My "New" Meade LX90 8"

[garethmob]

Hello guys

Just got back from an 8 hour 400 mile trip to get my "new" scope an 8" Meade LX90 (EMC) which i know is a fairly old scope but it was a very good price:)

when i picked it up i was only expected the OTA on the fork and the tripod but it also came with a carry case full of eyepieces, a diagonal and a celestron skyscout  

tried the scope out in the light and optically it seems fine.   just a fair bit of dust on corrector, and a few fingerprints.

unfortunately i haven't been able to check the electrics/goto yet (but if they don't work its not really the end of the world) as i don't have any C batteries and the plug for my power tank (in fact all 4 plugs i have) are too small. 

i have to ask, why does the bolt that goes though the tripod into the scope effect the rotation?   i notice on the manual for the newer ones it comes with a spring and two bolts (mine does not, should it)   also when i screw it in, (iv taken care not to tighten too tight,  seems a similar "touch tight" as the etx 70s were) but the whole scope can tilt off the tripod and for me dosn't seem "safe" is this normal?

gonna give it a quick go on a few stars this evening, as i'm knacked after all that distance.

is there anything i need to know or watch out for?

Im only going to be using this scope visually   iv got my astrotrac for AP now and iv got that as perfect as i can (without testing the winter targets) 

i think my first set of updates are going to be a 2" diagional (with 1.25 adapter) any suggestions on one of these?

heres a little photo i took for a size comparison against its little Brother the ETX 70 and a packet of cigerates that my mates dad left for a standard.

Thanks guys

Gaz

[RobH]

Looks great. Remember that if you have to add the correct date into the hand controller, do it in the US format, not the uk one. I spent 3 days trying to get my scope to slew to the right place, until my much smarter other half pointed out that this might be the problem !

[garethmob]

Thanks Rob   iv learnt that mistake haha  the etx 70 has the older controller  (494?) and i made that for a few months rarely used it digitally for that reason.    im sure theres logic there somewhere that having the month day year is better than day month year........ lol  

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Gaz, very nice scope mate - I had the  Meade LX90 8" for about 5 years and it performed really well, wouldn't worry about the dust on the corrector, but easy to remove and clean - I think I only cleaned my corrector on the LX 90 twice in all of the 5 years I owned it, electrically never a moments trouble with it and found it to be an excellent scope and an absolute winner in the aperture verses portability stakes!!! - I think you can buy the different sized adaptors for the "plug in" to the base from your powertank - someone will post the exact size for it - wouldn't bother with the batteries - not very reliable.  Regards the coatings - I think there is a minimal "gain" from one set of coatings to the other EMC - UHTC - not sure but I think you'll probably not notice much difference if you had the same scope with either coatings next to each other - the main problem is the atmosphere - as you know some nights its good and others its bad - this will affect the views far more than the difference in coatings will.

Enjoy the new scope Gaz and keep us informed mate.

Regards.

Paul.

[bobmoss]

Hi Gaz,

Congratulations on getting your new scope.

With regards to the tripod, I've had two LX200's now that have both suffered from not being able to tighten the centre bolt tight enough to stop it rotating.

I think the problem is that the bolt is just a bit too long so you hit the end of thread inside the scope base before it is tight enough. However, there is a simple fix that I found from another website when I got my first LX200. All you need to do is get some large "penny" washers and thread them onto the bolt between the handle and the spreader plate. Below is a picture show the modification on my tripod. This effectively shortens the bolt meaning you can tighten it down properly.

The 2 small nuts you are missing on the top are just to stop the bolt dropping out off the tripod.

Regards.