Beginner's question

[Chuzzlewit]

I recently bought a 10" reflector telescope. Trundling it into the garden is a pain. How about leaving it in the garden and covering it with a light water proof box, open at the bottom, out of view of thieves? Would it be better to seal it in with a silica gel desiccant bag?

[ronin]

You will still get dust and moisture in it and it will become the residence of many a bug. Also when you take the cover off anything on the outside of the cover will have a habit of falling onto the scope (you can blame Newton for that, he made up this thing called gravity).

[Mr niall]

54 minutes ago, ronin said:

You will still get dust and moisture in it and it will become the residence of many a bug. Also when you take the cover off anything on the outside of the cover will have a habit of falling onto the scope (you can blame Newton for that, he made up this thing called gravity).

Yes - but did you ever see that interview with Clyde Tombaugh? I think it was on an old edition of sky at night.  He had a massive reflector that he built himself. It just used to live permanently in his front garden, I think the only thing he did was use an empty tin of corned beef to protect the focusser! And that was it, just used to leave it pointing slightly downwards the rest of the time... But I'm not sure we have the climate for that sort of setup!

[DavidJM]

June's Sky at Night Magazine has a great article on how to make an outdoor telescope storage unit, looked impressive and low cost although aimed towards a scope pillar. Idea could be adapted though