Telrad dew shield...or shield plus

[wavelandscott]

Has anyone had any experience with the Telrad dew shield or Telrad dew shield plus?

I remember reading that Rajah (? I think?) has made a dew heater for his Telrad...I am not really looking for anything electric at this time but, was hopeful that one of these might at least slow my Telrad from "fogging up" without batteries...

I understand that the dew shield plus also includes another mirror and can be used for right angle viewing...which is of interest

Any experiences/thoughts appreciated...

Thanks!

[asimov]

http://www.scopetronix.com/finders.htm

[slice of heaven]

I cant comment on the dewshield but I can recommend Rajah's marvellous upgrades.
It's a great anti-dew setup. And the flasher is pretty flash too.

[wavelandscott]

The telrad dew shield and dew shield plus are available at Bintel...I talked to them on the phone today and while they are out of stock at the moment, their next shipment of telrad dew shield plus should arrive this next week...after converting from USD to AUD and shipping (etc) their price seems to be okay (I think).

Anyway, like I mentioned in the earlier post, I am curious if anyone has experience with them...at this time I am not interested in a dew heater but the shield...

I can always make my own shield out of "foam" as an alternative but, I thought the additional mirror on the telrad shield plus sounded interesting...

Cheers,

[beren]

I have the dew sheild plus , the actual right angled mirror i found to be arkward, to view the bullseye is tricky and the mirror is a little flimsy and i actually broke it the first few days i had it . The dew shield is useful but only effective when it fully closes the viewwindow in dewy conditions .I wouldnt recommend the dew sheild plus , the sheild will do the job but under bad conditons youll be quickly closing it each time youve finished with it , exploring the heating element mentioned may be the best option.

[wavelandscott]

Thanks Beren, I appreciate your sharing your experience...

[slice of heaven]

I've seen this subject raised several times on another forum and the consensus is always the same. A dew shield will only last you until you can fit a heater.
On nights of heavy dew I used to drop a cloth on the Telrad to keep it dry, or if I had the blow heater outside, give it a blow dry on nights of light dew.
Maybe find a cheap solution for the interim and put the money towards something that does work.

[ving]

one of the guys in my astro soc made one himself. next time I see him I'll ask if you like. I am sure its just a swing off cover of some sort

[Astroman]

I have the dew shield, never had a problem with dew, then again, never had that much dew inside the dome.

If I could afford it I would go with RAJAH's upgrade. Unless he is willing to give out details and I could do it myself :)

[RAJAH235]

Sorry Andrew. It's a smaaall source of my income. Only moded 8 Telrads since I designed the circuit in 1999, & I don't have a Telrad.
A couple of our W.A.A.C.ers use a 2 litre fruit juice bottle or a plastic sheet, folded over the top. Seems to work for a while, but not well when there's really heavy dew. (cheapskates)! :P :D L.

[wavelandscott]

Thanks all...

I'll probably get the dew shield plus to try out the right angle view mirror ...maybe it can become my first "I wish I had not bought item"...as I did not indulge in the filter set many others have...

For now I use an old foam "stubby holder"...it works okay

Cheers!

[Galactic G]

I thought I'd dig up this old post and add some comments about the Telrad Dew Shield Plus.

I found that when I mounted my Telrad Dew Shield Plus to my Telrad the mirror in the dew shield stopped it from completely closing over the glass on the Telrad. Approximately 4mm of glass at the bottom was left exposed.

When I removed the mirror from the shield it did close completely over, and the problem was solved. The mirror clips out of the shield fairly easily, but not so easily that you would clip it in and out when using it.

So, if I was buying one of these again, I would save some money, and just buy the Telrad Dew Shield, and not the Dew Shield Plus (mirror).