T thread heater rings, qhy8 dewing

[Ford Prefect]

Hi all

Those of you who use a qhy8 will I'm sure have experienced at some time or another the front of the camera dewing up. In the past I've tried heater bands as well as dropping the voltage to the cooler, both of these do work to varying degrees, However today while searching for something completely different I found this http://www.gamaelectronics.com.au/heater.html , has anyone every used one? I would be very interested to hear about your experiences if you have.

cheers Jon

[r3i]

Hi Jon,

My QHY8 came supplied with one of those and it appeared to work OK. I did succumb to periods of frosting and it certainly helped.

However, in my quest for a solution to the tilt on the CCD inside my QHY8 I purchased on of these: http://qhyccd.com/ccdbbs/index.php?PHPSESSID=f5e49735ddc80e794b59066c5833072f&topic=2224.0 In addition to the tilt mechanism, it includes a much thicker optical window, and since replacing the original optical window with this one, I've not had any more frosting and have not needed to use the heater ring.

[Ford Prefect]

That looks very interesting, did you buy direct fro QHY?

cheers Jon

[sloz1664]

Hi Jon,

I have the QHY8 Pro, which as your QHY8 has the 1mm glass fronting the chip. I had horrendous problems with dew/frosting on both the front and rear of the glass.

Eliminated the frosting on the inside by removing the front, smearing some vasaline on the threads (being careful not to get any on the glass)

then gently warming the inside of the glass and and the area around the chip with a hair-dryer. Attach the front and you should have frost free QHY8.

If your problem is with dew gathering on the front of the glass this IMO is the harder to eradicate. I purchased the ring heater from QHY via Bern at Modern Astronomy.

That didn't work. Attached a dew band over the front and still couldn't eradicate the dew. I finally spoke to Bern about the problem & I finally purchased a new improved front unit.

This includes a thicker 3mm glass and has the threaded connection to attach the desiccant tube. I can honestly say I have had no problems with dew or frost since attaching the new front piece.

cheers

Steve

[r3i]

That looks very interesting, did you buy direct fro QHY?

cheers Jon

Yes I bought direct from QHY with no problems, but if you prefer to go through a UK dealer then, as Steve has mentioned, Modern Astronomy should see you right.