cold nights - last night

[lynnm]

given the clear skys last night, i decided to brave the cold and set up viewing the orion Nebula and Jupiter as it was in fine form.. but it was freezing literally.. ice on the whole scope after a while, athlough wrapped up warm the finger and feet started to freeze.. and then so did the lenses..

what do people do about stopping the lenses freezing up??

cheers

Mike

[zakkhogan]

you can get dew shield, offers very little resistance but does work, i use one, also you can get a dew heater or a portable hair dryer.

I use the hair dryer method, however both require a power source, i'll find some links in a bit

[zakkhogan]

dew shield http://www.scopesnskies.com/prod/astro-engineering/lightbridge/AC690.html

hair dryer http://www.365astronomy.com/12v-hair-dryer-defroster-with-cigarette-lighter-plug-p-2753.html

I dont think you can use the heater on dobs but the hair dryer should work, its also cheaper as you dont need a thermostat to control it

[lynnm]

i think a hair dryer might be the option, i have a dew sheild on the dob, and the mirror is fine .. it's just the lenses picking up mosture as i'm looking through them...

i wonder if a travel 12v hairdryer might be an option?

[knobby]

Not had that problem yet... But I keep an ep in my pocket and swap when it gets dewey ... The ep, not my pocket

[zakkhogan]

Not had that problem yet... But I keep an ep in my pocket and swap when it gets dewey ... The ep, not my pocket

You might experience now with the SCT as the corrector lens frosts up quite quick,

Both my SCT and Refractor suffer but cant remember having it with any of my reflectors

[knobby]

Lovely!

[perrin6]

I have a childs toy battery operated hairdryer which takes a while but works.

[lynnm]

i remember back when i had a VW bug, they sold a heater jacket that went around the carb.. i wonder if that would be a nice fit around the 2" lens...

[Billy- the -Badger]

My first outing with the new toy last night

some excellent views of Jupiter and the moons

gave up when I lost feeling in my fingers.

[Bluey]

I ended up getting iced out as well last night, the scope was covered when I'd finished.

I think some of the problems with the ep is breath getting on there and freezing, I just took the ep out and replaced it with another.

Orion looked great, and I managed to split Rigel, which was even better! Got Bodes Nebula had a good look at Betelguese as well, just in case

[Scooot]

Am I right yours hasn't got an enclosed tube, maybe you could get a shroud for it. I was out for about 3 hours last night and didn't have any trouble with ice etc and my tubes enclosed, so I wonder if that's the difference. Don't know how effective they'd be though.

had a good night, saw quite a few things, various Messieurs, m1, & Eskimo nebula. Has anyone seen m78, every time I look I can never see anything? Thought it was meant to be fairly obvious but I never see it.

[zakkhogan]

here's a shot of my scope after a session last year

Also some of the Messier objects can be tricky in light polluted skies , its amazing what a couple of street lights can do

[Scooot]

That's shot that idea then

[skywatcher250]

Wow that is 1 cold scope. Same happened with me last night. Little tip for anyone ( I found out the hard way ) when u take the kit inside especially the OTA it'll really sweat so keep it level so no condensation can drop on the mirror(s).

[skywatcher250]

Btw scoot I made a shroud from neoprene. Worked perfectly for the middle section

[knobby]

Where dya get your neoprene Si

[lynnm]

looking around at various options, i've come across the idea of using heated gloves.. a pair of these on the belt could hold the ep's quite well ( maybe not the 2") i think, and also be used at the same time... hmmmm seems like maplin supply these at only £8 ish..

[skywatcher250]

hey mate

NEOPRENE SHEET 120X125CM BLACK

Homecrafts direct, was about 12 quid

[skywatcher250]

basically i didnt even get adhesive - i literally poked 3 holes in it and just put the 3 sets of adjusting truss screws through them bit flappy but does the trick perfectly !

[lynnm]

HI.. the issue i have is the ep's.. the mirror is fine as i have the dew shield, and the scope looks pretty similair to the image posted by zakkhogan.. LOL... just wou;d like to try and get some more viewing time through the EP's without freezing my eyelids :-)

cheers mike

[lynnm]

ops.. misread previous comments...

ignore me...

mike

[Bluey]

Ignored

[zakkhogan]

HI.. the issue i have is the ep's.. the mirror is fine as i have the dew shield, and the scope looks pretty similair to the image posted by zakkhogan.. LOL... just wou;d like to try and get some more viewing time through the EP's without freezing my eyelids :-)

cheers mike

is the problem the eyepiece you are using at the time or the others, cos if you dont have one already you could get yourself a little foam lined case to keep them insinuated.

#When im just doing visual work i constantly change magnification, probally every 10/15 mins to get a nice good look at the object in different aspects..

somthign like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Telescope-Portable-Accessory-Travel-Eyepiece-Soft-Case-Liquidation-Sale-/350684783119?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51a671220f

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminium-telescope-eyepiece-case-Foam-lined-For-1-25-Key-Handle-Silver-/150977359825?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2326f3afd1

[lynnm]

HI.. it's usually the ep that i'm using at time, even the red spot viewer becomes useless as it dews up also... i must just be a heavy breather....