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It's official - time to pack up the telescope

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#76 Kefka1138

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Posted 20 June 2025 - 12:53 PM

I did leave my scope in the hot garage for the first 10 years. The reason I'm taking it in now is to hopefully add more years to its life. it. I'm really not in a position to replace it.  At 12" and pushing 40 pounds, now you're looking at bookoo bucks mounts.  I'm more on the down side of the hobby as oppoesed to upping my expenses. 

 

I read about those two teens on Mt. Ord. I believe it was more of a body dump. I have hiked Mr. Ord several times over the last few weeks. I'm more concerned about the drunken hunters then killers. 

Eek, sketchy - I've only wheeled the trail/side trip leaving Mt Ord. Never really thought about setting up there. 



#77 Zygmo

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Posted 20 June 2025 - 02:43 PM

It ain't the Telescope I am worried about in the heat.   It's ME!!


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#78 12BH7

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Posted 20 June 2025 - 03:09 PM

Eek, sketchy - I've only wheeled the trail/side trip leaving Mt Ord. Never really thought about setting up there. 

It gets windy up there so now I stay near the lower end. Which has more shenanigans so know your surroundings.



#79 Far-Out

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Posted 22 June 2025 - 07:49 AM

I've stayed up in Flagstaff a number of times. The pine trees are nice but I really like the desert much more.  Although as I get older I have considered moving to the Sedona area.  All I need is a few million dollars to buy a home there. 

Hello I lived in the verde valley Cottonwood, Cornville area, much less expensive than Sedona. And 30  minute drive to Sedona. Cottonwood is a IDA dark sky city as is Sedona.

House are less than the average and a beautiful spot as well. Great people and community. And a fantastic Astronomy club and community. Verde Valley Astronomy

club, does outreach and events, very active astronomy community. My two cents.

Thanks for posting. I visit two months every year.


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#80 12BH7

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Posted 22 June 2025 - 09:23 AM

Hello I lived in the verde valley Cottonwood, Cornville area, much less expensive than Sedona. And 30  minute drive to Sedona. Cottonwood is a IDA dark sky city as is Sedona.

House are less than the average and a beautiful spot as well. Great people and community. And a fantastic Astronomy club and community. Verde Valley Astronomy

club, does outreach and events, very active astronomy community. My two cents.

Thanks for posting. I visit two months every year.

My wife and I have considered Cottonwood. The one sticking point is that once we leave Fountain Hills we will never be able to move back.  The house values here have gone up nearly 300% here. 

 

I've been to Cottonwood a few times but I've never stayed there. I really should try it one day.



#81 Moravianus

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Posted 25 June 2025 - 11:32 PM

So I listened to the advice of the headline "time to pack up the telescope" in a different way, to escape the PHX heat I did a one nighter Sunday evening south of the Stoneman Lake area.

It was a chilly night but I was prepared with layers and lot of hot tea. I was there absolutely alone beside howling coyotes and cows in distance. The light dome of Phoenix grew since I was there 5  years ago.

Next time, it would be better to not go alone and take bear spray?IMG_0546 copy.jpg


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#82 Moravianus

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Posted 25 June 2025 - 11:33 PM

Scorpion - on the sky ;-)

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Edited by Moravianus, 25 June 2025 - 11:33 PM.

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#83 Brent Campbell

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Posted 26 June 2025 - 12:30 AM

 

Extreme temperatures (cold as well as hot) do tend to create difficulties for electronics, motors, gears, lubricants, and related components.  And, as you more or less noted, this is really much less of a telescope issue than it is a mount issue.

 

In both worlds, very cold and very hot, it tends to be wiser to avoid so-called "telescopes" that are "married" to their mounts.  To me, a telescope is basically just the optical tube assembly -- a separate entity from the mount.

 

I live and observe in what is sometimes the other extreme:  My record cold observation was with a raw thermometer reading (not factoring in wind chill) of minus 50 degrees F.  That can be every bit as unpleasant for many mounts as can very high temperatures.  Yet, telescopes can mostly handle both extremes.

 

It seems that many make frequent moves during their lives, but if one settles in one location long enough, one learns how to deal with the extremes in that location.  This includes purchasing suitable equipment -- equipment that will work for you in that environment.

 

There was a time when I would go out on every moonless, clear night to visually hunt comets.  Many times, I swept for comets when the temperature was in the minus 20s.  Many mounts would quickly fail to operate at such temperatures.  But there are other mounts that will function just as well at +120 degrees as at -50 degrees as at +70 degrees F.

 

If you're going to be living in that location for the long-term, I suggest making more appropriate mounting choices.  Simple, manually operated mounts are pretty much immune to temperature extremes.

