Meade LX90 ACF 8"

[Gaze Away]

Hi can anyone tell me If they think this scope is any good( Meade LX90 ACF 8" )

and can you get an equilateral mount for this scope for the photography side of things, Thanks

[Northern Soul man]

,Hi Gaze,

Firstly wonder how good your skies are, see that you already have the 6", so a jump up to an 8" wont be a big improvement for you. if you do the majority of your observing from home, I mentioned the skies because this makes all the difference, if you can see the Milky way, then you have a good sky and the 6" will be great.

You can but the wedges for the mount to convert from alt az to equatorial, but to be honest the SCT scopes aren't really good for photo/imaging because they have a very long focal length (F10) and you would really notice the field curvature even with very short exposures, but visually I used an LX90 for a few years and had really good fun with it - very portable - very short tube length - good on the planets - and not too bad for DSO's.

Mentioning your skies - if they are good and dark, the 6" would be fine and the jump to an 8" not really worth the extra cash, but saying that, I'm moving from an 8" SCT to an 11" SCT (this size scope eats the cash) purely for visual work in the very light polluted West Mids.

Photo wise you need a really good EQ mount (loads of cash) - good alignment and fairly short focal length (a good Newtonian or refractor).

So the jump from 6" to 8", not so big as you would notice, unless you have really dark skies to go to - but as most would say, aperture always wins. Cheers Paul.

[Gaze Away]

Hi paul thanks for the advice.

My skies are pretty good as I do live in the country (cotswolds). I can see the milky way on a very clear night but Its not like im in Egypt if you know what I mean.

I love the night sky and wish I had more time to really enjoy it but my job is very long hours so I dont get out too much. what I am after getting is a scope that is good for imaging so I can create nice presents for friends and family and so forth.This was the reason for the ls 6 (great scope for helping you around the night sky as a beginner but for imaging quite poor..not what the add said lol).

At least I have a sale agreed for £1000.00 pounds from a friend so this will help me towards my new scope.

Im prepared to go up to about 2 grand all in to find the right scope but it would have to be gps as Im slowly learning as I go. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Regards Andy.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Andy, Nice 1. Your skies sound really nice, and if the Milky Way's there - all the better. Might be worth your while looking at an APO Refractor - not cheap - not really got much advice for you though, I've only used Dobs and SCT's - most people think that the mount is very important when imaging, so an high end mount is a must, the APO will give very wide field views, I think there are cheaper refractors out there, double and triplets, but as you know - you only get what you pay for.

You have to take into account added weight on the mount, balancing and good polar alignment. Wait for a few more recommendations though - there's a wealth of knowledge on here, as I say I'm more into visual so the imagers will help you decide - but I'd really love your skies. It makes you think that the night sky is always there, until your into Astronomy - you never give it a second thought, even light polluted where I am, I still enjoy the night sky - I know all the galaxies and nebulae from lighter skies are just "detectable", but the fun for me is just that - searching and detecting.

Take care Andy and hope you get sorted. Paul.

[Gaze Away]

thanks for your help paul. Sorry I have been away all weekend. Im going to post in imaging and see what people come up with, Thanks again and good viewing !!!!!

Regards Andy.