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Dew Patrol
I have all three systems up and dialed in and ready for production.
I had a severe dewing problem on NYE and decided the solution was not a hairdryer running among three scopes in a losing battle. Instead it seemed the way to go was to elevate the temperature of the area where the scopes were set up in hopes of raising it above the dewpoint.
I had completed assembly of a gas fired patio heater we have owned for 12 years but never assembled until now for a bunch of silly reasons. I decided it was worth a try so I rolled it over to the scope area, fired it up and was dew-free for the remainder of the imaging session.
The dogs supply amusement in the morning wanting to play fetch the toy etc....
Comment
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Comment by Richard Crisp on January 8, 2012 at 1:36pm
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For me that night it was come up with something that worked or shut down for the night. I went for the heater.
I didn't notice my stars focusing any less sharp than before I had deployed the heater and that was in the 1.8-2.2" range
It is possible that it affects the seeing adversely but I certainly didn't notice it and even if it did I was able to image where I would not otherwise been successful using only a single hair dryer.
I was just totally unprepared for dew: no working dew straps etc. I usually don't have dewing problems at the ranch so I guess I've just been lucky so far. But the heater certainly worked. I just raised the local temp above dew point by a few degrees. Maybe I warmed up the area by 5 degrees...
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Comment by Conor on January 8, 2012 at 11:13am
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I'm so envious of this setup...
Doesn't that heater affect local seeing conditions at all? From the looks of your recent shots, it doesn't appear to!
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Comment by Greg Marshall on January 3, 2012 at 9:03pm
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It does strike me as not the best way to deal with dew. If the device generates enough heat to avoid dew formation it would very likely cause serious disturbance of the air.
Also, it appears from the photo that you don't have dew heaters on the scopes. Dew heaters are very effective, but even they should be used sparingly. Just a slightly higher temperature than the surrounding air will usually do the trick.
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Comment by Kevin Galka on January 2, 2012 at 12:32pm
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Ah, if I only had to battle dew on NYE! Very ingenious idea, wonder if it would work on a smaller scale... something I'll have to try out come spring :)
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