Word is, that Dewbuster are one of if not 'the' best dew controllers. I ordered a Dewbuster and a load of DewNot strips which are supposed to be the best combination, ie. the best most efficient heater strips and the best and most efficient Controller. Sure that lot was about 300 euros all told but quality costs.
Haven't actually fitted them yet but if the level of customer service I received from both Ron Keating at Dewbuster and John Marstiller at DewNot is anything to go by, then I have no doubt they'll meet my expectations. I must have sent 30 emails between those two guys asking questions and nailing down the custom specs I wanted and they both answered all of them promptly with long comprehensive replies. Customer service second to none.
The DewBuster will become the lynch pin and centrepiece of my dob project. It is highly customisable. The spec I settled on was as follows:
1x Temp Sensor Controlled output for a secondary heater
7x Regular heater outputs. These run at 40% power
1x 3v Regulated Output to power a GLP
4x 12v Outputs to Power 12v gear
As you can see it can be configured with up to 15 outputs of any combination.
I'll be running a secondary heater, a 2" heater for EP, a 3" heater for Stellarvie F80 finder objective, a 2" Heater for F80 EP, a .925" heater for under the GLP, a 3v ouput to Power my GLP, a handset heater for my Intelliscope handset and finally a further 2x 2" heaters that will heat a scope mounted EP box I am making. (ie EP's will sit on a metal rack inside a small insulated box. These heater strips will be affixed to the rack and the heat will conduct through the rack into the metal barrels of the EP's). In addition I am powering my 5 fans via a fancontroller, A large LED scanner(don't ask!!
), a JMI TNT motor drive and another miscellaneous item
In effect the Dewbuster is my Dew Controller, Power distribution rail and low battery level indicator/cutout/saver. ie it flashes a low battery warning and eventually cuts off if the battery drops to 11v IIRC before the battery is damaged.
AFAIK the amperage of the Dewnot strips is quoted @100% power, so once I toted everthing up including the 12v gear I was coming up with about 5 amps. Thus a 26AH batter should give me at least 5 hours which is enough for a session. The fact that I will infact be running most of the strips at 40% power and not all the 12v gear at once means, I would in reality probably have enough power for a dusk till dawn alnighter even with all these strips and gear and a 'lowly' 26AH.
As for the Dewnot stips. John Marstiller can customise these too for a small fee. I wanted to provide a cheap, functional dew control system with my Orion 12" Intelliscope I am selling. John was able to custom adapt one of his Binoviewer Strips to use 2" strips instead if 1.25", and lengthen the cord between the bino strips. These strips also have a power take off lead for plugging in another strip. The way I will be using it, or should I say the new owner of the scope is thus: One bino strip for the single EP, The other Bino strip around the Orion 9x50 Raci objective and a .925 strip plugged into the power take off. Just one lead goes down the scope and is plugged into one of the new Kendrick Microlite controllers.
Heres some pics: