CCD permanently mounted in Roll off shed

[Lex]

Hi Guys,

I am just asking myself how others are keeping their cameras in their observatories...
Are you simply letting it mounted or do you keep in somewhere warm?

In my cas I let it mounted with a blanked covering the whole setup, this in a shed not heated under ambiant temperatures and low humidity levels ( sometimes condensation on equipment when hot day cold night )
As for the moment it is always cold and cloudy, I am not visiting my equipment every day....

So fellow astrophotographers, tell me how you do it 

Thanks

[chrisjbaileyuk]

I run a small 50w greenhouse heater mounted on the pier. Just enough heat convection with it all closed up to keep condensation to a minimum though at -11 last week there was a bit of ice on the mount counterweights.

[Lex]

That's what I tried also,
I also had ice on my whole setup. I read horror stories about short-circuits in the mounts or cameras due to the moisture 
I just want to avoid that; especially within this awful weather; my roll of roof is terribly covered with snow and no clear night in sight!!!

Thanks

Best

[chrisjbaileyuk]

I cant help thinking it is worse to wrap it all up. At least with it all open any condensation dries up naturally and the 50w tube heater does a pretty good job.

I have had condensation literally dripping off the mount whilst imaging so I think most components are pretty robust. 

[pf_fin]

I leave an Atik 4000M, a 383L+C and a 16IC in my roll off shed since almost 2 years and never had a problem.

I live in northern Italy and use no heating inside; I only have 2 salt dehumidifier boxes (from a hobby center).

I think the camera should be designed robust enough: when I take picture sometimes the camera and OTAs are really wet!

Best

[Lex]

I cant help thinking it is worse to wrap it all up. At least with it all open any condensation dries up naturally and the 50w tube heater does a pretty good job.

I have had condensation literally dripping off the mount whilst imaging so I think most components are pretty robust. 

Hi Chris,

thanks again for your reply; as you said; i also already had "dropping wet" equipment; and I think that it "should" handle it. I simply want my equipment to last as long as possible.

I leave an Atik 4000M, a 383L+C and a 16IC in my roll off shed since almost 2 years and never had a problem.

I live in northern Italy and use no heating inside; I only have 2 salt dehumidifier boxes (from a hobby center).

I think the camera should be designed robust enough: when I take picture sometimes the camera and OTAs are really wet!

Best

Hi pf_fin;

thanks also for your reply!! As I see I am not the only one handling my stuff this way; this calms me a bit 
What about salt dehumidifiers; do they kick moisture significantly?

Guys; thanks for your comments; always a pleasure to hear how others handle stuff 

Cheers

[pf_fin]

Hi Lex,

the 2 salt dehumidifier boxes (1kg of salt each box) I put inside of my roll off shed reduce the relative humidity of some point  % (of course when my shed is closed).
That's enough for me: when the shed is closed I almost never have condensation on any metallic part.

Cheers

[Lex]

LOL,

I would buy a 1000 of them if they would work with the roof open 

No jokes aside, I will give it a try and see the result!

Thanks