TS-Optics Controller for up to 4 Dew Heaters or heated Dew Shields

TS-Optics Controller for up to 4 Dew Heaters or heated Dew Shields
With the TS Controller #TS720, you can drive up to four telescope heaters simultaneously. The cables of the heaters are simply plugged into the four sockets of the control box. Now you can adjust the heating power with the control dial.

Using the TS720 control box: One control dial controls two sockets. The left position is OFF. If you turn the dial clockwise, the heating power is increased, so you can match the heating to the air humidity. The two top connectors are controlled by the left controller and the two bottom connectors by the right controller.

The power supply of the TS720 controller:
The controller needs 12 V input voltage via a cigarette lighter plug. Electricity can be supplied by a power tank, sealed lead-acid battery or a suitable power-supply unit. Maximum input current is 5 A but normally this power maximum is not necessary, so a 17 Ah power tank or an equivalent battery is sufficient for at least a whole night.

General information for avoiding dew formation by using a controlled heater:
Telescopes cool down strongly in clear nights, due to radiation. This increases the relative humidity of the air, causing dew formation on the cool optics and tubes which can put a quick end to observation or photography. With open optics, like Newtonian telescopes, dew cannot only form at the outside of the tube, but also on primary and secondary mirror. Dew formation can result in failure or even damage of electrical components and, if the temperature is very low, in icing-up of the telescope.

Heating sleeves and heating elements increase the temperature close to the optics and thus reduce the risk of dew formation, but they also can increase tube seeing due to unnecessary thermal output and the resulting air turbulences in front of the telescope. They can also give different results in cold or warm nights, as the fixed thermal output is generated without regarding different environmental temperatures. Thus adjusting the thermal output by a potentiometer is very important.

With a sensitive touch you can keep the temperature in the tube or around the optics only a few degrees above the environmental temperature by adjusting the TS Controller TS720. Thus you achieve an optimum of dew protection and seeing. Another advantage of the TS temperature controller is the low energy consumption, as only as much energy is consumed as it is needed for reaching and keeping the necessary temperature. You can use all common heating sleeves for secondary mirrors, dew shields and primary mirrors with the TS-Optics temperature controller.