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Meade LX80 and auto-guiding


Jokehoba

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My interest is imaging and 12 months ago I bought an LX80. I was intending to get a Skywatcher HEQ5 but succumbed to the deals Meade were putting out at the time. If only I had read the comments posted elsewhere on this forum (or indeed on others too!).

Anyway, I own an LX80. I spent most of 2013 trying to get it to align sufficiently accurately for astro-photography. I bought the ST4 dongle, made up cables, purchased an auto-guider package, downloaded ASCOM drivers, EQAlign, Alignmaster and learnt about drift alignment. Long story short, I could only manage to get 15 second subs unguided. Enabling the guider seemed to stop the mount tracking altogether.

For visual use I think it is a fine mount and can't really fault it in this respect.

So, my question is simply are there any satisfied LX80 owners who have had success with AP? If you have managed to get auto-guiding to work, please could you share how?

Thanks 

John

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Hi Olly,

I spoke to the supplier a few weeks after getting it, asking if I could exchange it for an HEQ5. Unfortunately they have strict T&Cs and would only consider it unless the mount was faulty. At that time I didn't realise the problems I would have.

Last summer I noted others posting concerns on several forums - including the Meade community one - but no-one seemed to have any answers. And Meade were very quiet - presumably because of the imminent takeover. This led me to contact the Meade UK distributor, who advised I try the supplier again, which I did. The supplier didn't seem to accept that there was a problem and just told me to try the ASCOM drivers or get a dongle.

There was quite a discussion on Cloudy Nights last July/August suggesting that Meade acknowledged there were problems and were working on fixes/upgrades to be offered LX80 owners. But nothing has materialised following the takeover.

Meade's website is not the best for support. The freephone number is for the States only and there is no email address to contact. It's all very frustrating.

Still, I guess there must be a lot of very satisfied LX80 owners (who don't do AP).

John

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Hi Olly,

I spoke to the supplier a few weeks after getting it, asking if I could exchange it for an HEQ5. Unfortunately they have strict T&Cs and would only consider it unless the mount was faulty. At that time I didn't realise the problems I would have.

Last summer I noted others posting concerns on several forums - including the Meade community one - but no-one seemed to have any answers. And Meade were very quiet - presumably because of the imminent takeover. This led me to contact the Meade UK distributor, who advised I try the supplier again, which I did. The supplier didn't seem to accept that there was a problem and just told me to try the ASCOM drivers or get a dongle.

There was quite a discussion on Cloudy Nights last July/August suggesting that Meade acknowledged there were problems and were working on fixes/upgrades to be offered LX80 owners. But nothing has materialised following the takeover.

Meade's website is not the best for support. The freephone number is for the States only and there is no email address to contact. It's all very frustrating.

Still, I guess there must be a lot of very satisfied LX80 owners (who don't do AP).

John

This is a very bad situation. I'm sorry to hear about it. However, the supplier doesn't decide the law even if they may pretend to do so or wish to do so.

Olly

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Hi John , sorry to hear of your problems mate , the only light at the end of this tunnel is that you guys up north actually got to use these LX80's , sorry to say as not one that I know of ( thru IIS ) actually got delivered down here to Australia and I personally know 2 amateur's that waited over 18 months after countless promises on the delivery time , in the end the local supplier down here and pulled the plug took the losses and they are now a fading ( BAD ) memory .

Good luck John on you mission ( that you chose to accept , lol . ) , awesome looking and sexy piece of typical Meade HYPE , I still remember the series 3000 Meade triplets that ended up being 'Vaporware' .

Brian.

Hi Olly,

 

I spoke to the supplier a few weeks after getting it, asking if I could exchange it for an HEQ5. Unfortunately they have strict T&Cs and would only consider it unless the mount was faulty. At that time I didn't realise the problems I would have.

 

Last summer I noted others posting concerns on several forums - including the Meade community one - but no-one seemed to have any answers. And Meade were very quiet - presumably because of the imminent takeover. This led me to contact the Meade UK distributor, who advised I try the supplier again, which I did. The supplier didn't seem to accept that there was a problem and just told me to try the ASCOM drivers or get a dongle.

 

There was quite a discussion on Cloudy Nights last July/August suggesting that Meade acknowledged there were problems and were working on fixes/upgrades to be offered LX80 owners. But nothing has materialised following the takeover.

 

Meade's website is not the best for support. The freephone number is for the States only and there is no email address to contact. It's all very frustrating.

 

Still, I guess there must be a lot of very satisfied LX80 owners (who don't do AP).

 

John

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