Hi Joe, On 09 Nov 2011, at 12:47, Joe Bauman wrote:
Mine would have to be two feet long, and I would need to make sure it didn't stick up over the guidescope or throw the telescope off balance. Once I tried with a homemade one, stiff construction paper, but I had so much trouble keeping it taped together that it wasn't worthwhile. But I had put it together in the dark while observing. I bet if I made one at home it would work better. Thanks, Joe
So it sounds like you are not using a dew cap. Correct? IMHO you really do need one. Not only to keep dew at bay but also to shield from stray light. You've probably seen that you can buy dew caps with built in heaters made for your scope. I looked at a nice one for the C-14 but being cheap I decided to make one of my own and found that if I made it long enough I could do away with heaters (and their accompanying wires, controllers and power supplies). Others have already posted how they made theirs so I'll just add one other cheap and light weight material to make one out of is the dark colored sheet foam mechanics use to line the bottoms of the draws in tool boxes. It comes in rolls. IIRC, I got mine at Sears. I've also used the foam pads for use under sleeping bags but I think that's already been suggested here. patrick