Condensation/dew heater/alternative recommendations?

[Joelsyp]

Hi, new here, and have already done a bit of reading about this topic today but looking for specific recommendations rather than me taking a stab in the dark on amazon etc.

 

I finally got all of my kit out last night and thought regardless of the moonlight that I’d have my first practice run at some imaging with my new (to me) setup, which is as follows:

- Star Adventurer Pro 2i

- Canon 6D

- canon 75-300mm lens - currently no hood

- wireless Pixel intervalometer

Got everything aligned for the first time which took me a short while to do, played with some exposure times until I was happy, then setup the intervalometer and let it get on with everything. I did go back a few times to check the star adventurer/intervalometer were working as expected, but didn’t think to check the lens...

At the end of what was a few hours I noticed the lens had condensation all over it. I realise (now!), there are various methods from heaters or maybe even using a small usb fan to prevent this so wondered what others with a similar setup or more experience are using - preferably the best at the budget end of things as I hadn’t factored this in.

I was using a K&F light pollution filter and wasn’t sure if it was just the filter tha had condensation or the actual lens underneath too. I left everything as it was once I brought it inside so it could dry naturally. Not sure if that was correct.

I’m going to get a lens hood sorted as a quick easy step but know that won’t prevent it for the long periods the equipment is left outside for. 

Also, I was wondering, with all that expensive electronic equipment left outside gathering condensation all over it is that bad/potentially going to kill the electricals? Mostly thinking about the star adventurer and canon 6d body here... I’ve never had a dslr, and only initially bought it for astrophotography but my wife loves the photos it takes for real life too, so want it to last, and can’t afford to invest in another.

While it was frustrating to find no real useable images it was still a useful learning session in terms of setting everything up properly, taking all the darks/flats/bias etc. I was pleased just to get the polar alignment right truth be told!

Apologies if these are silly questions, I’m new to all of this/the equipment and want it to last!

Any advice appreciated.

 

 

[dark knight]

There are usb powered dew prevention bands that run off a small rechargeable  power bank battery 

[Budgie1]

I've got two COOWOO dew heaters, one for the scope and one for the guide scope.

These are USB powered and will be fine run off a power bank. They also have nice long leads and the same size will wrap around a 120mm dia scope but can be double wrapped on something smaller as they have valcro along the length of the strip.

[Mr Thingy]

4 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

I've got two COOWOO dew heaters, one for the scope and one for the guide scope.

These are USB powered and will be fine run off a power bank. They also have nice long leads and the same size will wrap around a 120mm dia scope but can be double wrapped on something smaller as they have valcro along the length of the strip.

I use the same and seem to work well. This size fits my range of refractor sizes from 120mm all the way down to my 50mm (double-wrapped, as mentioned above).

[rnobleeddy]

Quote

Also, I was wondering, with all that expensive electronic equipment left outside gathering condensation all over it is that bad/potentially going to kill the electricals? Mostly thinking about the star adventurer and canon 6d body here... I’ve never had a dslr, and only initially bought it for astrophotography but my wife loves the photos it takes for real life too, so want it to last, and can’t afford to invest in another.

Clearly there are no guarantees, but I'd be less worried about this. Mounts should have been designed to handle this, and from what I've seen, the electronics are generally far enough inside and the gearing greased well enough that it shouldn't be an issue. My Canon DSLRs have got pretty wet from dew in the past and still work fine. 

 

[Joelsyp]

Thanks for the recommendations all - if noticed the Coowoo ones and they seem to have a lot of good reviews on Amazon so ordered a couple on different sizes to see what they’re like. 
 

[Joelsyp]

4 hours ago, rnobleeddy said:

Clearly there are no guarantees, but I'd be less worried about this. Mounts should have been designed to handle this, and from what I've seen, the electronics are generally far enough inside and the gearing greased well enough that it shouldn't be an issue. My Canon DSLRs have got pretty wet from dew in the past and still work fine. 

 

Good to know. I figured it was ok if lots are doing this but was honestly quite surprised at how much condensation had gathered on them and was, in a couple of places, starting to freeze!

[SteveNickolls]

To tide you over while you decide you could employ hand or foot warmer sachets attached to a diy lens hood (plant pot cut up and lined with black sticky backed felt).

Good luck.

Cheers,

Steve

[Chefgage]

I use this type on my guide scope and main scope. Powered off two Anker power banks. As the dew heaters are usb powered it makes them quite handy as all my rig set up is battery powered, most of which also have usb outputs.

 

[Joelsyp]

Thanks For the suggestions. I got the Coowoo heater from Amazon pretty quickly so no problem now. Nearly went down the hand warmers solution as a temporary measure, and my wife would have quickly knocked up a holder for them as she’s a dab hand on a sewing machine but I figured easier to just get the right thing in the first instance. 

[Joelsyp]

On 02/01/2021 at 12:37, Chefgage said:

I use this type on my guide scope and main scope. Powered off two Anker power banks. As the dew heaters are usb powered it makes them quite handy as all my rig set up is battery powered, most of which also have usb outputs.

 

I also like the usb too. Im only using a modest rig but want to stay as portable as possible, so this works well. I realise staying portable has its limitations but I’m good with that for now.

[Alien 13]

Another happy Coowoo user here, mine fits my lenses and is long enough to wrap around my C90 Mak too and has three power settings.

I like my rig to be self contained so the Canon camera is self powered, the EQ3-2 and dew heaters run off 5.2V mobile phone power banks... 

Alan