Newbie but 'oldbie' just bought a ~1996 Meade 10" LX200

[NoFlyZone]

Popped into a pawn shop and popped out with this monster telescope. I'm pretty excited as it seems the Meade was well cared for and comes with a lot of accessories. It'll take some time just to understand what I'm sitting on and how to actually view the heavenly bodies.

As a kid, maybe 12 years old I was really into astronomy along with a buddy of mine. At one point we had 3 telescopes and would spend late hours with our gear and of course 'Sky and Telescope" magazines, mapping out the stars. I got pretty proficient knowing what was where and through those few years of astronomy, life left that passion but the pilot light was still lit...

A few years back I bought a Sky Watcher 200LP. Fine for the moon and planets but I didn't have the patience for locating the really spectacular stuff from a 'manual tracking reflector'. 

So fast forward to the present, I'm now the owner of a 10" LX200, 1996 vintage. And, at 66 YO I have a boy, 12 years old, smart as can be, also excited about this purchase. He's a bit of a computer geek (what kid isn't) but he's really good and I think he'll gather immense knowledge from this hobby.

Looking for guidance as, well, there are so many accessories, I barely know where to start!

I guess, point it at a star...

Living at 6200ft and outside of a small city with no streetlights but nighttime temps into the teens, that's a challenge

[bingevader]

10 hours ago, NoFlyZone said:

I guess, point it at a star...

Definitely! And then, if you get stuck, I'm sure people will help.

Had to check your location before wondering what was wrong with temps in the teens! 🤔😉 (ºF)

[SthBohemia]

10 hours ago, NoFlyZone said:

Looking for guidance as, well, there are so many accessories, I barely know where to start!

I guess, point it at a star...

Interesting, what accessories did it come with? Overall a good purchase the Meade LX series are great workhorses, it's also USA made which is a HUGE bonus. I have a similar model and few complaints, difference being I mounted it on a Celestron fork. The only issue with SCT's being they need almost perfect collimation, there are plenty of articles floating around on the web regarding 'Collimating an SCT', just AVOID any of the so called laser collimating devices as they are in general, JUNK, that need collimating themselves. Rely on the old tried and true procedures 🙂 

[NoFlyZone]

Thanks for the collimating tip. That might be where I should start?

Accessories - where to start.

Some of these no doubt were (are) part of the Meade package.

Now I need to understand how to implement the use of the "goodies". It seems like a lot of accessories and feels like I got a really good deal on the Meade. 

I found a phone number one one of the manuals, so I called it. I connected with the original owner! He had given it to a family member and from there, found its way to a Pawn Shop here in Cedar City. The owner lives not too far away, 180 miles, so I invited him to revisit this former hobby of his which he found difficult to enjoy as he had no family or friends to share/help with this formidable telescope. 

Here's what I got:

A Sky Atlas 2000.0 2nd edition serial bound

What looks like a 12volt cigarette lighter socket with battery clip leeds

A Tasco 3 X Barlow Lens

A Tasco 1.5 X Erecting Eyepiece

A Meade Super Plossl 26mm Multicoated eyepiece

A Meade 918A Diagonal Prism

A Tele Vue Zoom 8mm-24mm

Meade 8 X 50 S-T Viewfinder #544 (blue)

Tele Vue Plots f=55.0mm

2" Mirror Star Diagonal for SC

A Parks T-Adapter for C8

A Motofocus for LX

A K10mm looks like eyepiece

A SR 4mm also appears to be an eyepiece

UltraBlock Filter, SCT

Pioneer Camera Adapter

Celestron anti vibration pods

Another interesting set of anti vibration feet perhaps they go onto the platform?

A large roll around platform that can be anchored

Very nice Tripod of course

A nicely machined adapter 2" to 1 1/4"

A really nice carrying bag for the Scope

 

 

[TheThing]

What a haul!  Sounds like you got some good items along with a cracking scope.  Would be very interested to hear hiw you and your son get on with it.

Oh, and welcome!