 

This (100% manually operated) mount, without go-to, without tracking motors, remains operational for me at any temperature in which I care to use it.

 

 

 

But even more reliable is a mount like this one:

 

 
 
Both of the above mounts, combined, cost less that $500 -- with one purchased new and the other entirely homemade.  Note that the telescope in both photos is the same telescope.

 

What model is the equatorial mount?



#84 DSO Viewer AZ

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Posted 14 July 2025 - 03:48 PM

Ok, roughly 4 weeks later. Temps hit up to 118 degrees (although my vehicle showed 123 on July 9th). Full sun, but covered. No visible damage, warping, and finder still works fine. I figure being under a wool blanket temps probably got a bit higher. This week we are expecting a few storms, so it will be under the patio. Then, starting next week, we will do 2 1/2 weeks with no cover and see if it melts... lol.gif

 

Finder 2 1/2 Weeks Later
Plastic Cover
2 1/2 Weeks later, temps up to 118

Edited by DSO Viewer AZ, 14 July 2025 - 04:00 PM.

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#85 12BH7

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Posted 14 July 2025 - 07:08 PM

I just wanted to remind everyone that it's not the OTA that I worry about with extreme heat. It's the mount, electronics, internal connections and all the crappy cheap gearing that I'm trying to protect, or make last longer. 

 

I've left the 12" LX90 out in the garage for about 10 years and my 8" SCT OTA has been out in the Arizona heat for over 20 years. So again, it's not the OTA that is the concern. It's the cheap innards of the mount that I'm trying to make last a bit longer. 


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#86 DirtyRod

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Posted 14 July 2025 - 07:47 PM

Ok, roughly 4 weeks later. Temps hit up to 118 degrees (although my vehicle showed 123 on July 9th). Full sun, but covered. No visible damage, warping, and finder still works fine. I figure being under a wool blanket temps probably got a bit higher. This week we are expecting a few storms, so it will be under the patio. Then, starting next week, we will do 2 1/2 weeks with no cover and see if it melts... lol.gif

 

Looks like your gear is fairing better than mine so far. My rigs have been outside under 365 covers pretty much since Jan, with only a few days inside while I was out of town, and so far Ive had a 3D printed bracket warp and a few fingers fall off my 3D printed AA cable mgmt clamp. Last year I lost a 3D printed part and concluded that they are not generally made with high temp materials.

 

One new one for me is that one of the locking nuts on my AM5 tripod seems to be changing colors. Obviously, it’s not affecting performance. My gear is always under a 365 cover during the day so it’s interesting that it’s changing colors in its second summer. My other rig has had no impact and its predecessor did 3 years in the AZ summer.

 

Thankfully we get a break from 118 for a week or two but I’m sure it will be back. Thanks for doing the experiment!

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Edited by DirtyRod, 14 July 2025 - 07:49 PM.

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#87 gnowellsct

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Posted 14 July 2025 - 09:15 PM

Losmandy G11 stepper version. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Same thing with my early vintage AP 900 which is also stepper version.

I've used both of them in Sub-Zero temperatures and very hot temperatures.

Stepper motors are the honey badgers of astronomical mounts. They don't care. Servos are much more finicky.

Greg N
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#88 mountain monk

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Posted 14 July 2025 - 11:20 PM

Even when the temps here are in the 80s or 90s our nighttime temperatures are regularly in the 40s—very pleasant. I could not deal with the temps in southern Arizona and would leave every spring in April. I’ll take cold any day.

 

Jack


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#89 12BH7

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Posted 15 July 2025 - 09:26 AM

My wife's friend asked here if a person can get use to being in high temp areas. So my wife and I had a discussion to see if we could figure it out. What we concluded was that some people are cold weather people. 

 

But having seen a lot of tourists and people move here we also concluded that you learn HOW to deal with the heat. Like avoid being in the sun, always look for shade, always have a frozen water in a small cooler, know the EARLY signs of heat exhaustion,  don't do stupid things like go hiking in the heat, etc....

 

No one really gets used to temps over 110°. You just learn how to deal with it. But yes, we do think going down to 100° is cooling off. 


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#90 mountain monk

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Posted 15 July 2025 - 09:58 AM

I think a large part of it has to do with your attitude about being outdoors. I’ve been an outdoor person all my life—surfing, climbing, mountaineering, kayaking, fishing, birding, watching wildlife, hiking, etc. I know a number of people who have retired to AZ and they live an air conditioned life indoors much of the year. Different strokes, etc., but that’s not for me. I spent several winters down on the border east of Nogales and loved it—great country with, then—forty years ago—great skies. I left in April.

 

Jack


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