Blinky's Bespoke Dew Heaters

[stefski]

Hi All,

I'm not sure if 'Blinky' (Craig) wants to call them this, but when he introduced the idea this was one of the suggested labels and I thought it was appropriate.

I ordered my Dew Heater by PMing Blinky and giving him the specs of my 'scope'. There was a bit of a back log in the orders, as he makes these in his spare time, so I had to wait a couple of weeks. However, when you're only paying ~£40 for a dew heater+controller for an 11" you can't really complain!

For a piccie of the the controller, see this link:

http://stargazerslounge.com/index.php/topic,32406.0.html

(Mine is slightly different to this but it works the same way).

The Dew band is powered via a cigarette lighter attachment.

I connected the band to the mains using one of these:

http://www.nevadaradio.co.uk/acatalog/Palstar_PS-04.html

as advised by 'lx200gps' and 'Ben Ritchie' - cheers guys .

Suffice it to say, the dew heater did 'exactly what it says on the tin'.

I used it a couple of nights ago whilst observing and subsequently sketching M76. This object was near zenith at the time and I had the scope at this steep angle for a good 90mins...no dew - the rest of my equipment, ep case and books were soaking!

What else can I say, but many thanks to Criag - you saved me loads of dosh

Stef

[beamish]

Here, here !! I've got one of "Blinky's Bespoke" and it works a treat !!!

:thumbright: Craig

Karlo

[SteveL]

I have a extremely bespoke heater from Blinky, which is just a single wire loop that I wrap around the nosepiece of my QHY8 to keep it from causing a central dew spot on the outside of the glass. It kicks out an incredible amount if heat, drains the battery pack quickly, but thats exactly what I requested it did, and it does the job!

[blinky]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys

[RichieJarvis]

Another satisfied 'Blinky' user here...

Mine turned up Tuesday - I was lucky enough to try both channels on my ZS66 and on my newly returned AP 102ED that night (yeah - the cloud-gremlins didn't appear - fancy that!)

Not a drop of dew appeared - both bands were noticeable warm (don't know how low I can go yet, but it was below 1/4 of a turn on the dials) - I didn't think it was a particularly dewy night until I noticed that my red-dot finder was completely dewed over - need one for that now!

Can anyone tell me how you determine the optimum settings? Do they change between nights? I've never used a dew heater before!

Good job Craig

Cheers,

Richie

[A McEwan]

Another vote from a satisfied owner! Only a couple of nights use so far but seems to be absolutely fine! I too will have to learn about the best settings - suspect it will vary from night to night.

Very happy with the well made unit!

[A McEwan]

Just a wee update. Have used Blinky's dew heater a few times now, twice on my new Equinox 120. It fits perfectly and is very easy to set up and use. So far so good - it works perfectly well and is very affordable! No excuse now - go and buy one! I generally have the pot turned about half way when using it with the 120ED and that seems to be fine. Although, it's technically not working as a dew band at the moment, but a frost band!

Ant 8)

[Disty]

Another very satisfied customer here. It's kept the dew and ice off of both scopes this evening. Shame the powertank ran down - time for a second powertank, methinks.