Last night's Frozen scope and camera!

[ballaratdragons]

Last night during my 'Live' AStroVideo broadcast the conditions became a bit more 'cooler' than other nights.

My thermometer told me it was -6c ambient :eyepop:

Here are some pics from last night.
The last one shows the lens even though it had the heater strap on High!

I still managed to broadcast the sky 'live' until 5:30 this morning :)
and looking at the camera I can tell my new Peltier Cooler was working well :P

[RobF]

Ah Ken, that's just not right!
Brrr. I need a warm drink (and I don't drink warm drinks normally!)

[DavidTrap]

And people say it doesn't get cold in Australia...

DT

[Astroman]

5:30am and still out, damn I was going to have a look this morning too... I hope the warm room was well stacked with coffee and warmth :D

[ballaratdragons]

Andrew, I sit in the Dining Room at the PC to do all this.

I'm not silly Billy :lol:

If anyone wants to read about the adventure of my Cooling Project, go here: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4584518/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

If you aren't a 'Cloudy Nights' member you will need to click on 'attachment' to see the pics.

:thumbsup:

[dugnsuz]

Woo Hoo!!! I love the cold when it comes to imaging!

[renormalised]

I think the peltier did its job a little too well:):P

Methinks a hairdrier will come in handy on nights like this:)

[ballaratdragons]

:lol: Yeah, it looks like the Peltier froze everything!

Hopefully it won't get as cold tonight. I am currently broadcasting and it is lovely and clear :thumbsup:

[Hagar]

Ken , youve got it wrong mate. The peltier runs on 12V not 240V.

That's a cooler on steroids. Got too cold for me last night as well.

[Waxing_Gibbous]

No worries about cool-down then?

[danielsun]

Wow Ken, Arctic conditions eh... People pay good money to have their camaras cooled like that.:lol:

[mikerr]

That is amazing Ken.:eyepop: What type/brand/homade, Dew Strap were you using? Do you know the resistance of the strap in Ohms? I assume it is running on 12 Volts.

Michael

[lacad01]

I guess hot pixels wouldn't have been an issue ;)

[erick]

Another lovely night in Snake Valley - Oh how I have missed the beautiful skies you get when the scope is covered in ice!

That was Mon night/Tue morning, Ken?

Sorry I didn't drop into www.nightskiesnetwork.com last night. I was busy in my driveway both observing with the 12" and pointing the GSTAR at the sky with a 16mm lens. A better lens on the GSTAR with a longer focal length could be very interesting from a wide field perspective. I have a lens coming 8-50mm zoom, good quality. Finally had my work friend with me - she who has been dying to get back under the stars for some 3 years. Such was life BC (before children) for her. But she made it and marvelled over the scope, the Explore Scientific 14mm 100 deg eyepiece and the views until about 12:30.

Glad to hear your modified camera is working well. :thumbsup:

[Ric]

Yep, thats cold alright.

Nice pictures to show the effect Ken.

[ballaratdragons]

Michael, I use home-made straps and controller. The straps are Nichrome wire and I have no idea in Ohms. I cut the wire to length when it was just slightly warm.
Runs on 16.5 volts :thumbsup:



See the link I posted to my Cooling Tutorial in Cloudy Nights. It ends with the Hot Pixel test. :)




Thanks Eric.
It was Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning :thumbsup:

Yeah, the results in the CN thread speak for themselves :)

[gary]

Hi Ken,

The Australian Antarctic Division is currently hiring (http://www.antarctica.gov.au/jobs/vacancies).

[ballaratdragons]

:lol: Thanks Gary.

But they don't have a vacancy for a Telescope 'Live' Broadcaster ;)

[Kevnool]

That cold would get the knees a knockin.

KB would need a fire near-bye.

Cheers Kev.

