Buying Advice LX10

[Sean@Zlet]

I'm possibly checking an 8" LX10 with a view to buy tomorrow, here comes the noob question/s

I'll be honest I don't know what to look out for when buying a used SMT scope, its been in an observatory, seller states its got a 2" diagonal with 1.25 adapter, tried to search for info but none the wiser

Would welcome any helpful advice.

Thanks in advance

[John]

I'm not an expert in SCT's (Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes) but this guy is and you can download his free guide to buying a used one here:

Home Page

The LX10 is quite an old model I believe so don't pay too much.

[Sean@Zlet]

(Noob mistake, its SCT not SMT )

Thanks for the link John very informative. Going to see the scope approx 3pm today.

Checked what a 2" diagonal relates to, think this is for a wider view.

[Ben Ritchie]

Is the LX10 the one with the built-in wedge and RA-only drive, no goto? Agree with John, it's fairly old and a bit of a fiddle to use due to the need to polar align, but the optics used to be pretty reasonable.

I'd ignore the 2" diagonal, it allows you to use 2" eyepieces for a wider field of view but it would be a cheap accessory to add later.

[John]

(Noob mistake, its SCT not SMT )

Thanks for the link John very informative. Going to see the scope approx 3pm today.

Checked what a 2" diagonal relates to, think this is for a wider view.

With a 2" diagonal you can use both 2" and 1.25" eyepieces (you use an adapter with the latter). A good option to have as 2" eyepieces give wider views than 1.25" ones can.

Check out the condition of the optics particularly - a little dust is OK but no other marks, stains, flaking coatings etc.

Ask about the scopes collimation - does it hold it's collimation well ? - older SCT's can develop problems with this.

[Sean@Zlet]

Think its an equatorial wedge without Goto.

Optics are supposed to be in excellent condition but will be check for those faults. How long should collimation be held on a scope like this, I'll ask the chap how often he needs to do this.

How much does an LX10 with tripod normally go for these days?

[John]

Think its an equatorial wedge without Goto.

Optics are supposed to be in excellent condition but will be check for those faults. How long should collimation be held on a scope like this, I'll ask the chap how often he needs to do this.

How much does an LX10 with tripod normally go for these days?

I had a 10 year old Celestron Celestar 8 for a while - it's comparable to the LX10 I think. I used to tweak the collimation each time I used it because it's pretty important that it's accurate with SCT's. To be fair though the adjustments needed were usually very small unless I'd transported the scope some distance.

I paid £400 for my scope with it's mount and motor driven on just the RA axis. That was probably a bit of a bargain and I guess a bit more, dependant on condition and accessories included might be more normal.

That scope and a Tele Vue 8mm plossl gave me one of the best views of Saturn I've ever had

[Ben Ritchie]

Looking at the UK AB&S archives will turn up a few representative prices.

I'd be more inclined to look at what else you could buy for the purchase price. E.g., there's a Celestron NexStar 8 on UK AB&S for £600, which is a much more modern 'scope with GOTO. So, for me, an old LX10 would need to be a lot cheaper than that to make much sense.

[Sean@Zlet]

Collimation tweaking every viewing session is more than I was expecting, was this due to being an old unit?

Read many opinions on the optics stating there very good quality same as the Meade LX200. there are little to no extras with the scope, if optics are spot on and everything functions as it should, I've a better idea what to offer.

[Sean@Zlet]

Looking at the UK AB&S archives will turn up a few representative prices.

I'd be more inclined to look at what else you could buy for the purchase price. E.g., there's a Celestron NexStar 8 on UK AB&S for £600, which is a much more modern 'scope with GOTO. So, for me, an old LX10 would need to be a lot cheaper than that to make much sense.

Can't find the Celestron, when was it listed?

[John]

Collimation tweaking every viewing session is more than I was expecting, was this due to being an old unit?

Partly that and partly because I was a bit paranoid about getting the collimation spot on having seen illustrations of the effect small amounts of mis-collimation have on planetary contrast with SCT's - it's to do with the relatively large secondary obstruction in the design you see.

They are good scopes though and collimation is needed on all scopes, even refractors, from time to time.

[Sean@Zlet]

Going to have to learn collimation by the sound of it John, you sound very experianced with these scopes, is there any helpful hints/kit to correct this?

[ollypenrice]

I had one of these. The optical tube is the same as all the other Meades, only the mount varying. The optics are okay, not excitingly good or bad, but the long focal length boxes you in quite a bit unless you get the focal reducer to bring it down to f6.3.

