Meade LX90 10", my final straw.

[Zincberg]

In october of last year, I outlaid what was left of a broken marriage..and purchased a Meade lx90 10".
I had been interested in astronomy from a very young age, and although had owned a number of "telescope shaped devices" had never taken my telescope ownership very seriously.

Things were going to change now!!!.. I owned a MEADE!!! I was so happy, having a desire for Photography as well, I decided to mix the two and get into Astrophotography, this meant, of course, purchasing a wedge and all the other little nicknaks and doowhickies that would allow me to get some nice images.

If I knew then...what I know now... I would have saved myself 12 months of heartache!

(dont worry...this story has a point...and a question.. skip to the bottom if Im boring you..)

Within the first 6 months of purchase, the scope went back to its place of purchase 6 times, we had 3 faulty RA motors, one clutch replacement, and one DEC motor replacement.. not to mention all the visits just to find all the problems as well as countless hours on the internet in yahoo groups and on email back and forth trying to work out if there was something I was doing wrong... there wasnt. As far as I am concerned, I got a lemon. ( at last count.. its been back to be repaired 8 times..each time with LEGITIMATE faults.)
Recently..and after 2 months of not using my scope, ( it wasnt fun anymore, every time I got it out, it had another issue or problem..and I was losing interest at a rate of knots), I decided to buy a NEQ6 to photograph through my ED80, and was plesantly surprised that although the hand controller isnt anywhere near as operatable as the Meade, everything else is absolutely wonderful. I then added a B250 10" ota to my setup..and was so pleased that I could photograph without the pain of the set up of the Meade, without the PEC problems of the Meade, without the innaccurate slewing of the Meade...actually...without the Meade altogether!
(its coming...hold your horses)
So I took my Meade in for its final repair... I swore to myself that I was not going to cart this telescope in for warranty repairs ever again, if it couldnt be fixed, I was done with it.
Well, last night I got it out...set it all up and guess what?... MORE PROBLEMS!!! Ok, some of the SAME problems... but more of them...and I am over it... done... FIN!

I am thinking... I love the optics in the Meade, its a beautiful scope to look through, and I would love to photograph through it. (I am really passionate about the photography side of this hobby)... but this sucker is NEVER going to be able to be set up for astrophotography as it is...
So...

1. should I remove the Meade from its fork assembly, and put it on my EQ6... and thus be able to photograph through it, but sacrifice the ease of viewing through it when it is set up "as intended"?
(this is the way Im leaning... I can sell the wedge easily enough, and can hang on to the fork assembly and maybe one day..when Im old and have forgotten what a terrible experience this was..I could put it back together.)
2. should I sell the whole LX90 and maybe buy a reasonable sized Dob to view through?
3. Gently Lay the LX90 on its side on the ground...and take to it with a sledge hammer?

I am interested to hear your thoughts and opinions on this( especially if you have another option for me to consider)...unless your thoughts are that I should chose my 3rd option...I was only joking.. I wouldnt want to risk damaging a perfectly good sledge hammer!:eyepop:

[barx1963]

Oh my what a tale of woe! Sorry to hear of your troubles. One question, did the problems only happen when the mount was on the wedge or when it was in alt-az mode?

[Zincberg]

Thats a hard one to say...for instance, last night( under polar alignment).. firstly, the accuracy of the goto was WAAAAAAAY off, like I mean 30 deg. or more. Then I would direct it to go to Jupiter..and it would be pointing east when Jupiter was nearly exactly north.
When autoguiding it wont guide N/S (I have 2 hand controllers, neither will do it...suggesting it is something to do with the Dec motor again)
The clutch on the Dec motor was slipping if I added even a small bit of weight, so putting my DSLR on was a no go.

When in ALt-az mode.. although the goto is still off (always has been), it behaves itself ok. It will hold any object for hours on end.. everything seems fine until you wedge it, then..when you need that tight level of accuracy.. all the problems seem to appear.

Problem with keeping it as a "viewing only" scope is that I rarely want to just view... and its a lot of money to have just sitting around waiting for a night when I dont feel like photographing.

