Hey everyone,
The ambient temperature this evening at HCRO is in the low 30s.
Anyone have ideas to keep the camera, mount, computer and other electronics from failing during the winter months? My ZWO ASI2600mm camera is designed to operate down to 23F, which isn’t giving me a lot of headroom.
Jerry
Your camera will be fine. I’ll take mine out of my 68F house to the 0F or colder all the time in the winter. The only part that sucks is needing a second set of darks because it’s colder outside than what my camera can get to in the summer
Your pc I would just leave on. The heat it puts off will be enough to keep it warm. Personally when I leave my scopes outside in winter I leave the dew heaters on too.
Get a plastic bin large enough for the laptop with the lid up, and put your laptop in with a towel over the front. That will trap the heat it gives off so it will be fine.
-5F isn’t uncommon for me during the winter, and down to -10F on a few occasions. My laptop screen froze once but I now have it in a ‘tent’ of sorts made from an emergency bivvy sack (https://www.surviveoutdoorslonger.com/products/emergency-bivvy-with-rescue-whistle) that I cut the end off. “Reflects 90% of […] heat” and probably a little easier to manage than a bin.
Cheers,
Scott
Jerry Gerber:
Hey everyone,
The ambient temperature this evening at HCRO is in the low 30s.
Anyone have ideas to keep the camera, mount, computer and other electronics from failing during the winter months? My ZWO ASI2600mm camera is designed to operate down to 23F, which isn’t giving me a lot of headroom.
Jerry
Jerry Gerber · Oct 17, 2025, 07:35 AM
Hey everyone,
The ambient temperature this evening at HCRO is in the low 30s.
Anyone have ideas to keep the camera, mount, computer and other electronics from failing during the winter months? My ZWO ASI2600mm camera is designed to operate down to 23F, which isn’t giving me a lot of headroom.
Jerry
Jerry,
You’ll be fine. I have imaged below 0F many nights back home without issue. The biggest “problem” will be temperature control of the camera. There is a reasonable chance the temperature could end up below your cooler setpoint in which case maintaining a fixed setpoint is lost (it will then just follow the ambient temperature) but it will still work as will darks that are of close enough temperature (not much dark current anyway at those low temps).
Enjoy,
Jeff
Arun H · Oct 17, 2025, 12:52 PM
Hi Jerry, I have used the ZWO 294MM down to -20F in Wisconsin. The smaller ZWO guide cameras (290MM) have failed below 30F, so I migrated to a Lodestar which has served me very well. My expectation is that you'll be fine with the 2600MM.
FWIW, I have a zwo 174mm for guiding and have had no cold temp issues. Imaging camera is a QHY 268M.
Cheers,
Scott
Jerry, I will “2nd” @Jeffery Richards : +30F degrees will in no way negatively affect your equipment. Like many others, I too have imaged in the middle of winter in an open snow-covered field at -10F without issue. Just continue doing what you are doing — dew heaters, etc. Jay
Electronics love to be cold. Back when over-clocking was a thing, the motherboards would be immersed in liquid Nitrogen to get the CPUs up to extreme speeds. Heat is much more of a concern then cold, especially if the humidity is low as it is at your site.
I would be more concerned about the optics than anything. Good dew heat as per John Hayes lecture on dew (Astroimaging Channel) to prevent frost.
I had a bad experience with frost on a TOA 130. Somehow moisture got under the coatings and froze which caused the coatings to come off in a perfect “frost” pattern. Although I suspect the coatings were defective, allowing that to happen, I wound up practically giving the scope away as a result. 😢
In fact, operating temps for a specific refractor is something I just posted as a question to the AP forum since I just got notice that after 26 years my name came up for a brand new AP 155 and it will be here next week!
Jerry Gerber · Oct 17, 2025, 07:35 AM
Anyone have ideas to keep the camera, mount, computer and other electronics from failing during the winter months?
Hi Jerry, I typically keep everything powered on as well. We can hit -30 C here in my backyard a few times per winter and -20 C or lower maybe a dozen times overall (that’s real temperature not the irrelevant “windchill” rubbish) - But I usually won’t risk a session when it’s lower than -10 C (my CGEM120 has that as the lowest operational level) and furthermore I’ll slew the mount much slower than max speed so that nothing bogs or slips in gummy lube etc. (which did happen prior to using that approach).
Having said that, we are lucky to see ten clear nights all winter up here and of course they usually coincide with the -10 to -20 nights ! And then there could be several feet of snow to shovel to reach to scope in order to uncover it! We AP types are Gluttons for punishment!! (and loving it! as Maxwell Smart would say!)
Bill McLaughlin · Oct 17, 2025, 04:58 PM
I would be more concerned about the optics than anything. Good dew heat as per John Hayes lecture on dew (Astroimaging Channel) to prevent frost.
