Storage question

[JKB]

Hi all a SLG

Silly Noob question. I have been out tonight and scope has been subjected to -3 so has plenty of frost on it. Is it safe to store in the garage or should I bring it indoors?

What is the best way to store scope and mount?

Cheers

JKB

PS Great views tonight too!

[brantuk]

Store on the mount and point the tube a little downwards from level when you store it so any frost melt runs out of the tube onto the floor rather than onto the mirrors. I'd pop it in the (locked)garage or you'll get the floor wet in the house - plus the mirrors less likely to crack due to sudden temperature changes

[JKB]

Thanks. Thats what I thought. Locked away safe in a cool garage, tube down

Cheers

[Rols]

i'm glad you asked i hadent seen an answer to this when i looked..i also wanted to ask if it was ok to store it with an EP on it or if it was better practice to remove everything and put the end caps back on?

another question would be, i did see to store with a bag over it but i was a bit concerned about trapping the damp!? also if i had a staorage case (hard) would it be sensible or not to put it straight away in the case..sorry for the hijack but mayaswell get all the answers in one place!!

[Craig_Billo]

I remove all eyepieces and store with the caps on. That way your not getting any dust or dirt on the eps and they are ready to go when i get them out next time. Cleaning them 'in the field' in the dark is a pain in the a**. I store my OTA and eps in the garage and the goto mount indoors as my garage can get quite damp I dont trust the electronincs in there for long periods.

[jgs001]

I don't use a newt, but... I bring the scopes into the garage, leaving them on the mount, point downward, leaving the objective cap off to allow moisture to evaporate. Normally recapping the following morning. That's then where they live till the next clear occasion. Keeping them in the garage also means less acclimitisation when taking them outside.

[Rols]

Thanks for that!

[valleyman]

Store with the caps OFF and facing down untill the frost condensation has evaporated. DO NOT put the Caps untill the condensation has gone. If you take the scope into a warm room after viewing you will get a lot of condensation, I tend to leave my Caps of until the following morning.

[Carbon Brush]

Electric in the garage presumably.

You could pinch the wife's hair dryer and (gently) help evaporate the water off the scope.

Getting water off bright and shiny bits sooner rather than later is (in my view) a good idea.

[Rols]

i have a garae where i intend to store, i was going to build a cupboard for it to sit in but i need some time to sort that out, i did notice the other day that after leaving it in the garage over night and comming back to dissmantle it there was a lot of water builtup between the mount and the bottom of base of the scope! (a little concerning) so i dried up and decided to bring indoors, but if these things are designed to sit in an observatory day and night hey must be quite robust to the outside air!?