unable to focus anything..

[Rols]

first light let down... lX200 8", no power!

recieved my scope earlier this week decided not to rush to the garden (much restraint) as i had no power, well still no power but the itch needed a scratch.. went out and decided i would take a look around with manual settings (me behing the scope not the motors) well obviously i go and point the guide at Polaris i do my best to alighn and focus, nope. so thought must be dew will leave it a couple of hours. nope..gave up and though i will take a look at the moon..get it into the centre of my Ep and Nope, unable to focus anything course focus unlocked and checked, high to low EPs used just a light fuzz and nothing when shifting the focus! nice clear sky, nice and cold..

any clues apart from mirror shift in transport?

[Astro_Baby]

No experience of the Meades but have you tried winding the focus from lock to lock. All the SCT scopes I have ever used have a lot of turns lock to lock.

Is the corrector plate dewed up, how about the primary mirror or the eps ?

[Rols]

thanks for taking a look in here Astro_Baby, i have wound from full lock to ful unlock, nothing looks dewed at all..the only thing of any concern is the tightness of the mirror lock, going from lock to unlock requires a fair amount of pressure and the same when going back, clearly in the manaul it states rotate untill it feels loose, at no point does it become loose, but i do feel the lock fall into final position when engaged, and i'm pretty certain it must be unlocking for me to feel it lock again! i'm to new to this for any kind of insight. i think what i may have to do is work with this in daylight on sunday just o see if i can bring anything into focus at all!

window of oppertunity has passed tonight anyhow cloud is moving in thick and fast, have decided to pack it up and get back indoors..will take a look when i get in after work on saturday and if i cant see anything out of kilter i will try setting it up in daylight and focusing on the lift tower across town, if i cant get that to go then maybe i better get reading...

'i'm too technically minded to sit and twiddle my thumbs, and when it comes to something not working i just feel challenged not to be beaten'

[AndyH]

Mmmm. I've no experience with Meade scopes either, but have used some Russian maks with moving mirror focusing like the sct's.

So the fuzzy star didn't change when using the focus knob? Try slowly pulling the eyepiece out of the diagonal. Does the image change then? This sounds like the focus knob isn't moving the mirror. Do these scopes have a mirror lock on them? Does it need to be disengaged before using the focuser?

Sorry for the lack of help. Just thinking out loud here. Hopefully someone who has or has had one of these can help out.

Andy.

[Glen]

hi just a thought , these scopes are usually transported with a mirror locking bolt to hold the mirror in pace as to not damage it, you'll need to remove this first.

hope this helps

glen

[martin_h]

From the Mede website - "

Do not attempt to turn the focuser knob of the optical tube until you have read this note!

Next to the base of the focuser you will see a red-colored slotted head bolt. This bolt is used only for safety in shipment. Remove this bolt before attempting to turn the focuser knob. In its place, insert the rubber plug provided as a dust protector (this rubber plug is included with your hardware package). Your focuser is now operational. "

[Rols]

From the Mede website - "

Do not attempt to turn the focuser knob of the optical tube until you have read this note!

Next to the base of the focuser you will see a red-colored slotted head bolt. This bolt is used only for safety in shipment. Remove this bolt before attempting to turn the focuser knob. In its place, insert the rubber plug provided as a dust protector (this rubber plug is included with your hardware package). Your focuser is now operational. "

i will not be happy with myself if i have missed that!, i read my user manual from beggining to end and did not see that little statement, and i pretty much know my scope inside out i'v been staring at it for the past 4 days waiting for the PSU to arrive, every accessory has been looked at and no rubber plug had been seen or i would have been looking for what it was used for!!!???...thanks for the info, i will take a look after 4pm when i get home and worry for the whole day i have missed something silly!!! that should exercise the heart mucsles!

[AndyH]

fingers crossed you get to the bottom of this problem.

Andy.

[soggybongo]

You would think that something like this would be in bold red lettering on the first page. hope you have not dammaged anything mate

[Rols]

OK here's the answer -

if you buy a meade scope take nothing for granted, final inspection stickers are easily come by i'm sure!

i'm turning anti clockwise to unlock the mirror as stated in my manual and obviously turning in both directions to rough focus, the trouble is, or atleast in my opinion the 'engineer' (loose term) that quality inspected my unit failed to notice that the 'hex screws' that fixed the tuning knob to the mechanism had not been tightened! me being an new user to this equiptment was obviously not going to notice and would not have had the confidence to have started removing bits to take a look, or atleast unitll there was no option! i found the reason for the tightening feeling on the mirror lock to be the rotation knob starting to bite the threads as it got close to making a connection, and i found the reason for the clunk that made me think it was unlocked to be the catch picking up a little before the tension forced the imminant slip. and i found that after tightening the focus knob i was able to take control for the first time since owning my new scope.

if i was writing an out of box experience thread i could confidently say i would not be happy, a little dissapointed infact but i'm not and i'm trying to stay positive so i'll stop.

12v 12amph PSU arrived this morning (cloud cover tonight of course) so things are looking better, i have tested GPS and level and the electronics seem to be in working order, lets hope the mirror has been fixed into position and that the gears are nicely seated...lets also hope that this is the end of my troubles with a brand new Meade scope.

Thanks to those that pointed in a direction, i ended up walking away last night and going to bed in disgust. but i did appreciate the effort of the post to the user manaul..and just so your aware the primary mirror lock on the lx200 8" is not marked with a red slotted head bolt, although i did have to go peak when i got home to make sure. thanks anyway!

lets see if i can get a 2nd chance at first light some time soon!!

[AndyH]

Phew. Sounds like a positive outcome.

Good luck on your first light.

Andy.

[Psychobilly]

I would have thought leaving the focuser know loose would be a good idea on a scope fitted with transport locks or primary mirror locks ... save damage if some one tried to focus the scope without unlocking it...

But would hope that all this appeared in big print close to the front of the manual...with a note to tighten the grub screw on the focus knob after unlocking the mirror...

Billy...

[Glen]

Well done Rols, thanks for the feedback.

Glen

[martin_h]

I'm lad you got it sorted, there is nothing worse than getting new stuff and having problems with it straight out of the box.

[Moonshane]

glad you got it sorted. welcome to the world of 'ongoing mods from standard' that is owning a scope!