SthBohemia

@Westmoorland try not to let disassembling SCT's intimidate you. If the secondary assembly is VERY obstinate, fill a glass or some container with petrol/solvent to the brim and place the holder assembly on top of it and leave to soak for an hour or two. Spray the thread with WD-40 or equivalent and then remove the retaining ring. With brute force if necessary! The fibre washer may get damaged but easy enough to make a new one with some thin cardboard and a scalpel. Never use any substance such as 'locktite' when re-assembling, for that matter don't even bother to lubricate the threads when putting all back together.

Not unusual for the gaskets to get a bit stuck both where the secondary attaches to the lens and where the lens attaches to the tube rim. Just a bit of acetone or another solvent fixes the problem. You are almost there not time to throw the towel in yet...

A Variable counterweight 🙂 Add or subtract liquid!!

Interesting, what accessories did it come with? Overall a good purchase the Meade LX series are great workhorses, it's also USA made which is a HUGE bonus. I have a similar model and few complaints, difference being I mounted it on a Celestron fork. The only issue with SCT's being they need almost perfect collimation, there are plenty of articles floating around on the web regarding 'Collimating an SCT', just AVOID any of the so called laser collimating devices as they are in general, JUNK, that need collimating themselves. Rely on the old tried and true procedures 🙂

A handful of +++++ for the Meade over any Dob. GOTO is simply a lazy mans addition. The fork mounted Celestrons and Meades are STABLE and track well if mounted on a suitable heavy duty tripod or pier (the dual arm ones, not the single arm creatures). My preference being to mount Meade SCT's on Celestron Ultima or CPC forks, which are a little better mechanically and electronically than the Meade forks.

All your questions regarding collimation answered below.... Courtesy of member Spike, Spile, Spine? (bah something like that) https://astro.catshill.com/collimation-guide/

A bit of a letdown when one purchases items at inflated prices and they come equipped with sub standard bolts. Sighs.. I have 'moaned' elsewhere about goods made within China, to the consternation of some. I did purchase a SW HEQ6-P (I was intoxicated) and have regretted it ever since (not the intoxication 🙂 ). Probably sell it off for 50% of the purchase price. ^^ My views only, totally subjective. Many others find the goods I grumble about totally satisfactory and a joy to work with 🙂

I have never seen or used an annealed pyrex telescope mirror blank with any inclusions! I assure you I have made quite a few scope mirrors over the years. Have seen. one or two glass mirrors made prior to 1950's with a few bubbles. Brings to mind certain articles I have read regarding making sure the mirror you are about to grind is stress relieved and contains no bubbles...

After looking as closely as I could via your photograph as posted a few slots ^, am I correct in thinking that the medium of the mirror has inclusions of 'bubbles'??

Leave things on the backburner until such time as you have sorted out the collimation issues with the new plate.

Some 50 years ago I vividly remember seeing M31 sticking out like a sore thumb from a location somewhere within the Scottish Highlands SW of Wick. As in many places now... Bortle 10 and rising rapidly 😞

Refers to Cassegrains being in general, somewhat useless during daylight hours. Not exactly true as they can perform during daylight if baffled correctly...

@vlaiv my point to @BabyJo84 being that she has a very good lil scope and upgrading just initiates expense for little else other than seeing a few more points of light and some misty patches of dust (DSO's)... If she wants to go down that mysterious track (to me, whose understanding of electronics ends with valve diodes and beam tetrodes) I am sure you and others will guide her down the strange pathways of playing 'Picasso with Pixels' (my description of imaging BabyJo). Jeeeeez Vlaiv, I don't own a mobile phone, let alone know how to use one! Guess I had better go out and harness the bullock to the plough and tend the corn fields 🙂

^ I sure am, as highest magnification I can goto is 78x due to Gary Russell refusing to sell his EP's overseas and Paul Rini being inconsiderate and dying 😞 Televues are overpriced as are their equivalents and I refuse to buy anything even remotely associated with the Synta company! PS I don't like barlows....

Tis a lovely 'scope', you would not do much better unless you wished to spend a small fortune on a larger instrument. Regarding the planets, they don't look anything larger than a golfball at 20 metres with a 6" refractor!