Mars spectacular tonight in Jersey!

Last week was a cloudy bust in the great Garden State (New Jersey). But
tonight...perfect seeing, no humidity so no haze, moon shielded by my
house...razor sharp crystal clear perfect contrast (you get the point) views.
Only problem for a newbie here (about a year of this fine hobby under my belt,
and six months with my 6" Orion dob (and three months after I buy it the
buggers add "push to"...no update for years, then a mere 90 days
later...Doh!))...anyway, my question...after about an hour and a half
everything dewed up...finder, eyepieces. Any easy ways to prevent? Dew ruined
a gorgeous show.
Art T

Art,

Glad to see you're observing the hobby. It can be addictive.
Orion's "push to" may be a good value, but I'm not sure I'd add DSCs
(Digital Setting Circles), the devices on the Orion dob to which you
connect the handheld control box. These can be retrofitted to your
scope. New ones can be had for around $500, used for about $250. Some
mechanical aptitude is required to install them, although perhaps a
local astro club could help here.
My leaning to not install them on a 6" scope is that the investment gets
skewed (imho). If your total investment in the scope is $800, I'd hate
for $500 of it to be in non-aperture related areas. I'd prefer a 12"
scope with DSCs. They'd be a smaller percentage of the cost.
That said, you could certainly install them on your 6" scope now and
transfer them to any other dob you might buy (or build).
As for dew, keep your EPs in a covered case. If one dews up put the caps
on, put it in a coat pocket or the car and use another. This way,
they'll never all be dewed up.
A 12 volt hair dryer (from the auto parts store) may help on the finder.

Enjoy,

Pat

SirWmOsler wrote:
Last week was a cloudy bust in the great Garden State (New Jersey). But
tonight...perfect seeing, no humidity so no haze, moon shielded by my
house...razor sharp crystal clear perfect contrast (you get the point) views.
Only problem for a newbie here (about a year of this fine hobby under my belt,
and six months with my 6" Orion dob (and three months after I buy it the
buggers add "push to"...no update for years, then a mere 90 days
later...Doh!))...anyway, my question...after about an hour and a half
everything dewed up...finder, eyepieces. Any easy ways to prevent? Dew ruined
a gorgeous show.
Art T