Telescope setup question

[richyj8]

This is in reference to the Meade LS 8. I'm thinking about getting it. My front porch faces south, with an open sky, but Polaris would be blocked by the house. Will this telescope/gps still self align if the northern sky is blocked. Thanks in advance, Rich

[Dr_Ju_ju]

The blurb http://www.meade.com/products/telescopes/ls/ls-8-acf-f-10-lightswitch-telescope.html says that it aligns itself, so.... 

See if you can see one working before buying.

[VigdisVZ]

There is always drift alignment. Also, unless you're going for astrophotography, dead on alignment isn't needed.

[JRWASTRO]

This is what the instructions say

At the end of this message, the telescope will

immediately start its LightSwitch Automatic Alignment

procedure. It will take about fi ve to ten minutes for

the telescope to orient and align itself. Once it has

completed the alignment the handbox screen will

display “Alignment Successful”.

[JRWASTRO]

Don't know what happened in the previous post but  things were posted before I completed what I wanted to say.

Sections 12, 13, 14 and 15  of the manual make no mention of initial pointing of the telescope. Seems a mighty sophisticated alignment procedure.

The previous post was a copy from section 14 of the manual.

Jeremy.

[richyj8]

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it. I think it's going to be the LS-8 or the LX90 8. I don't know if I'll ever get into astro photography, but it's one reason I might decide on the LX90. I don't think the the LS 8 accepts an equatorial mount, which I've heard is necessary for quality photos. What is your opinion on this? Anyone?....

Thanks, Rich