Lx200R

[bikerbaz]

Hi. I bought a used LX200R and  I'm having some difficulty trying to reconcile what the setup instructions say and what the telescope actually does. Auto alignment is not completed because for some reason it cannot find north. At some point the scopes rotation is halted by what seems to be a bump stop.

A GPS fix doesn't seem possible because it cannot find home.  Now I bought the telescope in UK and I live in Spain so obviously it's previous home was somewhere else. Using the Autostar it now recognises Seville (not the closest city) but not Malaga, but the lat and long co ordinates appear correct.

Using the Autostar I selected Polaris as an easy target and after a few minutes slewing it seems that polaris is near my feet more or less 180deg off. Suggestions please. poor skies tonight outside Malaga.

[paul mc c]

Could it be possible that you have it switched on for South hemisphere and not North.

[bikerbaz]

It originated from UK so unless the previous owner had done this he would have the same difficulties as I, which could explain why it is in such nice condition. However The telescope recognises Seville as my nearest site (which it isn't) and the lat and long seem correct, I am a bit puzzled.  Should I be setting up the scope pointing roughly towards Polaris before  switching it on? the ring that normally rotates, should that be set in a particular place.

I set up buy levelling the tripod, fixing the scope/mount to tripod with the control panel facing southish, so that I and the scope face north. switch on use autostar to select autoalign and wait.

Am I missing something crucial?

Thanks.

[paul mc c]

If the set up is the same as my lx Classic the control panel should be facing north,not South,and if you are not using the scope in polar mode,the scope should be pointing South.

[michael8554]

Download the User Manual from Meade

If on a wedge the control panel faces north, if not faces South (I think - check the manual).

Set Astronomical/Terrestrial targets to Astro

Set to Polar (wedge mounted) or to Alt/Az

With the RA lock off rotate the forks in RA until you find a stop. Then the other way, counting the turns. Finally set it roughly half way between the two stops but pointing to the north pole.

Final tweak - if on a wedge, and 1 star Alignment selected, it will ask you to place the scope in the Home Position.

For Wedge/Polar setup, Home position is pointing at the north pole but with the OTA INVERTED - yes, with the finderscope underneath.

It will then slew in RA to Polaris - centre it using the wedge controls.

Then slews to another star, centre using the handset - you're up and running

Read the Manual

Michael

[bikerbaz]

Thanks Michael. I do not have an wedge so I will try your suggestions. I have read the manual but in many cases during the explanation to set up, it gives different instructions. Also the manual asks you to refer to figs .. on pg...but these are not clear so not necessarily helpful. So the control panel faces north ie when I am looking at the switch Led and sockets with the RA lock in front of me my back will be to polaris correct?

regards.

Barry

[Davey-T]

Thanks Michael. I do not have an wedge so I will try your suggestions. I have read the manual but in many cases during the explanation to set up, it gives different instructions. Also the manual asks you to refer to figs .. on pg...but these are not clear so not necessarily helpful. So the control panel faces north ie when I am looking at the switch Led and sockets with the RA lock in front of me my back will be to polaris correct?

regards.

Barry

Yes thats right, did you read my post in your other thread about rotating it in Az to find the centre point otherwise it will hit the stop when setting up. 

As I may have mentioned before the manual is pretty useless best cut in squares and hung on the back of a door somewhere 

Dave

[bikerbaz]

yes Dave I did read your post thank you. I will try again. The centre point between the 2 stops is about 1.75 turns each way.

[Davey-T]

yes Dave I did read your post thank you. I will try again. The centre point between the 2 stops is about 1.75 turns each way.

Set it up with your back to north and the control panel facing you, rotate to find the centre and then rotate the az circle and line it all up to zero and lock the az clutch.

Dave

[bikerbaz]

I started exactly as shown in the photo. Tried auto align and easy align waited for GPS fix all 16 stars in display 2x, re set site location set time GMT+1 the telescope sets level/ tilt etc and the display says cannot not find home ( double negative, does this mean it has found home) probably a sensor fault if problem persists take it in for a service.

when you say lock the AZ clutch do you mean fully or just enough to pick up the drive from motor, locking totally will cause damage Y/N?

