I'm probably the wrong person to be giving advice since I live in Southern California. There's a whole lot of information about keeping warm. Tony Flanders published a very good article about it in Sky & Telescope magazine a year or two ago. Let me know if you need the exact issue and I'll go dig it up.

 

Attach a hot pack to the back of your hand control. It avoids the issues with LCD screen run on and garbled characters.

 

Bring some cardboard with you, put your feet on it when you're standing around. It'll make you feel a LOT warmer.

 

As winter ends, there is still some advice to be had. Always dress for at least 10 degrees colder than it actually is. Observing is completely sedentary, especially if you observe seated, like I do, so your body just isn't generating the heat it would if you out for a winter stroll. If it's 30 out, dress as if it's 20. And of course, always remember to put your scope outside at least an hour beforehand to let it acclimate and cooldown to the ambient temperature.

Something on your head is essential. Baseball caps bump into the scope, and if you wear it reversed, you'll still look like an idiot, even when it's dark and no one can see you. A knit cap works well, but even something like a hoodie hood will trap the heat escaping from your head. Better yet, a dark-colored t-shirt thrown over your head and eyepiece works perfectly to both keep you warm and to block out ambient light sources.

For those of us without ready access to cardboard to stand on, wool socks work wonders. And for those of us without ready access to golf gloves, winter or otherwise, make sure your winter coat's pockets are insulated. (And yes, of course I'm partially kidding.) Obviously you'll be wearing gloves, but I find that I need to take them off when switching eyepieces and refocusing.

 

This is such a convenient topic as fall approaches. I was wondering what you guys do in the winter to keep warm. I like the golf glove idea and I think my Gortex gloves might be too cumbersome. I was also thinking of a snow mobile suit, (talk about looking dorky), I could just see the wife looking out the window and laughing! Hey, fashion doesn't have to be cool, only the air, (that what mommy always said). I just want to stay warm as I might be out for a while. Thanks guys.

Dennis

 

While re reading this thread, I also was concerned about moisture from bringing the scope back into a warm and humid house. I have an 80mm refractor and I know about setting up an hour or so before using the scope, however, when I bring the scope back in, will the aperture cover keep moisture from collecting to the lens? In the past I always had reflectors, this is new to me. Can I keep it dry?

Dennis

 

Sorry not to have found your question earlier -

My advice is to simply put the lens-cap back on your scope prior to bringing it back indoors after you've finished up for the night. This should help to prevent it from getting moisture condensing on the front lens. Also cap the diagonal while still outside.

Don't sweat it if you forget - a little moisture won't harm it.

Have fun,

Dave

 

-hand warmers and boot sock warmers - I use them for either interchangeably and buy by the box (Amazon or local outdoors store), often stuffing into my pants packets as well. Thermal underwear and wool if you can wear it. A good scarf and I usually double up with the south American type wool hats that extend over the ears. If I'm seated I'll often include a thermal blanket and wrap up. Of course I heartily recommend heater strips if using refractors. My ep's it's different as I love ortho's with their tiny eye relief and the non ortho's I try for the 20mm eye relief. I usually have a free heater strip connection so I sometimes have one available for the eyepiece if needed. I use the little Orion 4 channel unit and it's heater strips.

It's my first year without a permanent installation and ROR, I'd grown accustomed to just leaving all my gear set up and so trying to remember about tricks to negate affects of moisture. I agree it's not much an issue as most will evaporate when inside. My ep case is wooden and I keep a small nylon bag full of dry rice in it.

In may past life i did a lot of scuba diving and always used a wet suit (very different from a dry suit) and as I did a lot of underwater photography (digital was just coming in when I had to give it up)... it meant staying still in the cold PNW waters - talk about cold! Reason I mention is that sitting still and looking through the scope is very similar - no movement and cold! Cold bothers me more these days, I'm getting old, so I tend to maybe over do it.

 

I just found my Car Hart cover all's I used to use 35+ years ago on the tar mac. They served me quite well in 15 deg. below temps, (If I just lose a couple more pounds) and my Gortex boots with hand warmers, I should be OK, I am only thirty steps from the back door. As far as hats and gloves go, I don't care how dorky they look, it's dark out!!

Condensation on the lens. there might be some on the lenses, What should I do to clean in case of dust and such from condensation? I don't know about heater strips in any way, never thought about them, never knew about them. I just might keep my equipment out in the garage thru the winter, don't know yet. What do you think?

