Which length of SV172 do I need?

FLO's guide: the 240 mm heater for tubes up to 76 mm across, 320 mm up to 101 mm, 400 mm up to 127 mm and 430 mm up to 140 mm.

Can I run the SV172 from a 12 V dew controller?

No. It takes 5 V over USB Type-A. SVBONY's 12 V strip is the SV192.

How do I set the heat?

The regulator on the cable has three settings: strong, medium and weak.

What have I not tested on the SV172?

I have not tested the SV172 myself.

SVBONY dew heater: the SV172 USB strip for scopes and lenses

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 46 accessories on my board, against price
Rank	Accessory	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	GEMINI EAF	100 out of 100	£42
2	Generic Dew Heater	93 out of 100	£9
7	Weather Station	88 out of 100	£225
9	SVBONY Dew Heater	85 out of 100	£19
19	Green laser pen	76 out of 100	£10
32	ZWO PE200	53 out of 100	£219
44	Unihedron SQM-L Sky Quality Meter with Lens	32 out of 100	£149
45	SKY ROVER 2x54 Binoculars	28 out of 100	£139
46	365 Solar Telescope Cover	5 out of 100	£73

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 Should you buy it?
04 Questions and more about this page

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 85/100

Recommended 25 Sep 2026 Updated 25 Sep 2026

Rank: #9 of 46 accessories
Verdict: Damon's pick

Written by Damon Scotting 2 min read

Buy it if

You power your rig from USB and want a strip with its own heat control
Your tube or lens is up to about 140 mm across

Skip it if

You run a 12 V dew controller: SVBONY's SV192 is its 12 V strip
You only need a strip for a small camera lens: a cheaper generic USB strip does that

The SVBONY dew heater I link to is the SV172: a USB strip that runs on 5 V with three heat settings, sold in heater lengths from 240 to 430 mm for tubes up to about 140 mm across.

Specifications and features

SVBONY Dew Heater #9 of 46
Recorded UK price	£19
Model	SV172 (W9132A, W9132B, W9132C)
Heater length	240, 320 or 400 mm; FLO also sells a 430 mm strip
Strap length	320, 400 or 480 mm
Fits	Tubes up to 76, 101, 127 or 140 mm across, by heater length
Input	5 V, USB Type-A
Heat settings	Three: strong, medium, weak
Width	50 mm
Power cable	1.8 m, nylon

Should you buy it?

85/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

Runs on 5 V from any USB Type-A port
Three heat settings on its regulator: strong, medium and weak
Four heater lengths at FLO, for tubes up to 76, 101, 127 and 140 mm across
A 50 mm wide strap and a 1.8 m nylon power cord

Cons

5 V only: it does not plug into a 12 V dew controller
The heater is shorter than the strap: 240 mm of heater on a 320 mm strap, for example
SVBONY's current and power figures disagree for the longest strip (1.9 to 2.2 A at 5 V, yet 9.5 to 9.75 W), so its real draw is not clear

There are only two things I can think of that you might want to still add to it just to make it absolutely perfect. Number one is a dew heater, which is very cheap.

Two alternatives

Questions and more about this page

Written by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Four questions, answered

Questions about the SVBONY Dew Heater

Recommended 25 September 2026 ·Updated 25 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

Which length of SV172 do I need? FLO's guide: the 240 mm heater for tubes up to 76 mm across, 320 mm up to 101 mm, 400 mm up to 127 mm and 430 mm up to 140 mm. The specifications ↓
Can I run the SV172 from a 12 V dew controller? No. It takes 5 V over USB Type-A. SVBONY's 12 V strip is the SV192. The specifications ↓
How do I set the heat? The regulator on the cable has three settings: strong, medium and weak. The specifications ↓
What have I not tested on the SV172? I have not tested the SV172 myself.