Cool down/warm up time, dew shield & ep's

[spanglysparkly]

Me again

[ronin]

Dew shield, most make their own if unheated.Try this web site: Black Foam Sheet

They seem to come is 2 fractionally different thicknesses, they only list one but I got 2 and one is thicker then the other, maybe if you order you could ask them to select. Problem of 1 sheet is that the postage cost is the same as the foam, but it will do the job well.

After being outside and taken inside most just seem to leave them to get to the temperature of where they are stored then pack them away most often I guess the next day. If you stop viewing at say 11:00PM you are not going to wait for 2 hours.

If you mean time outside, well as much as you can allow, but watching a scope cool is marginally worse the paint dry. An LS6 I know of is simply taken outside, set up, powered up, aligned and used - it gets say 15 minutes, maybe 20, to cool and then it is used. Same with an 8" Meade and a 14" Meade. Absolutely no one stands around for the "standard" hour waiting for them to cool down. When finished each is picked up and carried back to where it is kept and remains there until the next time.

Eyepieces, check if the set are plossl's. Reasonable plossl's should work fine but there are cheap plossls and good plossls. Also on the LT I guess that focal lengths of 6mm and less are irrelevant, too short and too much magnification. I would expect 8mm to be about as small as sensibly useful.

Personally I would go get an 8mm, 12mm and 25mm BST Starguider**

If your 26 works well, I expect it as Meade did tend to supply half decent plossls, will then the 15mm BST Starguider instead of the 25mm.

[NGC 1502]

You will definitely need a dew shield for your LT6.  Any one that fits will be ok.  If you make one ( camping mat foam ) longer is better.

If you store the scope in a cool place, that will reduce cooldown time. No fixed amount of time for that, depends on how much the storage temp differs from outdoor temp.

You may find the scope can be used before fully cooled, at low power, then higher power after proper cooldown.

Best not to go overboard with high power, 150 - 200x is plenty most nights. Maybe higher occasionally on a very good night.

Regards, Ed.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya  Spangly, nice scope is the Meade, great advice from above, just get out there and use it mate.  I have a set of Meade 4000 Super Plossls which I use with my 5" Mak scope - they are nice EP's for the money, you may find the newer Meade MA EP's - I think these are Modified Achromats - a little different from the better made Super Plossls - you aint going to get the really wide field views, but for the money either these or the BST's (mentioned above) will work really well.

I store my scopes as close to outside temp as possible, I you have an outside lockable shed - this would be ideal and don't worry about cool down time just use as soon as your set up - the views, after time will improve - but more than adequate "right out of the box" align and go.

After a session under the stars I just pack away but leave all of the covers off the scope and EP's - giving the scope and EP's time to cool naturally (or warm up) - then cover the next day.

The camping mat/foam dew shields are worth their weight in gold - will allow you to extend your observing sessions - most nights you will be fine, but some nights the dew gets quite bad, so no matter what you do, the front of the scope "mists" further down the line you could invest in an heater tape to wrap around the outside of the corrector lens on the front, the only problem is with these you need a power source - so the camping mat will be your best friend.

Once you have been out for a while and done a few tours you can then plan your nights searching for new targets and re - visiting the favourites - start with the bright Messier's and work your way along - your eyes will become dark adapted in around 30 mins - so go back and check objects - but most of all - just use the scope as much as you can and want and get used to how the sky looks through a scope - when dark adapted, spend a little more time on each object - you will soon become accustomed to how faint you can observe - start small and bright - the Planetary Nebulae are great for this - the blinking Planetary and the Eskimo nebulae are a good start, try the Saturn Nebula as well - the favourites this time of year M57, M27, M31, M76, M15, M2, NGC 869, the Coathanger - a few to go - but most of all - ENJOY.

Paul.

[spanglysparkly]

Thanks guys, for all your help and advise. I'll be off to buy a camping mat or some neoprene stuff at the weekend!

It's good to know that the cooling/warming period isn't written in stone so to speak. It's only my second night of actual viewing with this scope. Can't see the south, but have got the north, nw & se to amaze me until I venture out and about.

Ronin, yes the set are plossls, I probably won't go lower than 10mm, I might just keep checking Astro Buy & Sell and good old ebay

Thanks Ed for the reassurance.

Paul, thanks so much for the info and your enthusiasm for this shines through and actually makes me want to go back out, although everything is packed away & I'm up at 5.30am!

I've been out since it got dark. Tried averted vision on Andromeda, even more beautiful than last night, think I'm getting the hang of the goto. There were some galaxies that I couldn't see at all, I'm going to keep on trying, maybe just need a bit more power

Thanks again, all advice welcomed.

Jo.x

[Northern Soul man]

NIce 1 Jo, that's great mate - I think all of us on here have a passion for the night sky wether your observing from the darkest skies with tremendous views of the Milky Way - or like me - having to work around the light pollution - it just goes to show that the night sky can be loved and enjoyed by us all - its been like this for me for over the last 25 years and have never lost interest in all things night sky - the beauty is that you take take as much from the hobby as you want - wether it be just a casual observing session - or a night "star partyin", letting others "see" what's up there - its great to be able to take the scope and set up and let the public have a look - or just to set up on your own and re visit objects night after night.

They're a great bunch on here and if anyone posts a question or for advice, I think that within minutes you have a reply, because, someone on here has done it, solved it, used it or has an opinion on it !!!

Paul.