Although Meade waffle on about astrophotography in their blurbs, this is not a scope that will give you any joy in that direction - not for deep sky at any rate. They are good for planetary webcamming.

Compact and handy as visual instruments though any kind of accurate polar alignment is difficult. The small finder and narrow FOV make finding things difficult so I agree with Ben, a more modern SCT with GoTo and not on a wedge would be my preference.

Olly

[Plantins]

Don't worry about collimation it's easy and something you will need to do at some point with any reflector telescope. An SCT will hold it's collimation better (longer) than a Newtonian. The LX10 range had good optics on them, if the optics look in good condition it should provide a good service for you even though they around 10yrs old. Price should be around £400-£450 for a nice clean example. The 2" diagonal is a plus point, if it has the 2"-1.25" adapter/reducer you can use 2" and 1.25" eyepieces. It is not a goto scope, you yourself will locate the object and the LX10 will track it for you once located. The owner should run you over the basics if you ask.

[John]

Going to have to learn collimation by the sound of it John, you sound very experianced with these scopes, is there any helpful hints/kit to correct this?

As has been said, collimation is nothing to fear. I found that replacing the standard collimation adjustment screws with a set of Bob's Knobs (http://www.bobsknobs.com/) made life easier. This may have already been done to the scope of course.

You can only adjust the secondary mirror on most SCT's which makes things a little simpler.

[dweller25]

SCT's - The mirrors move slightly during transportation so you will HAVE to collimate very regularly to get best results. Also image shift during focusing can be an issue when at high magnification, again due to the mirror moving. Cool down will be an issue if you store it indoors, it will take a good hour to cool down and when it does the front corrector will dew over so you will need a dew shield and a heater tape for the front.

They are very compact and very comfortable to view through which to me is a big advantage.

[Sean@Zlet]

All the advice is appreciated, think I'm a little wiser (if thats possible) than I was yesterday, checking an LX10. Just time for some food and drink then setting off with a few notes to view the scope fingers crossed.

[Sean@Zlet]

Quick update, I now own an LX10 .

It turns out the chap I purchased the scope from is a member of SGL with nearly as many years experience in astronomy as I am old. Even though I probably repeated many astronomy questions, some of that will have been forgotten already, need to make notes.

For its years the scope, optics, mount, tripod etc... are all in excellent condition, I'm very pleased with the deal.

Big thanks to all and Phil, if you see this, you were very helpful, apologies for all the question.

[John]

Excellent result then - congratulations !.

I'm looking forward to your reports on how the scope performs

Quick update, I now own an LX10 .

It turns out the chap I purchased the scope from is a member of SGL with nearly as many years experience in astronomy as I am old. Even though I probably repeated many astronomy questions, some of that will have been forgotten already, need to make notes.

For its years the scope, optics, mount, tripod etc... are all in excellent condition, I'm very pleased with the deal.

Big thanks to all and Phil, if you see this, you were very helpful, apologies for all the question.

[dweller25]

This thread is no good without PICTURES :D

[Plantins]

Nice one!! I'm sure it will serve you well.

[Sean@Zlet]

Here's the scope (ordered some bobsnobs from states):

Took it out into the back garden last night for a test, town light pollution allowing got one or two dodgey images with mobile phone - Moon and Jupiter trailing four moons, I think they were Lo, Europa, Canymede and Callisto:

LX10 - 2 x Barlow and Super 25 wide angle:

Really pleased with results so far can you stack Barlow lenses?

[ollypenrice]

Take more time over focus. Always push the mirror up the tube with the focus knob. If you go too far come right back and push the mirror up again. There is quite a lot of play in the system but this defeats it. Great potential in the results, that's certain.

Olly

[Sean@Zlet]

Quality of images are not a vgood representation of what I could see in the viewfinder, trying to get any angle was very hit and miss holding a mobile phone over the lense, and lost alot of contract/colour quality overdoing the brightness on the Jupiter image to show the moons.

Is pushing the mirror up the tube clockwise rotation, when you state gone to far is this going past a viewable focus or can you feel resistance on the focuser?

[Earl]

Exactly the same as my 8"

Its a nice scope but I dumped the wedge as its a waste of time trying to polar align it.

I DE-Forked mine and put a dovetail on it.

Im tempted to but it back in the fork and just use the D80 for photography and the LX10 for stargazing in the Garden.