Quote:
Originally Posted by ianB
Astro bot, you are also not that far from me, I guess around 100k give or take, when you take the scope out to cool down should I put the dew shield on straight away or leave it off until an hour or so later when I actually use the scope ?
and is it best to have it pointed downwards during this time? ( the reason i ask that is because i read somewhere that this will help in getting rid of dew )
And from your experience have ever needed to use a dew heater in this region of the South East? ( i am in the Caloundra area )
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Hi Ian,
I leave the corrector cover on during cool down, but that's mostly because I put it on a table in the backyard. When it's on the mount, I put the dew shield on straight away - I don't have the option of pointing down since the park position of my NEQ6 is pointing up at the SCP.
I don't have dew heaters. There was one occasion last year when, at a star party under very dewey conditions, I was "dewed out" - still, mine was the "last scope standing" so I lasted pretty well. I bought a 12V/10A hairdryer (it was only about $30) but haven't had to use it yet, although I think I came close last night.
100km away could have quite different seeing conditions, depending on the cause. If you're, say, close to an escarpment, then a breeze could rise sharply, cool and change direction causing additional turbulence. Also, heat islands, like a city centre, could affect seeing.