My dew heater failed right as Jupiter was coming into view

I was out in my yard in Boise last Tuesday, it was about 2 AM and my scope was finally cooled down. The lens fogged up so fast I couldn't see a thing, and I had to pack it in for the night. Does anyone have a good backup plan for when your gear just quits on you like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliviahenderson2d ago

Ugh that's the worst feeling. Just a quick thing, you said lens but I'm guessing you meant the corrector plate or eyepiece? Newtonians don't have lenses. Anyway, for a backup, I keep a big pack of those hand warmer packets in my case. They're cheap and you can just rubber band one to the eyepiece or corrector in a pinch. It's not as good as the real heater but it can buy you an extra hour to finish up.

evan_jenkins2d ago

Oliviahenderson is totally right about the hand warmers, that's a great tip. My dew heater died last winter and I was stuck with fogged up eyepieces too. I ended up using a small USB powered fan from my desk, just pointed it across the corrector plate. It moved enough air to keep the dew off for the rest of the night. Not a perfect fix, but it got me through my imaging run. Keeping a spare power bank in my bag now for stuff like that.

-1