Advice on making dew shield for 130p

[acharris77]

Hi all, I wonder if any can give me some advice on size to a camping mat for a 5" Newt. I bought a camping mat from Lidl, as since this weather, I had dew on the secondary mirror, and I had no hair dryer available.

I was wondering what would be a ideal size to cut to, as I was looking and it looks like I would have to cut out for the finder scope and the focuser. Would 2x the size be ideal for this size scope or a bit more.

Any help for a diy newbie would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Bizibilder]

I think the generally accepted size is to make the shield stick out about 1.5 times the diameter of the scope tube - so cut to two times will give you enough to "push on" to the tube to hold it in place. You may have to cut a bit out to get the thing to slip far enough over the tube. To hold the mat in shape use either tape or (if you are posh!!) velcro.

[John]

Thats useful and timely advice - I need to make one for my newtonian and now I know the dimensions . Another advantage of this will be to keep stray light out of the top of the scope - I've got a number of light sources around where I observe and I've noticed when unwanted light is falling onto the diagonal or inside tube wall the contrast that the scope delivers is much reduced.

Thanks

[acharris77]

Cheers for the advice, will take a attempt that that now over the next few days. Thanks again.

[astroeddie]

Guys,

Get the circumference of a circle by multiplying the dia x 3.14. That gives the the circumference of your cirle or OTA. Or easier, get a bit of string and measure that way.

Hope this helps.

Eddie

[acharris77]

Hey, made my dew shield tonight. Below are links to the pics of the dew shield, I know it not pretty looking, but I am quite pleased and plus it feels like achievement and will help with stray light from street lights:

http://stargazerslounge.com/members/acharris77-albums-my-pictures-picture3712-dew-shield-2.jpg

http://stargazerslounge.com/members/acharris77-albums-my-pictures-picture3713-dew-shield-3.jpg

[Bizibilder]

Looks good acharris77!!