[Poita]

No question, stick the meade on the EQ6, my 10" LX200R is on the EQ6 and is a joy to use.

If the LX90 fork mount still works fine in AltAzimuth mode, then sell the forks and mount as such, and just enjoy the scope on your EQ6.

[barx1963]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the LX90 mount struggles a little when on a wedge, that was why I asked the question. Others that have used these scopes for imaging may be able to offer advice.
If I was you I'd take the OTA and mount it on the NEQ6, as you say the optics are good ( I assume it is the ACF version so should give a nice flat field) and have some strings to your bow in terms of options for imaging.
If you need a good visual scope, why not build a dob mount for the 10" so you can enjoy the eyepice views while the imaging setup is doing its thing.

[jenchris]

LX90 - mine works passably well in Wedge - the guiding is not amazing - it is just possible to get about 3 or 4 minutes clean - I shall mount it on a NEQ6 or similar as soon as I can afford the mount.
With all the gubbins on it, I can't get close to polar for photography - I'm not even sure I can get Eta Carina - we'll see.
I spent a lot of time balancing it and stripping it down and refitting a lot of the parts so they worked smoothly - there was all sorts of loctite and goo on the Dec motor pivots - the whole fork scraped on the base of the mount when in wedge - until I shaved off some metal - which I shouldn't have to do. The RA clutch was awful because there was a washer on the top of the shaft which shouldn't be there - well it worked worse with it there anyway.

Nothing though has broken - but the first thing I did was lose the battery holders - they scraped about inside when in wedge mode.
The tiny little diagonal is crap - and I got rid of that in a hurry too.
Not impressed with the mount. The OTA is quite excellent

[marki]

If you made a fork big enough to do the job on these things it would weigh a metric tonne. As the owner of a LX200R I can tell you things aren't much better there for AP either although my scope has never missed a beat mechanically or on the electrical side either. It is just too hard to do AP with a fork on a wedge at that focal length (wobble wobble). Yes the optics are very good so you have answered your own question. Defork the scope (easier said then done) and chuck it on a EQ mount. It will still be very challenging on the EQ due to the long FL but at least you have a chance.

Mark

[mozzie]

hi andrew
i owned a 12"lx90 and it was a perfect scope i did visual only and its goto and pointing accuracy was within 2 mins.. in saying that i wouldn't attempt astro imaging with it the mount was a little flimsy and there was flex but as i said for visual perfect.....
i feel your pain i then up graded to a lx 200 14" 12 months ago visual only and till 2 weeks ago what a 12 months i had absoutly terrible goto's and wondered wether i should have keep my old scope !!!!!!i feel that mine slipped through the meade system and was a 5 to 5 on a friday job...but mine was replaced and i wonder why your's didn't have that option????..
anyway used mine again last night and dead set perfect am very happy with new scope.

hope you can sort your's out.....

[AndrewJ]

Gday Andrew



This screams you have a new model Autostar
or badly trained drives.
What are the firmware revisions on your handboxes???
What do your drive train numbers show??

The earlier firmwares of the new handboxes had huge problems with their clocks, ( which affects pointing ).
They also couldnt find several of the major planets ( missed by about 4 degrees ), and N/S pulseguide commands go to the RA motor.
A lot of this sounds like your symptoms.
Some of these bugs got fixed by meade, but the guiding bug is still there.
We have developed patches to fix this, but i need to know what firmware you are running first, to see if that may be the problem.

Andrew

[jenchris]

THAT is exactly what seems to be happening!!!!!

[DavidTrap]

Listen to AndrewJ - he is a wise man who sorted one of my problems with an LX-90. A great asset to the Meade users!

DT

[Alchemy]

Move on to an equatorial mount, be done with the fork mount...... Fork the fork so to speak.

Been there done that, although it wasn't the model you have, I then did my research and bought a g11. As far as the mount goes no problems period, I did flip around with several scopes till I settled on an APO 5 inch. It has its good and bad points but it's a happy compromise.

Given the previous replies, I think you will be wasting your time with the old setup.

