Stu
11-11-2005, 01:11 PM
Well my 12 months of saving and researching and saving, changing my mind, then changing it back again and more saving...has finally reached and end. I have purchased a scope and mount between $2000 and $3000 ($2530 to be exact).
Just briefly, my main focus was portability and getting a stable mount. I'm glad to say that the scope and mount are both small and very stable.
My excitement, joy, happiness, etc... mostly comes from the feeling that I got something extra from the ZenithStar 80. That thing or combination of little things that is hard to put into words, but put a big smile on my face. The scope case surprised me; it is more rigid and well made than I thought. The 2" dielectric diagonal is beyond words and the tube rings are just a mile better than any other set I've used. I all ready knew what I was buying when I ordered the scope but the quality of the accessories is what put the icing on the cake.
On the other hand. I also knew what I was buying when I bought the LXD75. I wanted a small and really stable mount that had GoTo and it does fulfil that promise. But the little extra things this time had the opposite effect and made me a little disappointed. When using the electronic hand controller (the Autostar hasn’t arrived yet), when you press the right arrow to move the RA axis in the same direction as the sidereal movement the motor jumps ahead, then moves the amount you want it to, then when you release the button it jumps back again the same amount that it jumped the first time. The net affect is that the object has moved the amount you wanted it to, but it’s ugly and get me really frustrated. It only does it in that one direction on the RA axis!
All other directional buttons work perfectly. And get this (!), when you change to the other hemisphere (so the mount tracks in the opposite direction) the jump now happens when you press the left button! It follows the sidereal motion. Net effect is still that the object only moves the amount of time that you hold the button down. I jumps large steps forward and backward in the meantime. This change with RA direction means it is part of the program in the hand controller. There is nothing I can do. The mount works. Looking on LXD55.com seemed to confirm this.
I know that I got what I wanted. A very stable mount with (soon to be) GoTo capability. But I feel like I’ve been ripped off because no one told me about this. Has anyone experienced this with LXD55’s? Is my LXD75 a lemon? Hopefully when I get to plug in the Autostar controller it fixes things.
I wish William Optics made a small GoTo mount. I prefer getting NICE surprises. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<o:p></o:p>
Just briefly, my main focus was portability and getting a stable mount. I'm glad to say that the scope and mount are both small and very stable.
My excitement, joy, happiness, etc... mostly comes from the feeling that I got something extra from the ZenithStar 80. That thing or combination of little things that is hard to put into words, but put a big smile on my face. The scope case surprised me; it is more rigid and well made than I thought. The 2" dielectric diagonal is beyond words and the tube rings are just a mile better than any other set I've used. I all ready knew what I was buying when I ordered the scope but the quality of the accessories is what put the icing on the cake.
On the other hand. I also knew what I was buying when I bought the LXD75. I wanted a small and really stable mount that had GoTo and it does fulfil that promise. But the little extra things this time had the opposite effect and made me a little disappointed. When using the electronic hand controller (the Autostar hasn’t arrived yet), when you press the right arrow to move the RA axis in the same direction as the sidereal movement the motor jumps ahead, then moves the amount you want it to, then when you release the button it jumps back again the same amount that it jumped the first time. The net affect is that the object has moved the amount you wanted it to, but it’s ugly and get me really frustrated. It only does it in that one direction on the RA axis!
All other directional buttons work perfectly. And get this (!), when you change to the other hemisphere (so the mount tracks in the opposite direction) the jump now happens when you press the left button! It follows the sidereal motion. Net effect is still that the object only moves the amount of time that you hold the button down. I jumps large steps forward and backward in the meantime. This change with RA direction means it is part of the program in the hand controller. There is nothing I can do. The mount works. Looking on LXD55.com seemed to confirm this.
I know that I got what I wanted. A very stable mount with (soon to be) GoTo capability. But I feel like I’ve been ripped off because no one told me about this. Has anyone experienced this with LXD55’s? Is my LXD75 a lemon? Hopefully when I get to plug in the Autostar controller it fixes things.
I wish William Optics made a small GoTo mount. I prefer getting NICE surprises. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<o:p></o:p>