Dew heater bands - HELP

[Jen]

Hi guys I finally have my dew heater wooohooo no more dreaded dew for me this winter so now I'm wondering what sort of bands am I supposed to order/ask for as in size length etc

It's for johnny my 12inch dobbie I need 3 straps one for the secondary mirror and one for the eyepieces and one for the finder scope the primary mirror is fine.

I sort of need to order ASAP as I have a star party to crash very soon hehe

Please help

[erick (Eric)]

Hi Jen

You don't have to get them exact - they can overlap - or fall a bit short

Finderscope - 3"

Eyepieces - they come in 2" and 1.25" eyepiece sizes, even though the eyepieces are all sorts of diameters.

Secondary mirror - you should get a specially designed heater - a normal band heater won't be much use.

I have the "Dew-not" - they seem to be excellent. Not sure if they are retailed in Australia?

Eric

[erick (Eric)]

Here you go - Agenda have a neat table to help

http://agenaastro.com/dew-not-dew-remover.html

[byronpaul (Paul)]

Jen,

I second the DewNot heaters. Well made and very servicable. I've got 7 or 8 in different sizes and wouldn't look at any other brand.

I've purchased all of mine either from Agena (directly or via their ebay account) as well as ScopeStuff. Would recommend both of these companies and shipping from US usually pretty quick - less than 2 weeks.

As Erick's mentioned, dew heaters for your eyepiece and secondary are easily attached and used, but nor sure about a dew heater for your primary. In a dob, that's usually accomplished by fans .... but other will chime in with a bit more expertise than me.

Paul

[Jen]

Thanks guys the primary mirror is fine I don't have a problem with that one

So which numbers on that list do I pick from there is too many to choose from this is where i get stuck lol

[erick (Eric)]

OK, here we go:

DN04 for your finderscope objective lens

DN02 for your 1.25" eyepieces

DN03 for your 2" eyepieces

As I said, I cannot imagine using a band heater for the secondary. Best is a heater that is attached to the back of the mirror. Check out:

http://www.kendrickastro.com/astro/newtonian.htmlThose split ones look useful?

Read this thread?

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea...2/Main/3809289

[Jen]

Kool thanks Eric
Will the kendrick strap plug into a thousands oak controller ok

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Jen
As long as the Controller uses RCA plugs, Kendrick straps will plug in to it.
They did do a range of "Firelite" straps that had an odd connector but that is no longer around.
I have found that the 1.25" straps work perfectly OK on quite large EPs no probs with Ethoi up to 17mm or the panoptics excep[t the 35 and 41mm. With really big EPs you may have to push a little more heat in wuith the smaller strap but it still works fine. On bigger ones a bit of time with needle and thread will make em fit.
Kendrick do a secondary heater (http://www.bintel.com.au/Accessories...7/catmenu.aspx) which I have on the 12" and it works fine. I have installed an Astrosytems one on the 20" which is a beaut, but probably works best on a scope with a fully enclosed secndary holder.
On my finder I have only ever needed a 2" strap and used a .965 one on the finders eyepiece.
I did buy a couple of Kendrick Premier straps. only diff with them, as against the cheaper Firefly is they are narrower. But I found them stiffer and harder to use so the firefly ones are my preference.

Malcolm