Bringing refractor inside after cold weather usage

[Star Struck]

What is the correct way to bring a refractor back indoors after using it outside in the winter cold weather?

I have seen a lot of conflicting advice.

1. Should I put the dustcap and eyepiece cap on outside before bringing the scope inside?

2. Should I keep the case outside whilst viewing and put the scope back inside the case before bringing it indoors?

3. Should I initially put the scope in the unheated attached garage for a time before bringing it into a heated house at the end of a session?

 

What do you guys do?

Tony

[jetstream]

All of the above

Bring the scope inside in an insulated case is the most important and I tend to leave the dust caps off when doing this, but my temps are lower- tonight is forecast to go -33c without the wind, -37c with.

[John]

I bring the scope into the house, cap it, and leave it to come back to room temp. Whether I cap it outside or immediately after it's in the house varies depending on where I've left the caps !

Mine are not cased so I don't have that option.

My temps are usually no lower than -3 or so, usually a couple of degrees warmer (outside that is !)

Gerry must be a much tougher observer than I am !

 

[Doc]

I just bring mine in and leave all the caps off. When I wake up the dew is all gone and I then put it away.

[Hallingskies]

I always put the cover caps back before bringing a scope indoors, assuming the dew heaters have done their job.The outsides of the tube are often damp with dew so I never put them in a case, not that I have one anyway.  Putting a scope in a cool dry place with the optics covered before moving indoors is probably good if you have that option.

The last thing you want to do is expose cold optical surfaces to warm indoor air.  They will instantly and heavily dew up and if you do that a few times, my own experience shows this to be a great way of building up a crust of stuck-on dust on your main lens or mirror. This results in a need to clean, which runs a risk of scratching glass or damaging coatings, so best to avoid if possible.

[RT65CB-SWL]

2 minutes ago, Doc said:

I just bring mine in and leave all the caps off. When I wake up the dew is all gone and I then put it away.

As above. 

[Chris]

I have a feeling you're not going to find a consensus on this one  

For me it depends, if it's a dry night and there isn't any dew I replace all the caps before going back inside so the warm air of the house doesn't condense on the lens/mirror. If it's a damp night and the optics are damp anyway I'd be more inclined to bring the kit in with the caps off and wait for them to dry before replacing the caps. 

 

[Sunshine]

When optical surfaces fog up upon entry into home you definitely don't want to trap that moisture by covering it, i bring my scopes in and let the optics defog then cap everything. 

[smr]

If you're using dew heaters on the lens the lens shouldn't fog up when it comes back into a warm house though should it?