Light shroud for the Sky-watcher Heritage 150

[Billy Bob]

I have purchased a new Sky-watcher Heritage 150, but it doesn't come with a light shroud. I'm a disabled veteran and I don't know if I can make one myself. Would anyone know if I can get one made for me?

[AstroKeith]

Hi, (and welcome to SGL)

You might not need a shroud. If you can observe from a fairly dark location with no direct light falling on the scope you should be OK.

The scope has a small shield mounted opposite the eyepiece. This is supposed to stop stray light entering the eyepiece. It is however rather a small shield. It can be either made larger (black cardboard) or make sure that there is no light coming in from that direction.

My 18" dobsonian has a shroud (black lycra) but when it is windy I remove it so the wind doesnt move the scope so much. With care it makes little difference.

Edited May 31, 2023 by AstroKeith

[Billy Bob]

Thanks so much for the advice. However I have neighbors and they have lights on at night and I will get some stray lights. Not major amount, but enough to make viewing an issue.

[Guest]

All you need is a piece of foam, yoga mats seem to be a popular solution.  Just cut it to the needed dimension and you can either velcro to hold it together when its in place.  Its a cheap, easy thing to do 

[Billy Bob]

Thank you so very. I'm sure I can find a few yoga mats from my beautiful wife 

[bosun21]

6 hours ago, Billy Bob said:

Thank you so very. I'm sure I can find a few yoga mats from my beautiful wife 

Better with thin felt as yoga mats are a bit too thick IMO.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by bosun21

[Louis D]

11 hours ago, Billy Bob said:

Thank you so very. I'm sure I can find a few yoga mats from my beautiful wife 

Check the crafting section of Hobby Lobby or Michaels or the countertop section of Home Depot or Lowes and look for thin, opaque, flexible plastic-like material to bend around (or inside) the struts.  Once cut to size, the ends can be fastened with self-adhesive strips of Velcro along the length of the seam.  For truss Dobsonian secondary cages, folks have used Kydex, Formica, or even Protostar Flocking Board to bridge between the upper and lower rings.

[happy-kat]

With a heritage 130p I observe under a street light, I made a light shroud but found the main problem was light reflecting on my eyeball so wearing a towel on my head was good and so was flocking the small secondary mirror shield both made a difference whereas I found for me the light shroud less useful.

[happy-kat]

The bigger problem with lights I find is keep losing the night sky eye adaptation from catching the bright lights in my gaze

[Billy Bob]

Thank you so much. That sounds like a great idea. I'll give that a try. I'm not comfortable with trying to make the cuts or even trying to work around any of parts. My telescope has just been shipped, so I hope to have it soon. Again, thanks so much for responding.

 

[Guest]

I second hobby lobby.  They sell foam sheets and the velcro.  For a shroud that small you would be all in for 20 bucks.  I made two light/dew shields for the 10 and 16 inch scopes and it works well 

[cajen2]

Making a light shield for the 130 or 150p isn't as easy as it sounds. Because they are collapsible dobs, it's difficult to fit one over all the lumps and bumps, so lots of cutouts are necessary. It's possible to make one that fits inside the trusses but it's still a bit awkward.

[Louis D]

A few previous Heritage light shroud threads for more ideas:

 

[Merlin]

It hasn’t been mentioned that without a shroud there’s bound to be a dewing problem.