Twenty minutes now saves an evening in September.
Dry everything first
Anything put away damp stays damp. Leave the tube open in a dry room until the optics are dry, then cap it. The same for eyepieces, cases and covers.
Take the batteries out
Coin cells from finders, cells from handsets, packs from dew controllers. Corroded contacts are the commonest thing found in autumn, and they are entirely preventable.
Loosen what is under tension
Clutches, tension screws and locks left tight for months can take a set. Leaving them light costs nothing.
Write down where you were
Which eyepieces you were using, what you had not yet found, what you meant to buy. Six months is long enough to forget, and a note turns the first autumn evening into a continuation rather than a restart.
Before the first clear night
Collimate, replace the coin cell whether it works or not, and check every screw that holds something to something. Then put the telescope outside an hour before you intend to use it.
The questions that keep arriving
Should batteries stay in?
No. A coin cell left in a finder for a season is the classic cause of a corroded contact, and a partly discharged pack left flat can be beyond recovery.
Does an unheated shed work?
For temperature, well. For humidity, it depends entirely on the shed. Somewhere that stays close to outdoor temperature without being damp is the ideal, and a sealed case with desiccant handles the rest.
Last reviewed 17 September 2026