Meade LX850 mount with f8 OTA

[WardyP]

Does anyone here have any experience of (or comments on) Meade's LX850 mount with their f8 SCT OTAs?  Failing this, has anyone bought any Meade SCTs post-acquisition and have anything to say about any quality control issues?

Seriously considering the LX850 with the 14" f8 SCT but wanting to get as many viewpoints on it as possible and on Meade post acquisition, bearing in mind the issues they had just before this occurred with the lx80 and LX800 (this based on what I've read on various forums rather than first hand experience of these issues).

Any feedback on the above would be much appreciated. The 14" LX850 looks good value for money at the moment but still a lot of cash to put down and have read mixed reviews about Meade (albeit not much negative about the LX850 itself....atlhough not a huge variety of sources reporting back on it positively either, although most who have bought it seem to be positive).

Thanks

Paul

[nmoushon]

I think you'll have to ask this comment over in the cloudynights forum. I know of one person there that has had very good success with the mount. Not suree about the OTA though. But be prepared for some harsh comments. There are a lot of people on that forum that seem very butt hurt about Meade and their products. Most will try to force on you to go with either a CGE Pro or maybe an AP mount and go with the Celestron EdgeHD SCTs. For good reasons though. They both have proven to perform very well. I've asked the question there and here to compare the SCT f/8 to the SCT Edge f/10 optics. What seems to be the only driving factor is that the Edge has a native flat field where as Meades optics are not and require a field flattener.

Before I go further is this for visual or AP use?

[WardyP]

It is for visual initially as I haven't done astronomy since I was a lot younger so want to get back into this (but am unlikely to save this money again so want to start with a 'higher' end mount) but then moving into AP after a year or so...from the advise I've received I'd probably buy a 80mm APO initially for the AP on the LX850 mount but later would want to use the f8 as well.  I thought the LX850 + f8 was an AP and visual system although I know if you have the money everyone (at least in CN) seems to recommend the AP mounts.  I don't have that kind of budget and difficult to get AP mounts in the UK.

Understand what you are saying about views on Meade in CN and part of the reason I though I'd ask in here.  Understand that some of the attitude to Meade is probably earned historically but some of the comments / attitiudes to those wanting to talk about Meade seem very emotionally charged and not always rational and unbiased, sometimes being very aggressive and almost bullying the OP.  Wanted to get a more balanced viewpoint.  Difficult to unpick the biases as in contrast those who 'are' pro-Meade sometimes seem to see no wrong in them.  Must admit though I've had the opportunity to look through the older LX200s and to a layman and relative newbie there didn't seem much wrong with them / different when compared to looking through Edge HD at star parties...admittedly only had experience of visual for both.

Thanks for coming back to me on this.  Interesting your viewpoint on CN as your warning does mirror what I've seen there (to the extent I've had very negative PMs from people about other people giving me advice there).  Don't really like the personal nature and agressiveness of some of the views from people over there.  Understand people might feel aggrieved by Meade but don't think they should take it out on people just because they've bought Meade products who like them and say so on the forum.

Paul

[nmoushon]

It is for visual initially as I haven't done astronomy since I was a lot younger so want to get back into this (but am unlikely to save this money again so want to start with a 'higher' end mount) but then moving into AP after a year or so...from the advise I've received I'd probably buy a 80mm APO initially for the AP on the LX850 mount but later would want to use the f8 as well.  I thought the LX850 + f8 was an AP and visual system although I know if you have the money everyone (at least in CN) seems to recommend the AP mounts.  I don't have that kind of budget and difficult to get AP mounts in the UK.

Understand what you are saying about views on Meade in CN and part of the reason I though I'd ask in here.  Understand that some of the attitude to Meade is probably earned historically but some of the comments / attitiudes to those wanting to talk about Meade seem very emotionally charged and not always rational and unbiased, sometimes being very aggressive and almost bullying the OP.  Wanted to get a more balanced viewpoint.  Difficult to unpick the biases as in contrast those who 'are' pro-Meade sometimes seem to see no wrong in them.  Must admit though I've had the opportunity to look through the older LX200s and to a layman and relative newbie there didn't seem much wrong with them / different when compared to looking through Edge HD at star parties...admittedly only had experience of visual for both.

