When I was at the Eldorado star party last month, I listened to a talk on dew heaters. It was appropriate because the dew at this party was hard to deal with. This was the first time that I needed to break out my hair dryer for optics.
One of the problems I had was the new mount for my eyepieces on the side of the Looking Glass scope. The eyepieces, sitting there radiating all their heat into a clear sky cooled very quickly and began to collect dew.
I was able to cope with that a little by laying a clean sock over the top of eyepieces with a hand warmer in the sock. However I knew there must be a better way. So I began to think of options.
Two weeks ago, I finally sat down to build a small box that can hang on the side of my scope. It has room for my three most often used eyepieces and the three-hole receiver can be removed so that a hand warmer can be dropped into the bottom of the box.
I have used the box several times now. I have not had to use a hand warmer, as the dew has not been so bad again, but I have discovered that I spend less time watching folks at public star parties. Having those eyepieces in a container makes me worry less about them.
This will be something I'll want to do when we get together to redo my Lightbridge base. I've got some ideas on improving this design slightly. the pivot point of the hinge on the opposite side then then I'd make the door L-shaped so the front side opens too (at least part of it). I have big hands so this would make it easier to use. Also it might provide some room for a small red LED switch and battery to make live easier in the dark!
ReplyDeleteAn easier way to keep the eyepieces warm would be using a dirty sock!!! haha