Meade 12" LX200 classic?

[xboxdevil]

Hi

Does anyone have any views on this scope? Are there any owners about? I currently own an ext125 & skywatcher 300p auto.

Does anyone know how this would compare against my 12" dob?

[ollypenrice]

I have the ten inch. It is a handy scope for visual in that the fork in alt az means little in the way of gymnastics as you tour the sky. You are a bit boxed in by the long fl. The GoTo is fine. The scope is a good planetary imager but lousy for imaging deep sky with the tracking not up to it and hassle with mirror flop and focussing. But for an obsy based visual scope it has a lot going for it. Optically it won't be as good as a good Dob like an OO.

Olly

They are very very cheap second hand.

[barkis]

Your Dob. is f5, and the Classic f10, so double the Magnification of any given eyepiece. The SCT is more a planetary and Lunar instrument, and any Deep Sky astrophotography would require using a focal reducer.

I Think the Dob. will be better observing scope for Deep Sky.

Ron.

[GazOC]

Check out the situation on spares before you buy. That type of scope is pretty old now and a fair bit can go wrong on the motor/ gears side of things.

[Merlin66]

I had and sold the 8" and 10" Lx - great scopes - no issues.

I kept the 12" Lx 200 Classic!

I have it mounted on a HD wedge/ HD tripod in an Argos Tin shed observatory.

Easy to use, great for both visual and imaging - I agree, use a x0.63 for DSO imaging.

There are still many of these scopes going strong and a dynamic support group at Y! group LX200.

Bear in mind that the scope and fork drive weighs in at around 24Kg!!

Getting spares, yes can be difficult, but I've NEVER seen one which could not be repaired.

The only "failure" mode is the capacitors in the handcontroller and motherboard. These should be replaced ASAP.

The GOTO and tracking works very well and I can guide a target star on a 20micron spectroscope slit for as long as required.

If you need any specific info on the 12" drop me a PM.

Ken

[xboxdevil]

Cheers for all the advice, there's one on astrobuysell for £1000 at the moment. I had email back saying that someone was going to look at it tomorrow, I'm in no great rush either I was just exploring good visual/imaging options.

[ollypenrice]

Ken and I have offered different views on this before and no doubt will do so again! Hats off to Ken for getting good results and I know others have done so as well. I mean that one hundred percent sincerely, no backhanded ironies there at all.

However, if I thought that all I had to do to image gorgeous little planetaries at a wonderful 3 metre FL was to sink a grand in an LX200 then I'd have done it - and so would lots of others. And they wouldn't be going for a grand, either!

But where are the pictures? Look on the DS boards and where are the Owl nebulae and the Blue Snowballs from the hundreds of LX200s out there? Before I started imaging here I discussed the possibilities of getting a top UK imager to come as instructor. He said very simply that my LX200 would not support an imaging course and that he and his friends had all stopped using them.

I have had five big cats visit this year, mounted as follows; AP1200, AP900, G11, Gemini G41, Tak EM200. These, for me, are what you need at long FL.

Olly

[Merlin66]

I don't image any more. After almost twenty years working with Hypered film, Olympus OM-1's, SCT's and Newtonians to image from South Africa and Australia (Director for the Astrophotographic Section of the Astronomical Society of Victoria, Melbourne for about 15 years) I move on to Spectroscopy.

During the 1970's through to the advent of usable CCD's in the late 1990's I'd say that more than 80% of ALL amateur imaging was done with SCT's.... why? I'd say bang per buck. The SCT for the aperture was very very cost effective. The early mounts had 240V synchronous motors and needed invertors to give speed control/ guiding. Sure the f10 was a PITA but again everyone used the x0.63 reducer and OAG. We got some excellent results.

Why the change away from SCT for imaging?? Don't honestly know, but I think the second generation of GEM mount's and the availability of good quality ED refractors were "cost effective" alternatives and starting out in imaging at a focal length of 400mm to 800mm is always much easier. (We used camera lenses piggy back on the SCT, so there was always a wide angle shot collected at the same time as the large plate scale shot)

Nowadays 80% of amateur spectroscopy is done using SCT's - the f10 is ideal and the fantastic back focus distance available allows many different instruments/ configurations to be used. As I said, guiding on a 20 micron slit is certainly doable, so it's not a problem of guiding or stability...I think the pendulum has swung in the direction of GEM's/ refractors...it may swing back again...who knows.

[Peter Drew]

I've had a 12" LX200 for some years now, it has superb optics and has given me some of the best lunar and planetary images I've ever seen under very good seeing, during poor seeing the views are pretty average however. Great for lunar/planetary imaging, not as good as a good Dob for visual DSO's. The F3.3 can be used with integrating video ccd cameras for "plug and play" almost real time amazing images. The fork mount is not too stable in equatorial mode and the electronics are a bit fragile, one in good order is a joy to use. I currently have mine on an EQ6pro which is more stable and reliable.

[JamieH]

Nice Scope. I heard their is NO collimation with Schmidt Cassigrain. Super easy too to use. I also heard that they are discontinued now. I saw a 12" one being sold for £1500 in London. I don't know where the sight is now I came across. It's probably sold tho now. The guy was upgrading to an R.C. "Thats a SERIOUS upgrade" & a seriously cheap deal. Someone must have snapped it up in next to no time!

[Gary Parkerson]

My primary concern would be that the LX200-Classic platform is no longer supported by Meade. There are a couple of companies in the States that specialize in repairing them, but they are in the states and their service queues are long.

You might consider converting the drives to an after-system such as the excellent option offered by Sidereal Technology, but those don't come cheap. Or, you can always simply move the OTA to a competent GEM for the added cost of the GEM and related mounting hardware. The compact package of the SCT is very GEM friendly for imaging purposes.

The effective focal length of the scope can be reduced by 0.63 with a standard focal reducer to yield a bit more photography-friendly focal ratio, but there are cheaper options for f/6-ish imaging platforms, although few come in such conveniently compact packages.

Best of luck.

Gary

[Peter Drew]

JamieH. Schmidt-Cassegrains are collimateable, it's just the secondary mirror that can be adjusted. Very easy to do and essential for best results. .

[pbyrne]

I had the option of purchasing a 10" LX200 Classic, the owner said that there were some electronics problems, but they were sorted, in the end I pulled out of the sale as I was too concerned with the trouble returning and I read that the parts are next to impossible to find, my knowledge of electronics is slightly less than zero.

It's like buying anything older piece of equipment, it can be a risk.