As far as a lemon goes..... I'm assuming the mount is yellow .

[mozzie]

i second that two..he's done heaps to fix meade bugs :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Poita]

You may as well sort the bugs in the meade fork setup if you can, but I'd still just demount it and put it on the EQ6.
With a reducer you can do decent photography with it then, even with the fork absolutely singing, it will cause you nothing but grief for AP work.

Pop it on the EQ6 and don't look back, sell the forks, they will be useful to someone.

[jenchris]

I'd like to ask Andrew what the firmware updates need to be.
I've redone the progs recently and it's running with Ascom 6 - and the 497 HB is running with 5EC2 I think is the number off the top of my head.
I haven't had a chance to do an AP run since I updated except a short one onenight that was inconclusive - my Polar alignment is pretty close to spot on and it doesn't really drift at all in Dec. but the RA seems to shimmy back and forth even if the fork is biased one way ( a little excess weight to one side or the other).
If I turn off the GHD Dec axis, would that stop the surge being injected into the RA?
It's all a bit stab in the dark for me and I'd love some intelligent insight into what is happening.
:DThanks

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer
Depends.
For the 497EP, I use 5CE1 as my baseline.
The latest firmware Meade has released is 5CE2,
but this only added the LT scopes to the factory test routines
and as such, i have never bothered to rewrite my patches.
If you have 5CE2 loaded, you DO have the pulseguiding bug
( plus a dozen or more other bugs )
Note! PEC is also totally screwed, so if you have used that
it will account for some errors in tracking.

For the Audiostars, its a little more complex.
There are now two current firmwares A1F7 and A2S6
They are 99.9% identical to each other but the S has dual language Spanish and the F has dual language French.
Both firmwares have the pulseguide and PEC bugs plus a whole heap of others.
I have only patched A1F7 and don't propose to do A2S6 as its too much work for no return. A1F7 can be put onto a Spanish box with the only downside that when you select language, you will get French text and Spanish speech.
I cant understand either so it doesnt bother me :D
One last thing with the Audiostars. Meade silently changed the memory chips used in the later units and they use different commands.
Loading anything earlier than A1F7 or A2S6 onto these boxes will semi brick them. We have a way to fix it, but it requires a special process.

Soooooooooooooo, if you have 5CE2, i suggest you load 5CE1 with the latest patches, and a lot of functionality will come back.
I strongly suggest you use ( the free ) Starpatch loader
http://www.stargps.ca/downloads.htm
to do the load as this is now configured to deal with 497EP vs 497Audiostars, and is much more robust than Meades ASU.
The Starpatch download site holds the application, as well as the 5CE1 rom files and patches.
For the 497EP and Audiostar, the ASU also wont load tours etc properly. If you do want to add that sort of stuff, you need to use my PEC editor.
( which does a lot more than PEC )

Andrew

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer

Different thread as part of this is ASCOM based, not all Meade



Do you have the driver set to synch the time on connect?
Do you allow the driver to set the date/time after booting???
Why i ask is
a) There is a bug in the :SC command (which sets the date).
This is totally screwed and will give a totally wrong date if used.
b) The driver can change the site timezone when DST is in place,
vs use the correct functions. This screws up the internal variables used to determine what the real LST is.
c) Changing the date/time after aligning or unparking
( other than via the correct screens ) WILL result in corrupted LST data,
Its not something you can see directly via the handbox, but if you have the patches installed, my PEC editor has a diagnostics page that will read out all the internal variables and you can see if the internal clocks have desynchronised.

Andrew

[Rick Petrie]

Wow! After reading all those posts, it seems like there are much too many faults to what one would say is quite an expensive scope to own.
Also a lot of trouble to have to mount the OTA onto an equatorial mount to get some sort of accuracy.
If I was a Meade owner, I think I would be requesting my money back. A bit of bad publicity might make them get their act together methinks. Good luck guys and I feel sorry for you Andrew.

