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Dew Shield

Nik C

By Nik C
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Nik C

Nik C

Posted
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Hello All

Just joined the forum.

I'm quite new to atronomy, bought a scope about 18 months ago (Skywaycher 250 on HEQ5 GoTo mount) but between doing up a house and cloudy skies usage has been a bit limited - but what I have done has been great fun (highlights - Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Orion Nebula).

I was away in Weymouth recently and wished I had my scope with me as the dark skies were great (London to the north and Guildford to the south at home) so I have just bought a 6 month old Skymax 127 on GoTo mount as a grab and go scope as the 250 is not that mobile!!

I've read that a dew shield is recommended with a Mak and was wondering if anyone had advice on which one to buy, whether a shield by itself is enough or if I need a heated one.

Thanks

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Talitha

Talitha

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Hi and welcome to SGL, Nik. :D The corrector plates on Maks and SCTs are dew-magnets.. trust me, i've got one of each, lol. You can easily and affordably make a dew shield from a thin styrofoam camping mat but TBH i'd use it in tandem with some sort of dew prevention system. If you want a quick fix, a hair dryer (low heat, low fan) can be used instead of the dew prevention system but it's merely postponing the inevitable and needs to be constantly repeated throughout the session.

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Talitha

Talitha

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TBH I find most nights in the UK that a sheild on its own is enough to keep the dew at bay.

Not here in Wisconsin. :D I think it might be because my day/night temp fluctuates so greatly, though. Yesterday it was 26C but went down to 8C by the time i went home... everything was absolutely dripping.

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Talitha

Talitha

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Nik, i have a Dew Buster.. not sure if it's available in the UK but i suppose any thermostatically controlled unit would work the same. They're not cheap, but they use less power than the static on/off heat tapes. I used those when i first started out in all this about 10 years ago but found out the hard way that they get dry-rot after a few years.

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Nik C

Nik C

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Thanks Talitha. Don't think that they are but the Kendricks seem popular and you can buy the shield with a fitting built on for the heater if you want to upgrade later so will probably go with that. Thanks for your help.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Hi from me too - you might also want to get a dewshield for the 200 as well - reflectors are not immune to dew either and the secondary mirror will dew up just as readily as an SCT corrector plate.

A decent dew shield will also improve contrast for you and get rid of any extraneous light.

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Brinders

Brinders

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TBH I find most nights in the UK that a sheild on its own is enough to keep the dew at bay.

Not my expereince near the sea in Blackpool (plus a large pond at the back of my property). From October through to March dew is a constant problem and not one a dew shield will beat on its own. I use the dew-not system from Modern Astronomy:-

Accessories @ Modern Astronomy

Brinders

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