Today I had a brain storm..................

In recent Star Parties, I had a severe problem with my 10" SCT "Dewing Up" before I was through observing...........Dew has been VERY BAD in the last month or so, with the air cooling quicker as soon as the sun goes down.

I plan to purchase a set of Dew Heaters/Controller in the near future, but need something now to allow me to observe.

Rather than spend over a hundred dollars on a dew shield for my Meade 10" SCT, I made one for less that $10.00 in materials and in about 30 minutes.

Materials (From Walmart):

1 - Ozark Trail 20" X 72" X 0.5" Camping Pad. This is made from a 1/2" thick dense
polyolefin foam that is flexible but dense enough to hold it's shape.

1 box (and a little more) of 5' X 2" Self Adhesive Industrial Strength Velcro.

Step 1 - I cut a piece of camping pad 41" long. This is the total circumference of the corrector end of my optical tube plus 4 inches.

Step 2 - I then cut a piece of Male (Hook) Velcro 41" long and stuck it along one of the inside 41" long edges. This edge will be the bottom (Tube Attachment End) of the Dew Shield.

Step 3 - I then cut a piece of male (Hook) Velcro 18" long and stuck it along one of the inside 20" long edges, from the top to the edge of the Velcro in Step 1. With Step 4, this will be the side seam of the Dew Shield.

Step 4 - I then cut a piece of Female (Fiber) Velcro 20" long and stuck it along the outside 20" edge. This is on the other end of the pad.

Step 5 - Finally, I cut a piece of Female (Fiber) Velcro 39" long, the total circumference of the corrector end of my optical tube. I then stuck to arond the circumference of the corrector end of my optical tube at the very edge. This is the attachment point of the dew shield. (I had to remove the felt on the inside of my Tube end cap to fit over it, this fit better than it ever had)

Done!!

To install the Dew Sheild, stick the velcro along the inside bottom edge of the sheild to the Velcro around the end of the optical tube and press the side seam together.

This seems to work pretty good on a SCT. It would also work on a Schmit-Newtonian or a refractor. A Normal Newtonian needs no dew shield since the entire tube length acts as one.
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