A kind of a new beginner.

[Darthdad8409]

So about ten years ago I was involved in my college's astronomy club and bought a Meade ETX-90 telescope. Some recent money problem got me to thinking of my scope and I decided that I didn't use it enough. I've halled out the scope. I was never able to get the go to function to work properly. I am thinking about not trying to use the go to function for now and just doing a polar alignment and trying to navigate thr sky manually. Any thoughts or advice?

[ronin]

What is the problem with the goto ?

Next question is was it an actual goto, they made the ETX-90 in a form called ETX-90RA, which I think had a handset but not a goto handset. Bit of an odd item that never really did what a user wanted.

I have half a suspicion that if it is was in Alt/Az mode the a goto then you have to use the goto fully, however if it is in EQ mode then it should be OK as RA movement is constant and there is no Dec movement.

Still be interested to know the problem with goto.

[Darthdad8409]

What is the problem with the goto ?

Next question is was it an actual goto, they made the ETX-90 in a form called ETX-90RA, which I think had a handset but not a goto handset. Bit of an odd item that never really did what a user wanted.

I have half a suspicion that if it is was in Alt/Az mode the a goto then you have to use the goto fully, however if it is in EQ mode then it should be OK as RA movement is constant and there is no Dec movement.

Still be interested to know the problem with goto.

I bought an ETX-90EC. The scope was supposed to come with a remote control for the drive. The particular one I bought came with MEADE's autostar control instead of the stock remote control. To align the scope, the control would select two stars and then once it was aligned you could select objects from the autosar's database and the scope would slew to the obejct and track it. I think the problem was that when I first got the scope, I was setting it up wrong. The last time I set up the scope, I did all the set up like I just took the scope out of the box. Now, it seems like autostar is working correctly.

However I thinking about focusing on learning how to do an equtorial mount because I think most of my observing is going to be alone. And I am excited by the prospect of trying to find thinks on my own without the autostar. I am also wanting to try imagining and I've been told that equtorial allignment is better for imagining. From what I can tell, the autostar version that I have only works in an alt/az mount. Which seems odd to me, but considering the fact that my scope is over 10 years old, I could understand the autostar controller not working in an equatorial mount.

[Darthdad8409]

It must have been operator error all those years ago. I was able to get my scope to align and use the autostar remote to find things. I was still a little off in the alignment of my scope, but I was in the general area of what I wanted to see

[ronin]

There is the option to set the mount to Equitorial, but it is well hidden in the set up.

I know this as an ETX I had decided one day it was on an EQ mount, odd as it has never been on an EQ mount, and it tried to ram the tube into the base. Had to pull the power and hit the reset button then reenter everything again.

If lost then: http://www.meade.com/support/manuals/

The "problem" of the 90/105/125 is that they have a small field of view, so that initial start position has to be accurate, also a low mag eyepiece helps. Also means that the more accurate the data you supply it the better also - as in use your Lat+Long not the nearest town/city in the database.

Just looked at the EC manual, it sort of ignores the Autostar aspect, the EC had a basic handset, whereas the Autostar has a lot more features and is really what they should have supplied 100% of the time. I half suspect Meade realised their mistake and started to supply the Autostar #497 always, there is also a slightly different autostar but the difference is I think internal = more memory inside it.

In the above link scroll down and find the #497 Autostar Controller manual, page 5 gives the general menu structure.

To change mounts it is:
 

Select Item - Setup - Telescope - Telescope Model - Moiunt:- then pick the mount you type want

If you can get along with the setup and aligment they are reasonable scopes, but you will need a low mag eyepiece simply for the field of view it gives.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi 'Darthdad8409' and welcome to SGL.

Another option if you want to mount your ETX90 on a 'dedicated' equatorial mount would be to remove from the fork assembly. There is a video on YouTube of ETX105 disasembly. They are a tight fit but with care it can be done. Then you can either attach a dovetail plate underneath the plastic flip-mirror housing, though you may need to have another hole drilled to match the spacing of the ETX holes. A word of caution though! The threaded brass inserts (1/4" BSW( can/may become loose if you over tighten them. Or you can do what I have done with mine and that was to purchase 2x Jubilee clips/bands and 'wrap' them around the OTA & dovetail bar as I have done, (see my post "My 'modded' Meade ETX105 - part 2" http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/210185-my-modded-meade-etx105-ota-part-2/ as it has some photos). Hope this helps.

[Darthdad8409]

Hi 'Darthdad8409' and welcome to SGL.

Another option if you want to mount your ETX90 on a 'dedicated' equatorial mount would be to remove from the fork assembly. There is a video on YouTube of ETX105 disasembly. They are a tight fit but with care it can be done. Then you can either attach a dovetail plate underneath the plastic flip-mirror housing, though you may need to have another hole drilled to match the spacing of the ETX holes. A word of caution though! The threaded brass inserts (1/4" BSW( can/may become loose if you over tighten them. Or you can do what I have done with mine and that was to purchase 2x Jubilee clips/bands and 'wrap' them around the OTA & dovetail bar as I have done, (see my post "My 'modded' Meade ETX105 - part 2" http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/210185-my-modded-meade-etx105-ota-part-2/ as it has some photos). Hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip. I am hoping that at some point I will be in a position to permanently mount a scope at my home.

[Darthdad8409]

There is the option to set the mount to Equitorial, but it is well hidden in the set up.

I know this as an ETX I had decided one day it was on an EQ mount, odd as it has never been on an EQ mount, and it tried to ram the tube into the base. Had to pull the power and hit the reset button then reenter everything again.

If lost then: http://www.meade.com/support/manuals/

The "problem" of the 90/105/125 is that they have a small field of view, so that initial start position has to be accurate, also a low mag eyepiece helps. Also means that the more accurate the data you supply it the better also - as in use your Lat+Long not the nearest town/city in the database.

Just looked at the EC manual, it sort of ignores the Autostar aspect, the EC had a basic handset, whereas the Autostar has a lot more features and is really what they should have supplied 100% of the time. I half suspect Meade realised their mistake and started to supply the Autostar #497 always, there is also a slightly different autostar but the difference is I think internal = more memory inside it.

In the above link scroll down and find the #497 Autostar Controller manual, page 5 gives the general menu structure.

To change mounts it is:

Select Item - Setup - Telescope - Telescope Model - Moiunt:- then pick the mount you type want

If you can get along with the setup and aligment they are reasonable scopes, but you will need a low mag eyepiece simply for the field of view it gives.

I wad looking at some reviews for the ETX 90 and a small field of view. I am guessing that the small fiekd of view will affect my ability to see some deep space objects and my ability to do astro photography.

Which is disappointing, but on the bright side, I have a decent scope that I can align. I can learn to navigate the sky and eventually upgrade to a bigger scope.