All change on the kit list

[yuklop]

I have a lx200 12'' classic that I have a real love/hate relationship with. It is fork mounted on a wedge on a pier, with a 80ed piggybacked.

When the seeing is good, it is great. But the seeing is so rarely good, especially in winter as I have to look over houses. The cooldown time is longer than most of my observing sessions, so tube currents are ever present. The mount is ok for imaging through the ed80, but not a lot of good for imaging through the LX200. The whole setup is so heavy and cumbersome I never get it out to darksky sites. And the thing that annoys me most... it is impossible to get decent balance with a fork on a wedge for all the sky.

I still love it though, because I spent quite a bit of time with it and changed out the old Meade electronics and drives for an onstep system that work superbly, so it is a custom effort.

Even with all that I am thinking of moving it on and using the 80ed on a GEM for imaging and getting a 8'' or 12'' dob for visual. Reckon that would be an easier and more rewarding setup, that I might be able to drag out of the light pollution once in a while.

Anyone else been through this kind of change, and what was the outcome for you?