Eyepieces and dew: question

I have spent the last few mornings observing Mars. I live near a creek in a
wooded area and there is lots of moisture in the air. After about 30
minutes, the outside of the tube on my Dob is wet and the eyepieces are
starting to fog up with dew on the glass.

I use a 7mm Nagler with 2X TV Barlow (345X) and a 5mm Nagler (240X) and swap
filters, using orange, red, yellow, blue, green filters. The result is that
I end up with filters and eyepieces lying around. When I finish observing,
everything goes back into a storage closet in the garage.

I have been leaving the eyepieces and filters lying open so the dew can
evaporate. Is this smart? Or, should I use tissues or something similar to
dry off the dew? Of course, I guess I could also carry a small towel with
me to lay over the eyepieces and filters that are not in use to help ward
off some of the dew.

Thanks.

--
----
JAS

As posted below this is the correct issue. One other thing if you
have multiple eyepieces close the case after bringing an eyepice out
keeps the other ones dry.

Rich


On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 07:57:28 -0400, "JAS"
wrote:

I have spent the last few mornings observing Mars. I live near a creek in a
wooded area and there is lots of moisture in the air. After about 30
minutes, the outside of the tube on my Dob is wet and the eyepieces are
starting to fog up with dew on the glass.

I use a 7mm Nagler with 2X TV Barlow (345X) and a 5mm Nagler (240X) and swap
filters, using orange, red, yellow, blue, green filters. The result is that
I end up with filters and eyepieces lying around. When I finish observing,
everything goes back into a storage closet in the garage.

I have been leaving the eyepieces and filters lying open so the dew can
evaporate. Is this smart? Or, should I use tissues or something similar to
dry off the dew? Of course, I guess I could also carry a small towel with
me to lay over the eyepieces and filters that are not in use to help ward
off some of the dew.

Thanks.