Storing scopes.

Just curious. I know most people store their scopes indoors. Does the alternating heat (when heating is on) and cold (when heating is off) have any ill effects on the scope?

No, I'm assuming the house is not unusually damp.

Would it be ok to store the scope in an external garage (no heating) if it was in its box,wrapped up or in a bag?

check it regularily to make sure its not getting mould.

Would the constant "coldness" of the garage play havoc with the scope in terms of dew building up etc?

The real issue here is the temperature of the optics relative to the air, if the optics become colder then the air you get dew, a classic example of this is at sunrise, the shed warms up as does the air, but the optics are still cold as they heat up slower so now you have dew, prolongued dew = mould. For the likes of reflectors it is recommended to keep something like a 15 watt bulb under the mirror to keep it from getting too cold, its enough energy to keep it from dewing over but no so much as to cause a big cool down time before using the scope.

I'm gonna guess its colder then the house. No dust,fungii,milldew,sawdust to speak of.

If i stored it there in the bag i have (a padded bag for a recurve bow)..................i'd only have to open the door and grab it and set up right outside the garage door.

I got myself a Keter 6x3 shed in Woodies for my Orion Dob. The scope on its base and the hand trolley I use to move it take up about half the shed. I put all the garden tools and other bits and pieces that used to be stored in a corner of the garden in the other half of the shed. Its one of those plastic 'lego' sheds.

I'm going to have to keep an eye on the mildew situation I guess. I have no way of getting power to the shed for a 15w lightbulb!!

I'm thinking about one of these:

Little Woods link

Wonder how easy the roof would be to adapt so it flips open on either side.

Paul C.
I have a 10x12 version of that, well a very similar in style that came from Argos last year. A very nice and handy shed, it blends into the background well.

I have no way of getting power to the shed for a 15w lightbulb!!

Getting power there is half the issue, managing not to break the lightbulb is the second battle, I've broken 3 in the last six months by dropping them, I can be a complete clutz late in the night. :oops:

Thats a steal at 225 euro Paul. Very nice. Re: adapting it to slide the roof off. Even if you could do that, would you not be limited to viewing the Zenith? That is, unless you would be mounting the scope up on a platform inside the shed.