Dew heaters discussion

[msacco]

Hey, I wanted to get some information about different dew heaters brands.
The first dew heater I purchased was a dew heater from amazon that powers using 12v DC, it was pure sh*t. It was barely heating and when I figured it's that bad I replaced it(paid $54 for this, I thought the quality would be good...)

A few months ago I bought the dew-not dew heater, and it's just awesome. I need to buy a few more dew heaters now for new gear, and it seems like dew-not is not really available on stock, there is astrozap, but it's almost double the price, and the dew-not is simply amazing, when it runs on 100% I can really feel the heat in my hand(it's really HOT), so there's no need for anything more than that.

I've seen the following dew heaters which seems to be in stock:
https://www.firstlightoptics.com/dew-prevention/lynx-astro-60cm-dew-heater-strap-for-6-telescopes.html

But....I'm wondering how they would perform compared to the dew-not I currently own. If it would work the same, I would just get it but if it will be lower quality I'd rather wait.
Is anyone familiar with these lynx astro dew heaters? Did anyone had the chance to compare them against the dew-not dew heaters?

I really don't want to get another horrible dew heaters.

Thanks for the help

[MrFreeze]

I have bought a couple of dew heaters from AliExpress :

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001376957126.html    - about £14.50 for a 40cm one (includes a nice little storage bag) from Laida Optics

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32844583695.html   - about £11.75 for a 25cm one from SVbony

Both run from 5V USB and include removeable controllers. Delivery is about 1.5 - 2 weeks, and I would recommend both of these sellers.

It seems that you are after a longer 12V one though, and they tend to be much more expensive. If you like the Dew-not, they are available in stock here :

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32805021678.html  - at £41.50   (ouch)

To be honest, if you do want a long one, I would just get the Lynx Astro one from FLO. They don't sell the sort of tat you often get on Amazon and have excellent customer service. If there is a problem with it I'm sure they would refund you. Why not just email them and ask the question?

David

 

[msacco]

2 minutes ago, MrFreeze said:

I have bought a couple of dew heaters from AliExpress :

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001376957126.html    - about £14.50 for a 40cm one (includes a nice little storage bag) from Laida Optics

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32844583695.html   - about £11.75 for a 25cm one from SVbony

Both run from 5V USB and include removeable controllers. Delivery is about 1.5 - 2 weeks, and I would recommend both of these sellers.

It seems that you are after a longer 12V one though, and they tend to be much more expensive. If you like the Dew-not, they are available in stock here :

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32805021678.html  - at £41.50   (ouch)

To be honest, if you do want a long one, I would just get the Lynx Astro one from FLO. They don't sell the sort of tat you often get on Amazon and have excellent customer service. If there is a problem with it I'm sure they would refund you. Why not just email them and ask the question?

David

 

Thanks, I usually totally in for for aliexpress stuff as it's usually the same thing but cheaper, but in this case I don't think it would. The Dew-Not dew heater that you shared is not really a Dew-Not dew heater, and it looks just like my previous 12V dew heater which was horrible.

I want the dew heater to be able to handle 100% dew as it's pretty common.
I'll try to message FLO, but since they don't sell the Dew-Not, I don't expect their answer to really be that useful in terms of comparison, but...I'll give it a shot.

Thanks

[Neil H]

Hi have you looked at W&W astro they are really good and at a great price 

[msacco]

6 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Hi have you looked at W&W astro they are really good and at a great price 

Never even heard of it, yeah I've seen it now, do you use them? Can you share your experience with it? How hot do they get? When running on 100%, do you really feel the heat with it?

Also, I'm not from the EU, but it seems like it still wants to charge me for VAT, is there any way to avoid it?

Thanks!

[Neil H]

I am getting them my mates uses them even on max pull very low power its a family business and are made from top quality material they will run off a usb so can be used with a pocket power pack ask wookie1965 about them 

You could message them about the vat 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Neil H

[msacco]

1 minute ago, Neil H said:

I am getting them my mates uses them even on max pull very low power its a family business and are made from top quality material they will run off a usb so can be used with a pocket power pack ask wookie1965 about them 

But I can see that the power is standard RCA, how will it run from USB?

[Neil H]

They do a lead for £7.50 converts to usb

[msacco]

8 minutes ago, Neil H said:

They do a lead for £7.50 converts to usb

I think that for my needs that would actually be less convenient 

[Neil H]

Oh ok shame nice dew strips 

[msacco]

1 minute ago, Neil H said:

Oh ok shame nice dew strips 

Well I could still just use it with the RCA plug, that is, if this dew heater is actually good enough 

[globular]

1 hour ago, msacco said:

It was barely heating

All you want from a dew heater is for it to replace the heat naturally radiated from your OTA - it is this lost radiated heat that causes the dew to form.
If you can feel the band as hot to touch then that is likely too much heat.  If you add extra heat then you start to cause unwanted issues - like turbulence within the telescope.
HTH.

[msacco]

Just now, globular said:

All you want from a dew heater is for it to replace the heat naturally radiated from your OTA - it is this lost radiated heat that causes the dew to form.
If you can feel the band as hot to touch then that is likely too much heat.  If you add extra heat then you start to cause unwanted issues - like turbulence within the telescope.
HTH.

Thanks, I'm well aware of this. BUT, this is a good indication for me that the dew heater is of high quality that will be able to handle 100% dew.

I don't need the dew heater to run at 100%, but if I can feel the heat when it's running on 100%, I can be sure that it's good enough no matter what.
The first dew heater I bought from Amazon did heat, slightly..If I pressed hard against it I would feel the heat, but it was just not enough to handle 100% dew, which is just too bad for me.

I don't feel like wasting my money with trial and error, I want a dew heater that can heat, still, it doesn't need to run at 100%, so I'm also saving power on the way, which is awesome.

Thanks.

[wookie1965]

I have a W&W one for my Tal works really well I have made one for my 5"  using resistors that also works very well.

[msacco]

1 minute ago, wookie1965 said:

I have a W&W one for my Tal works really well I have made one for my 5"  using resistors that also works very well.

Thanks for the comment, did you had the chance to try other dew heaters? When the W&W runs at 100%, how hot does it get?

[wookie1965]

I have 3 1 W&w one a friend made for me out of nichrome wire and the 3rd the one made out of the resistors. The W&w gets warm not hot but enough to keep the dew off the lens saying that it can feel hot but outside on a cold night it's just warm how it's supposed to be. 

[msacco]

2 hours ago, wookie1965 said:

I have 3 1 W&w one a friend made for me out of nichrome wire and the 3rd the one made out of the resistors. The W&w gets warm not hot but enough to keep the dew off the lens saying that it can feel hot but outside on a cold night it's just warm how it's supposed to be. 

Thanks

[jonathan]

I have the AstroZap tapes myself, but I found the controller not that great (one of the POTs actually failed, took quite a bit of effort to find a replacement part).  I now use an HitechAstro four channel controller which has performed brilliantly.  I have no experience of any other heater tapes but I bought a Lynx-Astro handset cable which was very good so would have no problem in buying that brand again from FLO.