[Davey-T]

Can't really damage the clutch unless you do it so hard it snaps the knob off, really easy to do with the alt lock, there is a sensor glued inside to sense level they have been known to drop off.

The GPS should automatically set and retain time date and location, it has a button battery that should last over ten years but may be flat.

Leave mine set on UT time.

Are you planning on bringing it to the UK ? if so you could do worse than get in touch with Steve Collingwood at SCT Telescopes, what he doesn't know about them would fit on a postage stamp

Dave

[bikerbaz]

Hi Dave. No I live here, I rarely go back to blighty but I may ring him If I need any parts. The AZ lock is a simple flap moves 180deg left to right next to the fine tuning knob. If the lock is "locked" fully the motor works really hard, it actually flattened a set of batteries in an hour. The Dec clutch is tightened just enough to prevent the ota flopping about is this correct. The Park/Home postion is according to the manual for permanent mounting to a pier is that correct. How many sensors are on the device? If it can't get a gps fix will I have to find stars manually ie look through the eyepiece and see what is there?

Not giving up, but finding a  meade service centre may be difficult.

[Davey-T]

Not giving up, but finding a  meade service centre may be difficult .      

Be difficult in the USA, lol

Tightening / over tightening the az lock shouldn't affect the motor speed.

GPS just saves you entering everything manually, but I think you have to enter UT not local

You could join the LX200GPS Yahoo group for lots of useful info, Yahoo is a bit of a pain but worth probably it as they have lots of stuff in their files section.

Thinking about it, in alt az mode I don't think it matters which way it's pointing to start with, long time since I used it in that mode

Dave

[bikerbaz]

will give it another go tonight cloud depending.

cheers.

[Davey-T]

Another thought, way down at the end of the setup menu is a reset option, you could give this a try to reset defaults as new.

Also a good idea to get a proper power supply, doesn't need to be Meade, batteries never work very well.

Dave

[bikerbaz]

cheers will give the reset button a try if all else fails. I have a power supply 12V dc 2.5A it functions well but conflicting advice 18V 5A etc so tried the battery option. more advice suggested that I might have the clutches too tight. so much advice, still suck it and see for a newbie.

[Davey-T]

You can just make out in my picture that it says 12volt dc next to the power socket.

Dave

[cjdawson]

Thanks Michael. I do not have an wedge so I will try your suggestions. I have read the manual but in many cases during the explanation to set up, it gives different instructions. Also the manual asks you to refer to figs .. on pg...but these are not clear so not necessarily helpful. So the control panel faces north ie when I am looking at the switch Led and sockets with the RA lock in front of me my back will be to polaris correct?

regards.

Barry

At this point I think it's safe to assume that you can ignore the manual completely.  I have an LX-90 and have updated the firmware several times.  One of the updates (can't remember which) changed how the alignment process works, so much so that the manual would have told me the opposite.  Can't remember the details as it was several years ago.  Just go with the latest details that you can find from the web, and what people are telling you.

cheers will give the reset button a try if all else fails. I have a power supply 12V dc 2.5A it functions well but conflicting advice 18V 5A etc so tried the battery option. more advice suggested that I might have the clutches too tight. so much advice, still suck it and see for a newbie.

The whole 12V 18V thing is about slewing speed.  The LX scopes work well on 12V, they work faster with a higher voltage.   I've seen an ETX-125 running from a mains supply (official one from Meade for the UK) that was supplying 18V.   The scope was slewing faster at top speed.  That's about the only difference that the higher voltage makes.

I use my LX-90 from a 70Ah leisure battery without any problems.  I'd suspect that you'd also have no problem doing the same.  The biggest thing to avoid is don't every try using C-Cells, or D-Cells or the like, they simply cannot provide enough power especially when the temperature drops.

[michael8554]

I have confirmed what I thought in Post 5, Home position in Alt/AZ is the control panel facing south, the user looking north, see Section B Item 1:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCYQFjACahUKEwiI-Y3kxavIAhUGJR4KHZFQBIM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.optcorp.com%2Fpdf%2Fmeadepdf%2FLX200GPSStartUpChecklist.pdf&usg=AFQjCNG-gXKkTS5X6FQyYjrvBxptkNUIKw

That might help........?

Michael