Dennis

 

The dust and any spots from condensation on the objective won't hurt the lens at all, or degrade your views through it. 'Cleaning' - even if done in the best way - will cause some wear & tear to the optical-coatings, and should only be done if absolutely necessary. But do get a super-fine brush made just for telescopes and learn how to use it. And I suggest avoiding those "compressed-air" cans that you can buy. It's NOT air, but a chlorofluorocarbon related to Freon®, and it can spray it's contents onto your lens/mirrors. Just get a blower-bulb such as:

https://www.amazon.com/Giottos-AA1900-Rocket-Blaster-Large/dp/B00017LSPI

Now let me go find the best method I know of for lens and/or corrector-plate cleaning I've ever used.....

Okay - these are from Dr. Clay Sherrod of the Arkansas Sky Observatory. He is considered the end-all expert on Cassegrains and other telescopes with lenses & mirrors and their upkeep and care. And here's the cleaning method that had the absolute best results I've ever seen:

http://arksky.org/aso/aso-guides/aso-general-guides/23-aso-fine-optics-cleaning-system

I do hope you'll be disuaded by this from cleaning a lens unless it's a Code-Red emergency! A little water from the air or dust won't hurt it one little bit! When I lost my grip on my Maksutov one dark night, I put a nasty, greasy thumb-print on the corrector-plate while saving it from a fall. Then I used the above materials & method. Dust? Water-spits? HA!! No way!

It's good to have this cleaning-solution on hand though. And tracking down all the listed ingredients can be a daunting task. But Doc Clay has partnered with OPT (Oceanside Photographic & Telescope in California) to allow them to sell the ready-made mixture and materials in kit-form (sorry Agena - maybe you can get in on this, too?). A link is here:

https://www.optcorp.com/opt-doc-clay-s-cleaning-kit-complete.html

A dry-version, which needs the buyer to find one liquid ingredient (ammonia - NH3), is available for shipment to international buyers. The USPS won't accept this stuff in international mail.

Dennis - I understand the psychological mind-set that compells us 'astrophiles' to keep all our stuff in top, showroom-new conditions. You need to resist the urge to blindly clean our lenses and eyepieces and the occasional hallucination we find in our ever-expanding kits. Cleaning fine & delicate optical-coatings will lower their lifespan - even done in the very best ways. Doc Clay rather makes this clear in the instructions I linked to above. One other caveat is in order here: The Flashlight <play soundtrack to the movie 'JAWS' here>: Using a flashlight ('Torch' to those in the UK) to look at a lens on your scope will invariably make the most perfect, pristine, brand-flying-new lens or corrector-plate or mirror look as though a World War One land-battle was fought on it! I'm not exactly sure why this is so - but it is. So lose your flashlight before it drives you utterly mad! Ambient room-light, or outdoor-light is much better.

"That's my story - and I'm stickin' to it!"

Dave

 

Before I answer, let me qualify that I live in southern Louisiana, so cold to me is around freezing. Rarely do we have temps lower than the upper 20s, so my answer that works down here likely is insufficient in the North east or Canada.

Obvious is to dress in layers. I found that the thermal underwear from Lands End is warm and comfortable without being too bulky. http://www.landsend.com/products/me...ght-base-layer-pants/id_244152_58?sku_0=::BLA
Add jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and coat keep my core warm.

To keep my head warm I typically just wear a hat, but when the temp is below 40 I switch to a balaclava with a removable face piece. https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Rese...3087095&sr=8-172&keywords=balaclava+windproof

For my hands I reallly like these gloves. They are warm but I can slip my fingers out when I need to.
http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/2051...20&gclid=COCW0py6-M4CFYRyMgodPMADTg&gclsrc=ds

And for my feet I use heavy wool socks. I've tried doubling up regular socks or even athletic socks and they just don't do the trick like socks designed for cold use. I also agree that a tarp or cardboard beneath your feet helps. Also my tarp tends to get damp during the night and so when I lean down my knees can get wet, so keep a towel, cardboard, or something to kneel on to avoid getting wet.

Winter is coming..... (slipped in a GOT reference )

 

Wow!
This is why I love this site, full of actual references, and thanks Dave, I have a tendency to be obsessive, after all "I hang drywall in tolerance"!

