Free LX200! But only if we can get it going...

[Tris]

My daughter has been given a 10" LX200 GPS ACF UHC from a workplace. We have absolutely no history on it. I have a 12" LX200, UHTC (Non-ACF I think), on which I have done the GPS patch and a few other simple-ish things over the years. She is a keen astronomer with a little 4" refractor, but  a Meade rookie.

I've donated a tripod, A.II Handset and a crayford focuser (which were all missing) and we've set it up in AltAz, with the control panel facing South, on new batteries. The drives work although the RA drive sounds a little querulous - but it started off better, and I wonder if this might be cold batteries and many set up attempts. I think I'll try a mains supply.

The GPS always defaults to 2003 on start-up but seems to hold an input time and site sporadically. So I'm assuming it needs a star patch, which I think I can do again. When my 12" GPS faulted, the 'scope would perform OK on manually input date, time and site. But this one won't. On an auto align, it always seeks Arcturus first, (in about the right place, but below the horizon). Subsequently synching it on a known star or planet seems to not change this. 

I did accept this Arcturus align "successful!" to see if it would track, and we lined up on Venus and it drifted off to the left.  I then tried a factory reset via the A.II and Venus then drifted off to the right. The Handset correctly "identifies" what scope it is on, and declares a 3.1 or 3.01 software version. (My 12" is on v. 4.2). 

I'd appreciate any thoughts at all. Among them, can anyone date the scope roughly for us? It's a crackle finish one, and looks as though it has been stored carelessly in a shed, but otherwise almost unused. The optics and most of the case look absolutely pristine.

Obviously we are really keen to get it going for her, so she can see some of the sights that I keep yacking on about. Any help will be much appreciated.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Cornelius Varley
background colour removed

[LongJohn54]

There are PDF manuals for all Meade Kit here - https://www.meade.com/content/product-resources/ and the latest software for everything too.

Hopefully you'll get it up and running smoothly in no time.  Good luck.

 

[michael8554]

Hi Tris

Post on the LX200GPS Forum, many experts there:

https://groups.io/g/LX200GPS/topics

GPS needs to be turned off first in the menus, then power-cycled, before manually entering time and date.

Otherwise there's interaction between the GPS and the manual setting.

Michael