Thanks for coming back to me on this.  Interesting your viewpoint on CN as your warning does mirror what I've seen there (to the extent I've had very negative PMs from people about other people giving me advice there).  Don't really like the personal nature and agressiveness of some of the views from people over there.  Understand people might feel aggrieved by Meade but don't think they should take it out on people just because they've bought Meade products who like them and say so on the forum.

Paul

The main reason why I've been more active on this site, which is UK based, even though im from the USA. Its sad that its like that. 

Anyways back to your main reason for asking. For visual purposes I think that you would be more than happy with the F/8 SCT. I have no personal experience with it visual but from what I've gathered you need a vary wide EP or to be very picky to be able to notice the non-flat field. The f/10 versions suffer less I think but i'm not sure. They are super popular for visual use. If you look on the Show your SCT thread off on CN almost all of the pics (like 90%) are Meade SCTs. So I think you will be happy with the f/8 version. The only downside to them are that they are significantly heavier than their counter parts, which puts a lot on the mount for both visual and AP. So make sure to see if the mount will hold the 14". Just because its paired with it on their website doesn't mean it will be the best fit. Especially if you plan to do AP with it. 

So on to AP: If you plan on doing AP I've heard both good and bad reports on the LX850. Mostly good though. Not sure of its specs or not so maybe you might have to PM someone on CN who has one and ask what they would recommend for a max size scope to image with. Also you can get some person tips on how the mount works and what the troubles are without being harassed. It also depends on what you are wanting to image. If you want to image nebula then you are going to want a fast scope. The f/8 is good because you can bring it down into the f/5+ range with reducers and gives you long focal length and semi decent speed. But because of the long focal length you will have to do mosaics to get most nebula because of their size. If you want to image galaxies then the f/ratio isnt as important and both f/8 and f/10 is good. The f/10 is more enticing because of the extra focal length but the f/8 is enticing because of the option to shoot and a semi fast and semi slow speeds. So the reason I chose the C11 EdgeHD F/10 over the Meade 12" f/8 is because I want the long focal length to image galaxies. That's my passion. Plus I already have an ED80 APO so if I want fast wide field imaging of nebula then I'll just switch scopes. So if you plan on getting a APO refractor to start AP with (which is very smart btw the learning curve will be much easier to handle) the Edge scopes just became more enticing. Depending on what you want to image with. Plus with the new EQ8 out you might be able to get a second C11 HD also for about the same price. 

[WardyP]

Thanks for coming back on this with such a balanced view.  One of reasons I'm keen on the LX850 is I can get the 14" for the same priice as the CGE Pro with 11" Edge HD in the uk.  Know this not too big a deal for imaging but for the visual element which i think will always be a big component of what I do with the system, it is a lot of extra aperature.  Also quite like the starlock element as seems to take a lot of the effort out of things from what I've red (if it lives up to specs).  The mount and package deals from both meade and celestron probably preclude me from getting the EQ8 (although tempted by this with the GSO rc trusses but not sure how good these will actually be....they just look good! *s*).

There's a guy (spacetravellerx) on CN who has a 14" on the LX850 and very positive about it and has been very helpful (and patient with my questions!)....but he is very pro-Meade I think and hasn't had an edge hd so can't compare between them.  He does seem to have managed some imaging with it and doesn't portray himself as having loads of AP experience.  

It is probably between the CGE Pro + 1100 Edge HD and the LX850 14" for me.  Would get an apo for convenience and the FOV though (even though with reducer the f8 would have similar speed i guess).

[WardyP]

Are the LX850s popular in the US?  Was worried that maybe only a few buying Meade now because of previous issues which might then lead to further financial issues down the line and impact on ongoing support and updates to software / autostar, parts, etc...but maybe worrying unnecessarily

[nmoushon]

They are not that popular from what i understand. mainly because for the price there are so many other options that have a proven track record. So maybe they are just as good maybe not. Unfortunately I dont have the money to buy one and find out myself lol. If AP is a big secondary to visual then I would go with the 14". You will need a FF/R and there are some out there that have been designed to work with them. 

[WardyP]

Cheers, much appreciated.