View Single Post
  #5  
Old 08-05-2017, 12:56 PM
mental4astro's Avatar
mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 5,006
The solution I use is real high tech - a hot water bottle!

The hot water bottle is in a cosy. I put a towel over the EPs, the bottle on top, and then a blanket over the lot. The EPs warm up, and the heater strap I put onto the EP at the focuser doesn't need to labour much at all to maintain some heat in the eyepiece.

I've been doing this for several years now. I have never seen any effects of having warm eyepieces in the image in case you are wondering, with many, many hours spent sketching, hence observing, this way. But I am using an open truss dob. I have a 2l thermos of hot water with me. This is plenty for sub zero temperatures that we typically encounter here in Oz. This gives me 1 litre to start with, and enough for a change of water around midnight.

Any 12V solution will really chew through power. There is a lot of bulk that needs heating in any eyepiece case. I considered some type of 12V solution first up too, but the power requirements were ridiculous and ultimately not a practical observing solution. The hot water bottle is just easier. A few of my observing buddies have started using hot water bottles this way too. No foggy eyepieces, and many productive hours

Alex.
Reply With Quote