Meade 10" Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope Model 2120 Help Please

[ecwwc]

Hi I am new to the Board, I Posted this in the New Section and was told that maybe I could get some other advise on this Forum.

I have an old Meade telescope Lx 200 10 inch model 2120, this scope sits on a fork mount and has no handset. I was wondering what I can do to put the telescope on another Mount to give it a Go to feature since I am new and not familiar with looking for objects. The scope is in perfect condition, it was my Grandfathers and used rarely. Any help would be appreciated Thank you

[cathalferris]

You should be able to source a dovetail such as one similar to this or preferably this (better stability) which would attach to the front and rear rings on the tube, allowing the tube to attach onto other standard attachment mounts. The 10" OTA is about 14-15 kg so it needs a relatively beefy mount to be worth using, even for visual. Add the small field of view and the accuracy for the GoTo system needs to be pretty good. The GoTo mounts that will support a 10" Meade OTA are not that cheap though, minimum recommended for visual work only would be an NEQ6 apparently. Trouble is, that mount is just under a grand sterling new (see here)

People have put that OTA on a CG5 or EQ5 but very much not recommended as it will be unstable and probably inaccurate.

If you were to sell the scope you may get maybe £300-£500 for it, and you could get an easier-to-handle GoTo scope of the same aperture like this for the same overall cost as remounting the 10" OTA on a correctly-sized GoTo mount.

[alan potts]

Whole heartly agree with cathalferris, a well thought out answer. I wanted to put my 12 inch on to a mount, even the EQ 6 is a bit small for this, then the prices really go up. Another more expensive mount you may like to look at it the Ioptron, this carries 20 KG and looks the part..

Alan.

[jflowers]

Have you tried to source a second hand handset? much cheaper option if you can find one.

Here is the manual if thats missing too

[Capricorn]

Your other post suggests that yoiu have no handset, is this correct ?

You also imply that it all works except for the absence of the handset, so a laptop to control it could be an option.

Inexpensive used item maybe.

Posted in the other thread a handset for $95 but it is in the US, think people have bought from the person and no problems.

Any chance of a location?

Someone may be close enough to offer direct help.

Say this as 2 clubs around me use these scopes and could possibly supply a fast answer, but you could be anywhere on the planet.

[Skylook123]

Six years ago I transferred my Meade 10" 2120 to an Orion Atlas EQ-G (Synta/Skywatcher EQ6) and it has been bulletproof for 6 to 10 public outreach events each month. What I needed to do was to add a Losmandy DM-10 dovetail to the OTA

http://www.losmandy.com/secondary.html

and a saddle plate to convert from the Vixen dovetail slot on the mount head to the wider Losmandy D plate, from Ken's Rings & Things, although most folks use an ADM saddle.

http://admaccessories.com/

I am not sure how the more recent dual dovetail capability of the EQ6/NEQ6 modifies the need for the Vixen to Losmandy conversion. I did need to add an additional 7 pound weight to the two 11 pound weights that come with the mount. Camera or a finder other than a Telrad will require additional weight.

With this setup, it is possible to run with a laptop and EQMOD/EQASCOM with tremendous capabilities, including satellite tracking which I also do in addition to the public outreach events.

[ollypenrice]

Whole heartly agree with cathalferris, a well thought out answer. I wanted to put my 12 inch on to a mount, even the EQ 6 is a bit small for this, then the prices really go up. Another more expensive mount you may like to look at it the Ioptron, this carries 20 KG and looks the part..

Alan.

The iOptron has a lot going for it as a platform for smaller scopes but I would not put a 10 inch SCT on it and certainly not a 12 inch. It is great for fast polar alignment and has very accurate GoTo, though its tracking accuracy is not very different from the NEQ6.

Olly

[earth titan]

I used to run a 8" version on an HEQ5 and it was at the top of the limit. It's now on an NEQ6 and much happier.

As an SCT, are you truly going to use it for deep sky or mainly for planetary? If only for planetary, then do you really needed a GOTO scope? For pointing at DSOs GOTO may be useful but for the planets, which are generally nice and bright, a push to may be suitable.

[alan potts]

Olly,

I wouldn't put a 12 inch on this mount but it would be OK with 10 inch, just, no good for imaging though I'm sure. In any case you don't like fork mounts so you should be happy the guy is trying to get it off one,

Alan.

[Peter Drew]

Before it was stolen, I transferred my 12" SCT on to a EQ6, although not perfect, it was steadier and more reliable electronically than the original fork mount.

[alan potts]

Peter,

The reason I want to transfer is only to use the camera, so just OK is not good enough. Mounts that take this either have silly lead times or cost both arms and both legs. My fault I should have thought about it more, the wedge is out because I can almost buy an EQ 6 for the same price. Meade here in Europe really do some silly pricing.

Alan

[ecwwc]

Sorry I have been away the last few day's. I am not sure about a handset since I don't even know where it would plug into, the only thing I have that plugs into anything is the cord from a black box that makes the Motor drive. I have the manual and it don't talk about a Hand set at all. Thanks for all the help I have been getting.