Controlling dew forming on Asiair pro

[AstroNebulee]

Hi all

Sorry its another Asiair Pro question again, youill all be bored stiff of me now. 

I'm just wondering when the dewy nights start coming back in and I'm out imaging with my setup how other users of the AAP stop dew forming on it, or am I being completely silly and as the AAP generates it's own heat will it stop dew forming. As you can see from my set up the AAP is open to the elements and would of thought putting it in some sort of enclosure like you do with a laptop may cause more overheating. I was thinking of fitting some sort of baffle with an ice cream tub to the front, where the AAP is mounted as there are air flow slots that could let moisture in. 

Edited August 10, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[powerlord]

huh. frankly I never thought to bother about it. Are you getting dew on it ? I'm not sure I checked, I will next dewy night, but I'd doubt you'd get much, and if its just landing on top - shouldn't be an issue surely ?

Yours is under the scope so it's not gonna get much anyway even if the heat doesn't keep it off.

Interested in your dew heater placement over hood. Does that work ? I have mine around top of scope proper (i.e end of black bit) so its on the lens. It works fine there, but maybe I'm creating distortion ?

And I've never bothered with heater on guide cam - even when it gets a bit of dew, it still sees stars ok, and thats all it's there for, but I suppose it doesn't hurt.

What sort of guiding are you getting with the az gti ? I've just upgraded to 3.3 because I was getting mince before - guiding seemed to be going the wrong way - it did better turned off. I'm hoping next time I try 3.3 has fixed it.

Oh, and be good to see your settings (agressiveness, max pulses, camera shutter speed, etc) you are using for guiding ?

stu

[AstroNebulee]

Hi Stu

Thank you for your reply. I was just concerned with the slots on the front end of the AAP (as you looking down to the dslr end) whether moisture would get in there. I have always placed my scope dew heater in that position just so the part where the white hood end meets the black tube. I suppose the dew heater on the guide cam is overkill but thought dew would form on it and throw guiding off. 

I'd like to answer all your questions about using the AAP outside but I've yet to have a clear night to use the AAP, 4 weeks and counting. Total of  2 clear 'patches' in 2 months but it is the summer months. Hoping autumn brings better skies. I have also upgraded to 3.30 for my az gti. I will let you know what settings I have used once I can use it. 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[Clarkey]

22 hours ago, AstroNebulee said:

I suppose the dew heater on the guide cam is overkill

I think it is a good idea. I always use a dew heater on my guide scope as it has caused issues before. I would not want to lose a nights imaging for the sake of a dew heater - especially as my rig gets left outside unattended.

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, Clarkey said:

I think it is a good idea. I always use a dew heater on my guide scope as it has caused issues before. I would not want to lose a nights imaging for the sake of a dew heater - especially as my rig gets left outside unattended.

Thanks Clarkey

I thought it prudent to, like you say didn't want to lose guiding or a load of subs with dew blocking it. 

[doublevodka]

My 2p worth, I think you'll be fine apart from maybe the worst nights, you only need to keep a couple of degrees above ambient to keep the dew off and effectively the Asiair should generate a decent amount of heat on it's own.

That said I'm all for belt and braces approach so why not create a shield, ice cream tub / plastic tub should be fine, upside down with the lid off and a few strategic holes for attachments / cables, hell I've got a modified SMA baby milk tin as a dewshield so I'm all for a bit of DIY 👍

[AstroNebulee]

1 hour ago, doublevodka said:

My 2p worth, I think you'll be fine apart from maybe the worst nights, you only need to keep a couple of degrees above ambient to keep the dew off and effectively the Asiair should generate a decent amount of heat on it's own.

That said I'm all for belt and braces approach so why not create a shield, ice cream tub / plastic tub should be fine, upside down with the lid off and a few strategic holes for attachments / cables, hell I've got a modified SMA baby milk tin as a dewshield so I'm all for a bit of DIY 👍

Thank you. I did think the heat created from the AAP would stave most of the dew off. I will indeed fashion something from the ice cream tub  just to sheild it a bit without letting the heat build up to much. I could probably cut one side from the tub and slot it over the AAP. Will post a pic once the masterpiece is created. 

The SMA dew sheild sounds great and nothing wrong with a bit of cheap DIY with what's hanging about. 

[doublevodka]

35 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Thank you. I did think the heat created from the AAP would stave most of the dew off. I will indeed fashion something from the ice cream tub  just to sheild it a bit without letting the heat build up to much. I could probably cut one side from the tub and slot it over the AAP. Will post a pic once the masterpiece is created. 

The SMA dew sheild sounds great and nothing wrong with a bit of cheap DIY with what's hanging about. 

The SMA dew shield is a winner tbh, and a load cheaper than buying an aluminium astrozap! 

[ONIKKINEN]

I had my mini-pc running for 5 hours in 95% humidity when it was barely below 0 at night. No frost or dew anywhere near it even though its very low power. Anything else was covered in frost though, including the inside of a newtonian.

 

What is a problem however is bringing stuff back inside. Youre going from low temperature to high temperature so dew will definitely form. Depending on your house and the temperature difference it could be trouble.

 

Lock sensitive electronics in a ziplock bag when outside and only open once warmed back up to ambient. I pretty much soaked my mini-pc coming from -23 to +23 unprepared. Still works but wouldnt risk it again. This kind of temperature difference pulls pretty much all of your indoor humidity to whatever the cold object is.

 

[AstroNebulee]

2 hours ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Lock sensitive electronics in a ziplock bag when outside and only open once warmed back up to ambient

Thank you, so your suggesting that when I've finished imaging to put my AAP in a sealed bag and only open the bag once the AAP has been in my home for a while 

[Chefgage]

Mines been out in very Dewey nights where everything gets soaking. The asiair pro does not seem to get wet. As it is fairly warm when running anyway this should stop any problems.

[ONIKKINEN]

11 minutes ago, AstroNebulee said:

Thank you, so your suggesting that when I've finished imaging to put my AAP in a sealed bag and only open the bag once the AAP has been in my home for a while 

Remember to pull it out after a while, being in a sealed environment is also not good for electronics. I wonder however if the AAP is designed to handle dew in every nook and cranny since it will only ever be used outdoors? Probably is. Might not be worth the trouble if the temperature difference isnt so extreme.

[AstroNebulee]

13 minutes ago, Chefgage said:

Mines been out in very Dewey nights where everything gets soaking. The asiair pro does not seem to get wet. As it is fairly warm when running anyway this should stop any problems.

Thank you for putting my mind at rest with this just wasn't sure if it suffer with dew. 

[AstroNebulee]

4 minutes ago, ONIKKINEN said:

Remember to pull it out after a while, being in a sealed environment is also not good for electronics. I wonder however if the AAP is designed to handle dew in every nook and cranny since it will only ever be used outdoors? Probably is. Might not be worth the trouble if the temperature difference isnt so extreme.

Thank you, I have looked everywhere online but no advice until I drop a topic in here and the general concensus is thst it should be ok on dew or lack of gaining dew. 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by AstroNebulee

[Lee_P]

My AAP is under the telescope, similar to yours, and I've never had a problem with it accumulating dew. For what it's worth, I do have a dew heater on my guidescope.

 

[AstroNebulee]

27 minutes ago, Lee_P said:

My AAP is under the telescope, similar to yours, and I've never had a problem with it accumulating dew. For what it's worth, I do have a dew heater on my guidescope.

 

Hi Lee 

Thank you and good to know you suffer no dew with your AAP in a similar position to mine. Yes I think it's best to have a dew heater on the guidescope, just need a clear sky to try it out.