Dust and dew accumulation in a closed tube OTA

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DEnc United States of America
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Dust and dew accumulation in a closed tube OTA

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Post by DEnc »


I’m considering an 11” EdgeHD for astrophotography. Right now I often image in the California desert with a 4” achromat, where dust and dew are in abundance. I’d install fans on the Edge to speed up the temperature equilibration, and I can imagine a lot of schmutz getting blown inside the Edge under these circumstances.

Have any of you desert imagers found this to be a problem? What’s the time frame for having to clean the corrector plate and mirrors? Is it a factory service job? Or as a DIY project, is it tough to get the reassembly right?

Thanks for any of your experiences and insights!

David
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Re: Dust and dew accumulation in a closed tube OTA

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Not the kind of observer you’re looking for but I did have an Edge 9.25. It has ports for air exchange with filters that aren’t a DIY job according to advice I received when I bought it.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: Dust and dew accumulation in a closed tube OTA

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


You could purchase a Cat Cooler to speed up acclimation.
If your telescope is still under warranty I would not pull it apart as it will void your warranty.
Taking one apart and putting together is not a hard job, just need to be methodical and replace everything exactly as you dismantled it.
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Re: Dust and dew accumulation in a closed tube OTA

#4

Post by Bigzmey »


I am a visual observer, but I would never use fans to blow stuff inside my 9.25" Edge. I would rather let it sit for a few hours to acclimate.

The option I see some imagers use is to thermally isolate the tube with a foam. Supposedly, it slows down acclimation to a crawl and one can observe or image without warring about it. I bought the foam, but have not try it yet.

Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
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