Observatories and Equipment

[leon]

Hi All,

Probably more of a question to people with observatories, however i would like to hear opinions from any willing respondent.

I have some pretty expensive stuff housed out side permantely in my observatory and as most would know the temp gets pretty cold and moist through this time of year.

The Observatory is double insulated and has good ventilation and is dry, but the ventilated air of coarse is moist, would this be a concern to me for the electrical parts of the Gemini, and/or the other equipment such as the Takahashi, and other housed equipment.

I realise that the temp changes are in accordance with ambient temp, so the equipment dose warm and cool very slowly avoiding condensation.

I just wondered in a general sense what others do, or is my concern not warranted.

Thanks for any response.

Leon

[g__day (Matthew)]

Leon

I use two heavy duty plastic underlays - the kid you see in offices under large roller chair - the kind with large pimples that sink into carpet.

Why when everything is on pavers?

Well think of it - they create a layer of tough plastic which is raised about 4mm of the ground. Plastic is anyhydrous (water-proof) and the air closest to the ground is the coldest, and being flat and slightly rough at a microscopic level the plastic side facing the ground forms a perfect surface for water vapour to condense on - leaving the rest of the lab bone dry.

So under where I walk may collect 3 cups of water a night, but everything else pretty much stays bone dry.

Cost for mats - around $110 each from officeworks!

[leon]

Thanks for that Mr Tech Guru..... I will look into that.

Leon

[Phil]

I use survival blankets from the camping store. You just staple the blanket into a cover works great and cheap to. I also have two fans 1 blowing air around inside and one sucking the air out they run 24/7.
Phil

[rogerg (Roger)]

I have over the years had problems with dew forming on the inside of my observatory and with heat in the summer.

Painting the roof white got rid of the heat problem, now it sits very close to external ambient temperature.

Recent insulation and lining of the enclosed half will prevent dew forming in there, but the open half it will still form. In winter I sometimes keep a 60w light on to keep it that bit less dewey. But that isn't really enough to have a huge impact, just a little.

I usually figure that as long as it's no worse than the dew the equipment would get during a full night of operation then it's OK. Just have to watch the drips from beams on the roof.

I'm not sure what the best solution is for such things. I'm not going to line the open half of the obs.

Oh that's right, last year during winter I put a heater on thermostat so it'd turn on at about 5 or 10 degrees. That helped, but must be one of the more expensive options.