Meade LS-series (and observing with kids)

[osbourne one-nil]

My son and I love spending evenings out together making use of the nice dark skies we have here in Cumbria, using our wonderful Sumerian Optics 10" Dobsonian. Because it's so portable, it's really easy to take it well off the beaten track and get away from any artificial light at all. However, this is Cumbria; it's not often clear enough to warrant setting off for an evening, and I work long hours, and it's not the sort of thing my 12yr old son could assemble himself (I'm sure he thinks he could, but there's no way I'd let him).

So, I've been thinking about getting a 2nd, grab n go scope for use in the garden, and been considering the usual 3" refractors, etc, for those nights when it's not possible to go out all evening, or when I'm not here. Past experience has taught me that tracking is well worth paying for, but then a complicated equatorial might well be off-putting to a 12yr old. Also, I've had small refractors before, and they do obviously have their limitations.

Doing a bit of browsing, I reminded myself of the Meade LS series, and to, it's possible it's just what I'm looking for. My son could set it up in the garden himself, entertain himself with the multimedia side of things, power it from our external sockets and even take a few pictures if he wanted. 6" is a decent aperture and it'll track, allowing good detailed observing to take place. The only drawback I can see is dew...it's very damp here, but I could easily knock up another foam dew shield like I had on an old Celestron 6SE.

I know it's perhaps a bit gimmicky, but isn't that what kids love? I want to keep his passion in astronomy going well into being a teenager, and realise that the easier things are, the more they get used. Does my thinking seem logical?!

[quattrorings]

I was considering this scope and did alot of research.

It is fair to say the technology has been hit and miss. Certain retailers who sell meade will not sell the LS range - such as Green Witch.

The problem seems to be the amount of clear sky needed for accurate auto alignment - some say a whole 180 degrees of sky.

Worth speaking to the guys at Green witch and Steve in the technical dept at Telescope House.

I know some guys have them and swear by them but other have had problems. If it was me I would go for a LT series of the 8SE

Best of luck

[Ad Astra]

This is strictly from the FWIW department, but I've taught thousands of youngsters to use telescopes and I have NEVER had much success with computerized gear with the kids. Too fiddley to set up, to problematic to use, virtually impossible for them to diagnose and set things right when they inevitably do go wrong. There is also the problem that kids will invariably find a way to use things incorrectly and damage delicate gears and circuitry without meaning to.

I know that the LS series is supposed to be absolutely fool-proof, but then, I've met some very talented fools in my time!

I train all the young people from my classes on a 150mm dob. They are small and light enough for any 12-yr old to set up and use easily, the views are dead gorgeous, and they are tremendously rugged. I actually have 12 of these scopes in use on three campuses, some are starting their 13th season of service and they still work great. Think about it - 13 years of equipment being used by teens who don't own them, lugging them out in the dark to the football pitch 30-40 nights per year, and they are still in great shape. (You can't tell the views or action of the oldest ones from the newest.) Need I say more about rugged and 'fool-proof'?

On top of all that, a dob forces the youngster to learn a bit about the sky and its constellations. The LS is more like a computer game, and costs 5x as much for the same aperture.

No contest in my opinion. Get the 150mm, a couple of extra EP's, and bank the rest of the cash in Junior's college fund.

Dan

[osbourne one-nil]

Thanks both. If I spent that sort of money, I'd want to be 100% sure it was going to work, and if it needs 180º view, it's not going to get it in my back garden! I did notice Green Witch didn't sell it, and wondered why. Hmmmmm!

As for what you say Dan, I almost entirely agree. However, we have what I consider to be the ultimate non-tech telescope in our 10" Sumerian. My son loves constructing it, collimating it and then finding the objects through the red dot. It's all so intuitive and rewarding. What I'm looking for is something almost the complete opposite. We have had a 6" dob before, but it rarely got used and I fear it wouldn't again when there's a 10" available. My thinking is to get something which has gadgets and frills and tracking and offers the potential of some simple astrophotography.

In the garden, an old apple tree has finally given up the ghost and is soon for the fire. In its place, I fancy paving a circular area which would allow us to set a telescope up on a firm surface in the winter in the part of the garden which happens to be most protected from streelights (it annoys me that streetlights are even an issue as I live in a village of 250 people in the real middle of nowhere!). I could go for an equatorial and mark on the slabs its approximate alignment which would be sufficient for visual tracking. In that case, I've wondered about something like a WO Zenithstar 80 on a CG5. But would it offer enough on planets if we wanted to dabble in photography? Or I could go, as quattrorings has suggested, for an 8SE, but would its long focal ratio make photography very difficult, and would a fork mount prove restrictive if we got ambitious?

How about a decent short focus refractor, with a barlow, on a alt-az mount, and stack images?! I've got an Olympus DSLR that I'd like to put to use.

Not easy is it?!

[quattrorings]

Interesting situation. For a budget of £1300 - which is what the LS6/SE8 would cost I would think about getting the SE6 and the Ikharos 102mm Apo refractor.

Best prices are

SE6 - £769

Ikharos - £575

I have both and they are brilliant - the Ikharos is amazing value and comes with a focal reducer/flattener - just look at some of the reviews it has had here on SGL.

You can then pick up a CG5 later for the Apo.

Remember advice is free !

[osbourne one-nil]

Buying two more telescopes might see the wife leaving me. If that fails, I could always start having an affair.

Good advice - food for thought. Thank you!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have heard a lot of people complain about Meade electronics, so I would tend to go for a C6 (such as the Nextar 6SE) myself. Having said that, if your kid can collimate a Newtonian, why not opt for an EQ mount, he should be up to setting that up, provided it has a polar finder scope (I set up my GP mount in 5 minutes for visual work). It also means you could use it as a planetary imager later. The little skymax also have a good rep, lest you think I am a Celestron nut , BTW.