[Zincberg]

Hey all,
Thanks so much for all the replies... AndrewJ, mate.. you are a ledgend, your advice got me from "im going to smash this thing up and give up on astronomy" to..."ok, I can use it sometimes..and its not too terrible".
I patched both the handboxes with your patches, the N/S problem is not that the message is going to the ra, if I put my ear up to the DEC drive, I can hear it TRYING to move... but it just doesnt do it. Also, I know that at last service, the "heavier duty" spring that was on the dec motor was removed and an original one put on, so I know thats an easy fix, but Im just not willing to go through it all again.
This telescope has definately tarnished my thoughts on Meade.

I have made up my mind today that I am going to pull it off the forks this afternoon. Im just so tired of setting up the telescope to "test" if its this..or that, its like Astronomy is a chore rather than the relaxing hobby I wanted it to be.

So... wish me luck!!!! and to the big fella.. if you could give me clear skies to test it all out with tonight, that would be really appreciated...:rofl:

[jenchris]

I haven't used PEC - and since I only updated a week or so ago and have only been out once since, I'm not sure how bad my system is following.

I didn't synch anything - just started the PHD and it sucked Ascom into the initalisation routine of the OTA. There was very little in the ASCOM setup that asked for input -so I let it run as a self start.

Most of what you wrote above about LST and DST means very little to my inadequate knowledge base. There's a strange swooshing sound which means it is going way over my head....

I'll set my gear up and see if I can get my system to reset to 5CE1 - and then hopefully I can work out how to patch the thing using the update you have so graciously posted.

Wish me luck....

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer


When you open the ASCOM chooser in PHD to select the scope
"Meade Classic and Autostar I", press the "properties" button.
The dialog that pops up has a checkbox for "Auto Set time"
ensure that is unchecked, and also ignore any screen prompts you get
saying your scope and PC arent synchronised.
Set date/time via the Hbx / gps unit and leave it be.

Andrew

[AndrewJ]

Gday Andrew



But what firmware "was" loaded. That will tell if the new firmware will have fixed some of the "goto" type problems.
Re the DEC axle/motor, does it actually move up AND down ( without making horrible noises ) when you use the slew keys at say speed 3????
If so, then the system is basically working.

Andrew

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer


No luck involved, however, loading 5CE1 and the patch is done at the same time.
Download and Install StarPatch
Manually download the 5CE1 rom and 5CE1 patch
( or use StarPatch's inbuilt updater to grab them )
Start your scope and connect the update cable as per normal.
In Starpatch, select the handbox type as 497EP ( via menu )
Select the patch file ( ends in .spf ) via the selection box.
The system will load the patch and you can see all the bits
and what they do.
Select the patch options you want to use
Hit go.
Starpatch will validate the patch and yr Hbx, and if OK will load the data.
Once loaded, it will reboot the Hbx, but you need to cycle the power to get a true restart.
After the firmware is loaded, you are ready to go.

Andrew

[Zincberg]

OK...well its done. Looks like I might get a clear one just to see how it all plays out.
Forkks came off pretty easy... just copped one scratch on the side.
All in all, I feel pretty good about it.
Now when people ask, I think Ill say I have a Neq690.

[Zincberg]

Yeah, im not sure what firmware it was, I talked to you a while ago in yahoo groups about it...and I did the upgrade then, basically it fixed my horrible Periodic error I had (as well as ANOTHER new RA motor.
Yes, the scope was moving up and down at speed 3.. but barely. there was a lot of "lag" I would say I had to hold down the button for 2 seconds before it would actually move... which I am guessing is why PHD wasnt guiding N/S.. the message was sent, the scope was trying to do something... but there just wasnt enough time to make it move.
Anyway... its done now... Ill hang onto the forks.. in case things go pear shaped with the eq6, but Ill definately sell the wedge.

[jenchris]

Thanks Andrew J - I'll let you know how I get on!!