[Suzy]

Good grief!
You've seriously got to be kidding me... :scared2::scared2::scared2:

Crazy question perhaps, but I'm curious.. tell me,, as warmly dressed as you obviously were, did you feel cold? :question:

I must be the only one on here that thinks you guys are crazy :screwy: for loving the cold this much. :shrug:

[Ric]

It's all about the quest for that crisp clear sky Suzy. :stargaze:


After a few years the blood thickens up and you don't notice it as much. :P

Currently 6ºc and dropping fast but cloudy. :mad2:

[erick]

Suzy, let me describe Eric at -6 deg C:-

Full thermal underwear
Flannelette shirt
Trackydac trousers
Perhaps pair of jeans over trousers
Explorer socks
Heavy waterproof boots with inner fleecy liner
inner fleecy vest
Outer heavy cotton vest with lots of pockets
Heavy parka
woollen scarf
fur flying helmet
inner thermal gloves
outer heavy fur gloves

And having a great time with scope with heaters on full and a crystal-clear sky!

As long as my toes don't get cold, and I can blow my nose, I'm fine.

All part of the fun! :eyepop:

[renormalised]

It's Bacchus Marsh, Eric, not Mawson Base:):P:P

Although you guys down in Margaritaville aren't all that far away from Mawson:):P:P

[DavidU]

We need a pic Eric:D

[renormalised]

Yes, piccie...or it never happened:):P

[Suzy]

Yep.... supply that pic, we simply don't believe you Eric. ;)

Waiting.... :D

I sure hope you never have to get out of those clothes in a hurry, like if a creepy crawly climbed in. :question: :lol:

Thank you by the way for going to all the trouble in giving me the list of observing clobber. It was an eye opener. :eyepop:

[renormalised]

That's just extra added company. Besides, buggy might be interested in what you're looking at:):P

Beetle: "Hey, Eric, what you looking at now??"
Eric: "Nothing much....just another Cen A session"
Beetle: "Mind if I take a peek??"
Eric: "No, go right ahead:)"

:):)

[erick]

At that temperature, the camera stays safely in its case.

But this thread has a few shots on a cold icy night in Snake Valley - but that was before my thermal underwear, my super boots and a few other refinements:-

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=21195

[renormalised]

Needs more convincing....getting there:)

[higginsdj]

Set up for automated observing in Canberra. Frozen everything is par for the course in Winter :). A series of 5amp dew heaters keeps the all the optics clear.

Cheers

[pgc hunter]

daaaaaaaaaamn! The coldest I've seen last winter here in Berwick was 0.6C and I haven't seen frost in a good couple of years atleast!

now, the dew on the other hand...atleast I now know that my scope will live and so will my mental state if it ever gets accidentally rained on ;) :lol:

[renormalised]

In Caaaaaanbbbrrraaaaaa (Peter Harvey impersonation:P), you'd need dew heaters attached to your person to stop from freezing solid!!!!:):P

[Ric]

I'm a little way outside of Canberra. We are holding steady at 0.5ºc for the moment.

[renormalised]

Canberra can get cold, but nothing like Guyra. That place is the very epitome of frozen on ice in the winter!!!!. Ken would've needed an ice axe to free his gear in the morning if he were there:):P

[ballaratdragons]

Suzy, you may find it hard to believe but for the whole night I only had a T-shirt on, and Jeans, and my slippers on my feet. That's all :thumbsup:

It gets a bit hot in beanies, jackets, gloves, jumpers, boots, etc etc when sitting in my dining room at the computer to do Video Astronomy :D

I am only outside for about 2 minutes before I start (to plug cables in and turn everything on), and about 40 seconds when I have finished about 3am or 4am (Remove the camera and quickly cover the scope).
I bring the scope back inside the next day when it is warmer :lol:

But on club nights when I am up the Clubsite, yeah, I dress like an Eskimo too :thumbsup:
The colder the weather the better the sky :)

[Jen]

:lol: im sure i have a piccie somewhere of Eric all dressed up with his harry highpants tracky daks on and all the winter woolies :rofl:

[Suzy]

You had me there....
I was gobsmacked for a good couple of mins. The expression on my face would have been a priceless camera moment. :lol:




Then I read that :P
:lol::lol::lol:
Funny, very very funny.;)

[ballaratdragons]

Gotcha :lol:

[ving]

crickey. i have only had it down to 0...