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Extreme cold weather question

Started by Gil V , Dec 30 2012 04:34 PM
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27 replies to this topic

#1 Gil V

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 04:34 PM

Will be looking at Jupiter tonight. Temps 15 F with 15 mph winds.
Scope is already outside freezing.
Do you keep eyepieces inside (warm) or outside (freezing) before going out?

#2 star drop

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 04:39 PM

Warm.

#3 FirstSight

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 05:41 PM

Warm.


...because otherwise if your EPs start out at frigid ambient temperature, the warm moisture radiating off your eyeball and face will quickly fog up the eyelens directly on-axis.

#4 mich_al

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 06:02 PM

Warm.


...because otherwise if your EPs start out at frigid ambient temperature, the warm moisture radiating off your eyeball and face will quickly fog up the eyelens directly on-axis.


+1

#5 Gil V

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Posted 30 December 2012 - 06:15 PM

Seeing poor. Jupiter was a mess. Too cold!!

#6 Achernar

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Posted 31 December 2012 - 11:32 AM

I put them in my coat pockets, put heat packs in the case, and use a heater on the eyepiece plugged into my Dewbuster. It is a must here because eyepieces fog up here easily due to the extreme humidity that prevails here on the Gulf Coast. I wrap the heater around the barrel of the eyepiece and secure it with a strip of Velcro. It works very well. Another tactic that always helps is keeping my eyepiece case shut unless I am swapping eyepieces, that keeps them from dewing up and so does a heat pack place inside it.

Taras

#7 csrlice12

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Posted 01 January 2013 - 02:44 PM

I'd be more worried about ME being cold then the eyepieces. But like Achernar, I just keep the eyepieces in the closed case or at least in the bolt case. Having spent a year at the North Pole, I have a great respect for the cold.

#8 Seldom

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Posted 01 January 2013 - 02:56 PM

Gil V, I doubt that you'd have any frost build up in a 15 MPH wind.

It was -2F last night (no wind) and I didn't have any problems with EP frost, but I don't know what the Dew Point was. Kept the EP's in a camera bag with a couple "Little Hotties" hand warmers.

#9 NeilMac

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Posted 01 January 2013 - 03:30 PM

I just keep them in my pocket.

#10 dennyhenke

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Posted 01 January 2013 - 11:29 PM

I use an $11 heating pad in my EP case, works great!

#11 mountain monk

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 10:58 AM

Easy, cheap, solution: put one of those pink hot water bottles in your lens case.

Dark skies.

Jack

#12 csa/montana

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 11:02 AM

I'd be more worried about ME being cold then the eyepieces.



:lol: +1

I also just keep my eyepieces in my closed case, while observing. I've not had a problem so far.

#13 izar187

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 01:29 PM

Pockets for me too.
This will de-fog and defrost them as well.

#14 Tony Flanders

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 02:06 PM

Boy, it would never occur to me to describe 15F as "extreme cold."

As others have said, it's pretty important to keep the eyepieces warm -- at least if your face puts out as much moisture as mine does. Pockets work fine for me, though I occasionally lose a minute or two warming up an eyepiece that I hadn't expected to use.

No doubt electric heaters work beautifully, but I don't like to be dependent on a high-power electric supply. And chemical handwarmers get expensive if you use them every night. A hot water bottle would be OK at first, but doesn't stay hot terribly long when it's cold out.

As for the seeing, it's sometimes fine on cold nights -- you never can tell. You do need to allow more cooldown time than during the summer, obviously.

#15 kenrenard

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 02:24 PM

Maybe I have been lucky. I keep my scope and eyepieces in my garage. observed for about an hour with no issues. It wasn't terribly cold maybe 20F. I never warmed my eyepieces. No my question is should I start to?

#16 csrlice12

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 02:28 PM

You can heat up ES eyepieces while boiling eggs.......

#17 Mike E.

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 02:53 PM

Easy, cheap, solution: put one of those pink hot water bottles in your lens case.

Dark skies.

Jack

I've used hot water bottles for years as backpacking canteens, serving a duel purpous. Theres nothing quite as nice as slipping into a warm sleeping bag on a cold trail.
Walmart has hot water bottles at the Pharmacy, they were $4.oo last time I looked.
Over here in the UK there are small, kid sized hot water bottles, they only hold about a cup and a half of hot water; might be a good size for warming a case, anyway, another good idea for a HWB. :cool:

#18 Tony Flanders

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 04:20 PM

Maybe I have been lucky. I keep my scope and eyepieces in my garage. observed for about an hour with no issues. It wasn't terribly cold maybe 20F. I never warmed my eyepieces. No my question is should I start to?


Here's my advice:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

- Tony

#19 Starman81

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 05:46 PM

I observed last night in partly cloudy skies in 13*F temperatures--a new record for me, though it was a short 30-40 minute session before I got totally clouded over. I consider that quite cold! But no wind, that made it bearable. I keep my EPs in the case until it is time to use them.

#20 kenrenard

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Posted 02 January 2013 - 06:32 PM

Maybe I have been lucky. I keep my scope and eyepieces in my garage. observed for about an hour with no issues. It wasn't terribly cold maybe 20F. I never warmed my eyepieces. No my question is should I start to?


Here's my advice:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

- Tony


Point well taken. I will keep things as they are. Thanks Tony!!

#21 BigC

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Posted 03 January 2013 - 12:00 PM

Temp 8F this morning at 5 a.m. after work,-parked car and went inside to stay.Too cold,too tired.

#22 MawkHawk

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Posted 03 January 2013 - 12:07 PM

The solution to cold temps is called "The Night Skies Network", wherein you can sit inside in your Lazy Boy with your dog on your lap and view thru someone else's scope while HE stands out in the cold...

#23 JayinUT

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Posted 03 January 2013 - 02:29 PM

I go out in -10 F (my lowest) temps if needed. I have a single Propane Tank heater as found in this link so I can run that on one side of the car if I get too cold. Works like a charm though it will kill your dark adaptation. Dressing for the cold is the number one thing and I find that I don't get cold due to the clothing. That is the key for me, to be dressed for it and to keep the feet, hands and head covered up. Once my hands and fingers get cold, I'm done until they warm up.

#24 JMW

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Posted 04 January 2013 - 04:40 PM

I keep my laptop on a heating pad. It is big enough to allow me to rotate a few eyepieces on the edge of the heating pad. Once I see an eyepiece starting to fog, I swap it out with one staying warmer on the heating pad.

I like to where insulated bibs over long johns and sweats. I put a down jack over the bibs. The large overlap keeps me from feeling the cold are around my middle. It is easy to feel cold when you aren't moving around much.

#25 mountain monk

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Posted 04 January 2013 - 11:52 PM

I was just out for an hour at -11. Jay is right: good clothes make all the difference. Nice sky for a change. I'm going back out now....

Dark skies.

Jack
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