Spider droppings

[Peter Ward]

Just a heads up for those who might have their gear living in a Dome or roll-off observatory.

While doing a clean up in my observatory, I noticed some white spots on the drawtube of my AP155.

They didn't wipe off!

...they turned out to be small corrosion spots from Arachnid droppings no less!

AP are now re-working and re-plating the drawtube (cost TBA...but I suspect it won't be cheap)

More insect surface spray and a cover sheet is now in place !

[allan gould]

I thought this was going to be another Sidonio "Rorschach" test type posting. I get the odd gecko in my observatory but not spiders -never thought their droppings could do that much damage. I hope the draw tube comes back in mint condition as its irksome to have a blemish on such a fine scope

[PeterM]

So we can expect no more Tarantula or Bug nebulas from Peter Ward then
Actually I just went through a paper mite infestation in my observatory from old astro mags stored in an area that gets exposed and damp when the roof is open.
Bug Bomb fixed that - but cover everything 3 times first!
PeterM.

[multiweb (Marc)]

I hate those bloody spiders. No manners. On the bright side it wasn't on the optics.

[g__day (Matthew)]

I always think cover sheets are a good idea (for both PC gear and Scopes and mount) inside an astro dome. They only cost a a few dollars and take seconds to put on or off, yet they protect from any weird happening you don't foresee! Good insurance policy!

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by g__day

I always think cover sheets are a good idea (for both PC gear and Scopes and mount) inside an astro dome. They only cost a a few dollars and take seconds to put on or off, yet they protect from any weird happening you don't foresee! Good insurance policy!

What can I say? YES! and then some

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Yep the little buggers get into/onto every thing . I found a tiny spider with web under the dew cap cover on my Zeiss scope , dont ask me how it got in there but he was happily living there until descovered . Small spiders grow into BIG !!! spiders , if left unchecked.
Brian.