I didn't realise for a long time).

I haven't yet been out long enough for dew to be an issue - I've only just finished my university degree and when I was studying I didn't have more than an hour or so outside.

HTH

[AlexB67]

Thank you kindly. I'll probably order that but before doing so I'll take a quick trip to Wickes BQ and Homebase during the week, all are but 7 minutes away just to see what they have.

[happy-kat]

I have not made mine yet but I bought black kite material and plan to use it double thickness and make an external 'sock' that can go up and down with the tube.

[AndyWB]

I ended up following Naemeth's lead and using thin neoprene too. I actually had enough to try a couple of designs - I'm still deciding what I think works best. I did find that sticky-back velcro link you get in Hobbycraft sticks to the neoprene nicely.