I had a bad experience with frost on a TOA 130. Somehow moisture got under the coatings and froze which caused the coatings to come off in a perfect “frost” pattern. Although I suspect the coatings were defective, allowing that to happen, I wound up practically giving the scope away as a result. 😢
In fact, operating temps for a specific refractor is something I just posted as a question to the AP forum since I just got notice that after 26 years my name came up for a brand new AP 155 and it will be here next week!
That’s a score, congrats Bill!
I keep using my equipment down to -25C. Colder than that, the mount will get sluggish. The real problem is that cables get stiff (I use silicone power cables, not the plastic ones that come standard with equipment). Data cables won’t move as I use a raspberry pi mounted on top of the scope. Obviously I control the setup from my warm study. Another problem is that the gear meshing in the mount changes due to thermal shrinking of the metal. This has cost me a stepper motor shaft.
Cs,
Wim
Wim van Berlo · Oct 18, 2025, 08:20 AM
I keep using my equipment down to -25C. Colder than that, the mount will get sluggish. The real problem is that cables get stiff (I use silicone power cables, not the plastic ones that come standard with equipment). Data cables won’t move as I use a raspberry pi mounted on top of the scope. Obviously I control the setup from my warm study. Another problem is that the gear meshing in the mount changes due to thermal shrinking of the metal. This has cost me a stepper motor shaft.
Cs,
Wim
Yes, cables can be an issue. Now that I have an observatory and pretty much don’t have to touch them it’s not a problem, but when really cold, they’re likely to crack with any handling if plastic.
My biggest issue with winter temps isn’t the gear, but the seeing…. In the summer, it’s maybe 20% or less of nights where imaging is no longer feasible, but at least double that during winter. Nothing like getting up at 2am when the sky finally clears, suiting up for temps near 0F, opening up the obs, booting up all the software, selecting a target, and…..can’t even platesolve because seeing is 6” plus! Then the whole process in reverse, all under a crystal clear sky…….
Cheers,
Scott
Scott Badger · Oct 18, 2025, 10:39 AM
In the summer, it’s maybe 20% or less of nights where imaging is no longer feasible
Try 100% because of the lack of astro darkness. 😊 I put my scope in summer storage from May through August. We are compensated for this in the winter with 12 hours or more decent darkness.
Seeing is usually ok during the winter, but ice crystals forming in the atmosphere can be an issue. And the whole setup gets covered with a thick layer of frost.
The low temperature affects backlash, and possible binding mainly in the mount and the focuser. But you also need to be careful when screwing adapters and such, because what gets tightened during the cold of winter, may not come loose when it gets warmer, and vice versa.
Wim van Berlo · Oct 18, 2025, 12:18 PM
Try 100% because of the lack of astro darkness. 😊 I put my scope in summer storage from May through August. We are compensated for this in the winter with 12 hours or more decent darkness.
Seeing is usually ok during the winter, but ice crystals forming in the atmosphere can be an issue. And the whole setup gets covered with a thick layer of frost.
The low temperature affects backlash, and possible binding mainly in the mount and the focuser. But you also need to be careful when screwing adapters and such, because what gets tightened during the cold of winter, may not come loose when it gets warmer, and vice versa.
Drops to a little under 4 hours ‘usable’ darkness for me.
Wish my seeing didn’t suffer…..maybe it’s the mountainous terrain I’m in that causes a lot of thermal mixing generally, and sharper thermoclines during winter? Anyhow, it starts at sucks, and gets worse from there…..compensated, though, by bortle 3, no obstructions, and zero visible ground lights from my yard. : )
I’m also about 6 miles directly downwind of the “world’s worst weather” (https://mountwashington.org/the-worlds-worst-weather/) and site of the highest ever recorded wind speed…..so there’s that.
Cheers,
Scott
Scott Badger · Oct 18, 2025, 01:02 PM
I’m also about 6 miles directly downwind of the “world’s worst weather” (https://mountwashington.org/the-worlds-worst-weather/) and site of the highest ever recorded wind speed…..so there’s that.
And yet they put an observatory there…🙂
Though, I must say, that ice on the right hand side of the observation deck camera view does indicate the extreme conditions.
I run my stuff down to -30f at home with no problemo… I use qhy now but used to use zwo. Its always fun to be able to cool down to -40 or -45c. Lol
I will add , that at hcro the roof will not open below a certain temp. Maybe 0f or -10f. I cant recall.
Wim van Berlo · Oct 18, 2025, 01:21 PM
And yet they put an observatory there…🙂
Though, I must say, that ice on the right hand side of the observation deck camera view does indicate the extreme conditions.
Ha! Weather observatory, not our type…. : )
Some great videos on youtube of the obs staff getting blown across the deck on lunch trays, or doing the Michael Jackson move…..plus frozen bubbles, boiling water freezing before it hits the ground, and a frozen fork-full of spaghetti!…..
Cheers,
Scott