Rigel Quikfinder Dew Control

[bendiddley]

Hi all. Can people tell me how they control dew on a rigel quikfinder? I used mine the other night and the bottom half of the glass got dew on it and the top half didn't. Ideally I would like both to be clear. I have seen you can buy heat tapes that go on the rigel which are controlled by a mains powered controller but if I was to use one of these I would prefer battery powered as I want to take it out and about, can you get one like that? If not heat tapes is there any other method ie. some sort of cover? What do others do?

[lhuchison]

I stuck a little hood on mine using velcro spots. hood made from neoprene left over from a similar hood for my telrad . Seems to work.

[fredster]

The homemade hood works quite well most nights. Although mine (for the Telrad) failed miserably on Saturday night. The dew was terrible. Decided to order the Revelation heated pad. Seen it used by others for the Rigel too. You'll need a 12v battery pack and a simple controller too. So all in all not that cheap really. £18 for heater pad, £12 for a straight through power connector and the need a for 12v Powertank.

[bendiddley]

I stuck a little hood on mine using velcro spots. hood made from neoprene left over from a similar hood for my telrad . Seems to work.

hi lhuchison. where can you buy the neoprene from?

[Luke]

Not very high tech, but I just use my finger to wipe it. I do have warm hands though!

[Jim-a]

Ben - I got a sheet of thin black foam from the Range in Reading town centre to make a shield for the Telrad - 50p - should do the trick

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Hobbycraft also do thin sheets of a4 sized foam for a similar price.

[RikM]

I just wipe it with a bit of tissue or my finger. It is not an 'optical' quality surface so as long as you don't sandpaper it, I don't think you can do much harm.

[bendiddley]

cool thanks guys

[lhuchison]

a hobby store on ebay. I think you can get it from any hobby shop. £ 1.50

[paul schofield]

+ 1, I just wipe it off with a tissue. Has not damaged the plastic and is still as good as new.

[cantharis]

Just waft a bit of warm air at it from the wife´s hairdryer.

[michaelmorris]

a hobby store on ebay. I think you can get it from any hobby shop. £ 1.50

Foam cut from an old mouse mat would do the trick as well.

[Galilean]

As someone else said - I just very gently use a hairdryer - even have a 12V version , bought from a ship´s candler, for when I am in the field.

[Galilean]

cHandler - where is the EDIT button ??