Hello people! First post and all...

About a month ago I went and bought myself a telescope, my first telescope. Nothing biggie just 110mm, but boy oh boy do you see a lot more with that than with a pair of 50mm binoculars that I used to use. Anyways, I like to think that after a while I've come to be pretty familiar and handy with it, but as always, there's few things that have left me wondering.

First the most important. Whenever I have used it in temperature ranging from -10C to -20C some frost seems to be forming on its surface, on the mount and on a table I've been using (in other word everywhere). This is normal of course and I don't really care about the table or the mount, but I am a bit worried about my optics. One time when observing I started to notice a growing white circlish area on the eyepiece. It was impossible to use the EP after that so headed back inside. I covered all optics before I read from the Internet (skyandtelescope.com) that that should not be done. I quickly uncovered them and found all the optics covered with water. I let them dry and found nothing special in them except on the eyepiece that was covered by frost (it was the only optic that was covered by frost). Everything else seemed as before, but the EP had a few small spots on it. When I've used the telescope again in similar temperatures, no frost has formed on the EP (everywhere else it has) luckily, but after bringing them inside they are soaking wet (effect of bringing cold object into a warm room no doubt). Now this looks really bad and something tells me it's not a very good thing for the optics even though after drying up they seem to be fine. My question is: have I've been slowly killing my new telescope? Should I be doing something to prevent this or protect my optics somehow? What's the situation of the spotted EP? The spots don't seem to bother the observing (I don't think I even see them when I'm looking at the sky). I don't really like the idea of cleaning optics in fear of scratching it. Are these kind of things happening to everyone else too?

The mount I'm using is a equatorial one. I'm puzzled, because I don't seem to be able to turn the telescope towards every location on the sky (after I have aligned it with Polaris, that is). Not without banging it through the mount. It would seem that the only way of doing it, would be to rotate the telescope upside down, but it turns the finder and eyepiece also into impossible location (should it even be used upside down?). Is this normal? What am I missing?

This last one I just don't get. When you are looking at object near the zenith, how do you use the finder without breaking your neck? It's quite hard to use it comfortably at any position actually. After my first night of using the telescope I had heavy shoulder pain for three days! Any helpful tips on using the finder?

Oh and had my first view of Saturn at new years eve: breathtakingly beautiful!

Hey there Anni! Welcome to the fold!!

Frost on the scope is not a worry. In fact, it's a given on these cold days of winter, at least for those of us in the North! I personally keep my ep's in a case, with the lid down, to keep them from frosting over. If you do manage to get frost on one though, simply stick it in your pocket for a bit (be sure there's nothing else in your pocket that could scratch the lenses though).

Once you're ready to come inside, you have 2 choices. 1) lock everything into air-tight containers, so that no moisture will settle on them as they warm up, or 2) leave everything out in the open. They'll get wet as the indoor humidity condenses on the cold metal/glass, but it'll soon evaporate as the scope comes back up to room temp. Once it is at room temp, it's safe to stow away or cover. Water droplets on your primary mirror should just be ignored. They have no impact on your viewing. Cleaning should be kept to an absolute minimum. EP's, on the other hand, can be easily cleaned using a mixture of 90% (or higher) isopropal alcohol and distilled water and a Q-tip. Very lighting brush away any dirt with a soft, camel hair brush, then dip your Q-tip in the mixture and very lighty swipe the lens. Should do the trick!

Can't really answer the eq. mount questions, as I use an alt/az mount.

There's 90 degree finder scopes out there for your neck breaking problem at zenith.

Hope this helped a little! Wally

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Yes. We amateurs use high tech equipment to deal with frost and mist: Its called a hair dryer. No you're not killing your scope. Try not breathing directly onto the eyepiece by breathing through your nose.

A: An alt-azimuth mount and a motor drive. Otherwise, basically you're going to bang into something, unless you have a really, really, expensive mount.

Yes, put the right-angle viewer in the finder (or by a second one for the viewer). Otherwise say hello to the wonderful world of orthopaedic massage. Its made Charlie the man he is today.

Yep. I first saw that beauty in the 70s. Its one of the great highlights of amateur astronomy.

Welcome to the BABB, Anni. I haven't had the frost problem you describe, so I'll leave that to others. As far a rotating the scope to every point in the sky, keep practicing. I had the same problem at first but have learned how to use both controls to avoid it.
As to your poor neck and shoulders---right angle spotting scope is the answer. I don't know any secrets for using a regular spotting scope that will prevent having to stand or sit in an awkward position to use it. It's a hazard of amateur skywatching. I recently received a right angle spotting scope for Christmas, and my neck is getting better.
I'm sure others will have more and better advice.
Happy skywatching.

Does your scope have setting circles? If I have a good polar alignment, then I don't really need the finderscope as much. I use the finder to locate something easy and low (less neck yoga). Then I calibrate the setting circles and use them the rest of the night.

The easiest way for me is to use my widest eyepiece (32mm). No matter what I use, I always switch back to 32mm before jumping to the next object. Then I follow these steps:
1. Fix the RA circle to the hours/minutes of the current object.
2. Swing to the new RA coordinate.
3. Swing to the new dec coordinate.
4. Look for it in the 32mm.

The reason for step 1 is that after viewing the object for a while and tracking it with the scope, time passes... so you can fix it back on the official coordinate and go from there.

And like all things... it gets better with practice.

another cure for a frosted scope: dessicant packages!

i grab every one that comes in something, and then reuse them in my various equipment cases. there are some mighty big ones out there. then, just close everything up like normal, and voila!

just careful if you have doggies, some of those things are toxic, and some are not. but dogs seem to like going for them.

They're all choking hazards to dogs and small children. [-X

Well, thank you for the responses, they are highly appreciated. It's good to know no permanent damage has been done to the optics. And that 90 degree finder might end up being a must buy.

Yes, it has, but I don't think they are very accurate. They have a diameter of about 10cm. Combined with with my poor skills I could probably get it within 1-2 degrees at best. That would make even finding the Moon hard without resorting to the finder. Though, it might still be useful to get the target that close. I'll look into it and give it a try.

//Edit - typo: That's "the Moon", not "the Mono".

A fast way to get close to a target is to use a 1x finder. In other words, a red dot finder, or a bullseye finder like a telrad.

If you can see the spot in the sky where you want to point the scope, a 1x finder will get you there in a few seconds.

For dampness on the objective I use an old method. Cut out a circle of thick blotting paper and press it into the objective cap (not touching the glass when on). Leave the cap in a warm room while observing, then when coming in for the night put the cap on. That way you get your objective covered and the water is adsorbed by the blotter. Regenerate with a hair dryer or in a warm oven for a while.

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