DIY Dew Shield

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chicagorandy United States of America
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DIY Dew Shield

#1

Post by chicagorandy »


Copied from my earlier post in Beginner's Forum, but now with pics rather than a link.

This is my adaptation of a basic idea found on YouTube to make a very low cost (about $12) dew shield for my Nexstar 127SLT. Materials were a plastic bleach bottle (sturdier than using one from windshield washer fluid), cut along the bulges on the bottle where the arrows indicate and then to make a 19-1/4" x 5" strip, then spray painted matte black on both sides, and a roll of self-stick Velcro tape.

Before painting I cleaned up the top & bottom edges of the plastic with a straight edge and a utility knife. To make the strip I just used household scissors on the bottle.

When the paint was thoroughly dry I taped 3 strips of 3/4" 'fuzzy' half to the outsides of the plastic 'tube' and a single strip of the hook portion to the inside. That allows me to roll the strip around the rim at the end of the OTA - fuzzy side up - and secure it tightly with the hook strip side.
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Re: DIY Dew Shield

#2

Post by chicagorandy »


Another very sound option I've read others mention is to instead make a dew shield using black craft foam sheets in 3mm or 5mm thickness - lower cost than my mod too.
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." Abraham Lincoln
We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
The older I get, the better I was.

Celestron Nexstar+ 127 SLT, several budget plossl eyepieces, Celestron 8-24mm zoom EP and a 12.5mm illuminated double reticle EP, Svbony SV205 camera w/.5 focal reducer, Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 binos on a 40 yr old QuickSet PanHead tripod, Stellarium, Sharpcap and ManyCam on my laptop, SkyView and Nightshift on my phone and a dandy little $9 red-light flashlight.
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Re: DIY Dew Shield

#3

Post by chicagorandy »


176
"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." Abraham Lincoln
We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
The older I get, the better I was.

Celestron Nexstar+ 127 SLT, several budget plossl eyepieces, Celestron 8-24mm zoom EP and a 12.5mm illuminated double reticle EP, Svbony SV205 camera w/.5 focal reducer, Celestron SkyMaster 20x80 binos on a 40 yr old QuickSet PanHead tripod, Stellarium, Sharpcap and ManyCam on my laptop, SkyView and Nightshift on my phone and a dandy little $9 red-light flashlight.
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Re: DIY Dew Shield

#4

Post by bladekeeper »


Nice work, Randy! I like it!

I do use the black craft foam for finder scope dew shields and for my 80mm refractors, especially my ST80. I also have them for my Telrad and Rigel QuikFinder. :D
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Re: DIY Dew Shield

#5

Post by Lokifish »


Here's a gem for DIY hoods I found over on the Pentax Forums. It's an xls spread sheet the will calculate the longest possible hood you can use without vignetting. While it's based on sensor diagonal, replacing that with eyepiece/focuser apertures yields the same result. I personally found it extremely useful for making dew/LP shields to block direct local LP sources. Even made one at the maximum length suggested as an experiment, and the bump in contrast in unbaffled OTA's was very noticeable as any light outside the FOV was blocked.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/att ... odcalc-zip
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Re: DIY Dew Shield

#6

Post by Chich »


Nice work. Any worries about the paint flaking?

I've made one for my SE8 with the stick on velcro strips and a dollar store black 'crazy carpet'. One side was a nice matte black. Total cost was less than $5.

I have also fashioned one from black foam sheets for my Telrad.
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