Dennis

 

After the chills of Vermont winters, I long to have those warm and comfortable 20*F nights return. When it's 10 below I still observe, but I'm not so comfortable.

All the standard advice applies. Dress in layers. Wear appropriate winter clothing throughout. Wear good thick head covering, of course. Etc.

Acouple things you might not think of:
In the Tony Flanders article mentioned above, he said to wear a scarf or something around the neck. I started doing this and found it makes quite a difference. It's easy for cold air to get down the neck, but a neck gaitor or scarf does wonders stopping it.
For footwear, I did some research before shopping and ended up buying some muck boots (I think Muck is also a brand but I'm talking about the generic style of boot, which is a rubber boot). Inside the boot you can wear multiple layers of wool socks. But as the boot people will tell you, boots for cold weather are rated for temperatures, but those are how cold the boot is good for *assuming you're walking around or getting some form of mild exercise*. If you're sitting still in an observing chair for hours on end, your feet will get cold. As Tony mentions, you should get up and move around periodically (I take breaks and move my legs vigorously).
My wife has running gloves and I used those at one point. Unfortunately the end of the index finger had a rip so the very end was open to the elements. Fortunately, that made flipping through chart pages and doing other tasks requiring dexterity so much easier. In short, I think the ideal is gloves missing the very end (maybe for just one or two fingers?) for most temperatures. For colder yet, I think wearing thin gloves underneather thick gloves missing fingertips is ideal. For colder yet, forget about dexterity and stick with survival.
For the coldest nights, on my legs I'll wear a couple layers of long underwear (e.g., polypropylene), then jeans, and then thick ski pants over the top. But how much you have to wear depends on your local conditions.

 

Dave - I know this is a little off-topic, but I hear ya loud and clear on this. Last night around dusk I was setting up to do outreach with the Denver Astronomical Society. They guy who set up next to me had the same Synta 127 Mak as I had, except his meniscus was spotless, while mine, as you so colorfully put it, looked like the front windscreen of a B-25 bomber. Intellectually, I know that the dust and spots on mine (I try not to look at it too closely, so I don't really know what's on there) does NOTHING to either my optics or my views. Psychologically, I'm thinking about ordering some ROR cleaning solution and going to town on that sucker. Fortunately, my innate frugality usually wins out. But if I happen to find a $20 bill in a pocket while doing laundry, that could change.

 

Hi Jon -

Those little Maksutov's are amazing scopes - so much power and so little in size.

I ended up getting some dirty thumbprints - my own - on the corrector. I wanted to make it 'new' again. Most every cleaning I've done has always left at least a streak on them. So I decided to order Doc Clay Sherrod's cleaning solution - ready-made from OPT - and hope for the best.

And that's what it delivered - The Best. Closely following his instructions to the letter, it truly left no trace, and the corrector was utterly and completely spotless as new out-of-the-box. It was perfect again!

I was, and remain, amazed by this stuff. It was, to me, worth every ¢. And Doc Clay contracted to sell his cleaning-solution and all the peripherals required. Enough to clean the 200" Hale Telescope in Mt. Palomar - twice. Here's the technique:

http://arksky.org/aso/aso-guides/aso-general-guides/23-aso-fine-optics-cleaning-system

These very same instructions are included if you buy the ready-made in OPT:

https://www.optcorp.com/opt-doc-clay-s-cleaning-kit-complete.html

You can make this stuff yourself. But finding all the ingredients may be impossible in some locales. As for the kit from OPT above, if you're in Europa or the UK, you'd need to find the ammonia-solution over there. It's not allowed in the post. Hence OPT also has a dry-version for international-orders.

I truly remain in awe from this stuff.

Dave

Now back to our regular-programs.....

 

Dave and jgroub,

Thank you both on cleaning lenses, I'm taking notes! Last night I finally got a good look at the moon, (hours) with clarity I never saw before from the reflectors we used to afford. I'm thankful for the off topic in this thread. I think I will keep this telescope for a long time and care for it well. BTW, Orion is now visible here at 4:00 AM and planning to wake up and sneak out without waking up the wife. Can't wait to see the nebulas again.

Dennis

 

Dennis, this is for you - and anyone else who'd like a copy of Doc Clay's Cleaning directions from his website. In Pdf. format for easy handling these involved directions:

ASO fine optics CLEANING SYSTEM - Part I & II.pdf

You'd likely find all sorts of good information by visiting his website, which I linked to above.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave!