Dew shield for 5" Mak/SCT

[MortonH]

Need a flexible dew shield for a Skywatcher 127mm Mak-Cass and/or a C5.

Let me know if you have a spare one!

[Wavytone]

Morton its not worth the postage.

Head to Supercheap Auto and buy a sunscreen for a car, these come with a velcro strap. 10 minutes with scissors to modify to fit.

[MortonH]

Yeah, thought I'd try on the off chance that someone local has a spare. If not it's DIY time.

[mental4astro]

Morton, the DIY option is the better choice. Reason being you can make the dewshield to also extend the whole length of the OTA as this will help insulate the OTA there by eliminating the internal tube currents, and at the same time e tend the dew-free period fpr the corrector plate.

An off the shelf dewshield won't do thi s for you.

The car sunscreen material Wavy suggests is blooming brilliant for this! It is a very good insulator, perfect for this task :thumbsup:

Alex.

[MortonH]

I'd have to spray it black on the inside though, right?

[mental4astro]

Morton, no, no spray. Paint of any type most likely won't stick very well to that mat, and if it doesn't it will flake off and make a mess.

You can get a roll of black felt from Bunnings, and apply it to the length of the dewshield that extends over the corrector plate.

Below is a picture of the Corflute dewshield I made from my Mak, showing the black felt. It extends only maybe 20mm or 30mm beyond the rim of the corrector plate rim.

All you then need is a few Velcro tabs down the length of the cut-to-size-and-shape mat to fix the new dewshield in place :thumbsup: You can by black Velcro tabs from Bunnings too, or a $2 shop. The finished dewshield you can just roll up to store.

Alex.