michaellxv
01-07-2011, 05:14 PM
You will need a camping mat and a pair of scissors.
Got my mat from Big-W $15 60cmx200cm and one side is black:thumbsup:
Others around are blue or yellow and might cause internal reflection problems.
60cm is just the right width to cover the open truss portion of the 10" ( and 8") Lightbridge. 12" & 16" are longer but I have seen 1m wide mats that might work, just not in black.
Wrap the mat around the telescope and cut it to length allowing 10-15cm overlap.
Start at one end and cut notches in the mat so it fits in behind the truss lock knobs. Make sure it all sits smooth before moving to the next one.
Use some stick on velcro to hold it together at the overlap and your done. Being 1cm thick it doesn't suffer from sag into the light path like a thin material shroud does.
You should have enough left over mat to now make a cover for the bottom end of the telescope to force airflow up the now complete tube based on this article http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-400-0-0-1-0.html (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/../63-400-0-0-1-0.html)
Cut a piece just larger than the end of the telescope. Hold it over the bottom while you mark the position of the fan. Just inside the corners where the holding screws are.
Cut out the square for the fan, keep it slightly smaller than the actual fan.
Carefully stretch the cover over the fan, adjust the size of the hole if you made it too small. But it should tight enough to hold itself in place.
Now trim the outside by running the scissors around the cover just inside the lip at the bottom of the telescope.
Push the outer edge of the cover in under the base rim. It may bulge out a bit, if its too much just trim as required. Keep enough bulge so there is some pressure to seal it off. We want the air going up not out the bottom.
Initial tests with this setup have been good, I have been out for much longer without the effects of dew on the optics showing up.
Got my mat from Big-W $15 60cmx200cm and one side is black:thumbsup:
Others around are blue or yellow and might cause internal reflection problems.
60cm is just the right width to cover the open truss portion of the 10" ( and 8") Lightbridge. 12" & 16" are longer but I have seen 1m wide mats that might work, just not in black.
Wrap the mat around the telescope and cut it to length allowing 10-15cm overlap.
Start at one end and cut notches in the mat so it fits in behind the truss lock knobs. Make sure it all sits smooth before moving to the next one.
Use some stick on velcro to hold it together at the overlap and your done. Being 1cm thick it doesn't suffer from sag into the light path like a thin material shroud does.
You should have enough left over mat to now make a cover for the bottom end of the telescope to force airflow up the now complete tube based on this article http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-400-0-0-1-0.html (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/../63-400-0-0-1-0.html)
Cut a piece just larger than the end of the telescope. Hold it over the bottom while you mark the position of the fan. Just inside the corners where the holding screws are.
Cut out the square for the fan, keep it slightly smaller than the actual fan.
Carefully stretch the cover over the fan, adjust the size of the hole if you made it too small. But it should tight enough to hold itself in place.
Now trim the outside by running the scissors around the cover just inside the lip at the bottom of the telescope.
Push the outer edge of the cover in under the base rim. It may bulge out a bit, if its too much just trim as required. Keep enough bulge so there is some pressure to seal it off. We want the air going up not out the bottom.
Initial tests with this setup have been good, I have been out for much longer without the effects of dew on the optics showing up.