[jenchris]

Got on - it worked - though it did say GPS not found!
Have to try and work out what it missed off in the dialogue.
The tuning will take a while I guess and with the cloud dodging tonight it was a little frustrating but enough to give me hope!
Thanks again

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer



Not sure what you mean here.
Does your scope actually have a GPS unit??
If not, you probably left the "GPS Setup" portion of the patch
( the very first option in the patch )
selected when you loaded.
This bit of patch is only required if you have purchased the StarGPS GPS unit and allows the unit to be neatly integrated into the firmware, vs be just a plugin extra.
It wont harm anything, but if you get annoyed with the prompts,
just relaod the patch with the "GPS Setup" bit unchecked.

Andrew

[jenchris]

I have GPS - it said GPS not found - which I thought was odd - as it didn't ask for a lat long - but beeped - and went to Sigma Octans. It was only a few minutes out from Archenar when it went to the first star - about 6 mins - so I just centred it and it was accurate fro there - so I guess my GPS worked.Which is why I thought it was odd.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Jennifer

I suspect you have loaded the "GPS Setup" portion of the patch then.
( You can check this if required using my PEC editor )
As i noted earlier, we have integrated the external StarGPS unit into the underlying Autostar code, to get a more efficient method of working.
With that bit of patch loaded, the handbox will firstly look for a StarGPS unit plugged into the handbox serial port. If it doesnt find one, it declares no GPS, then it reverts to normal processing.
In your case, this means it tries for the integrated Meade GPS unit if fitted, and if that times out, it reverts to the manual Hbx entry.
If your scope fixed OK and the date/time after fix was correct,
then all is working as it should.

Andrew

[jenchris]

I'll check it again and see what gives!

[g__day]

So basically Meade = OTA good, mounts ugh and software even worse?

[jenchris]

Well - actually it's just a matter of finish - the OTA is - yes good.
The mount is quite useable as it is forviewing, but needs to be worked on a bit for AP - the software - well it's like windows stuff, glitchy and bugged at the periphery.
The go to has worked flawlessly for the 18 months I've had it. The more I got it leveled and pointed, the better it became.

[jenchris]

Went out last night before it got cloudy and had a bit of a practise - the guiding was accurate with PHD - for the very first time, the lines stayed inside the first horizontal bar. Which when I consider that as OAG is 100x that's quite accurate - the resulting pics were awful since the sky was awful for seeing - the stars were big and globby.
Would the guiding improve if the seeing was better?

[TrevorW]

Under our trade practice laws I retailer warrants that the porduct he is selling is of mechantisable quality

If you purchased it from a local agent and documented the problems etc you have had I'd say it would be sufficient grounds for returning it and

a) get a working replacement or
b) a full refund

Have you considered this

[AndrewJ]

Gday Trev



With reference to the Firmware, then not possible,
unless Meade fix it ( unlikely short term ).

Most of the Meade bugs are now well known
and have been patched for several years,
but most of these are for remote control functions.
As such,
your choice is buy a Meade knowing it does all the basics well,
but has problems with remote controlled functionality,
( most of which can be semi fixed )
or not buy a Meade at all.
As bang for the buck, its a good allround package,
and excellent for casual manual use in AltAz.
If you want AP/TAK/PME type quality/functionality
and rapid manufacturer response to bugs
then you need to buy an AP/TAK or PME.

Ie you gets what you pays for.

Andrew

[barx1963]

I'm not sure that a dealer could exclude firmware bugs from the definition of merchantable quality, even if they are well known. A patch is fine but the product as a whole surely would still have to be capable of doing what it is designed to do.
A go to scope MUST be capable of going to an object, otherwise it is not merchantable and the dealer has to comply with the law, and as I understand the law, that means an implied warranty to the consumer that always applies regardless of what any written warranty says.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Malcolm


And it can.
As i mentioned, out of the box and under manual control, it works.
For 99% of users, the bugs arent a problem with basic usage
and gotos do in fact work ;).

Its only when going to remote control and using a PC to send some more advanced serial commands that most problems cut in.
I really dont see how getting all legal about this is going to help,
and attempting to pin it on the Oz retailers because "they" are selling a well known standard product wont help anyone.
And what happens to all the people who decide to buy from the US and use third party handlers to ship the stuff here????
Anyone can do a simple search on the internet and find out most of the feedback, good and bad. Then decide if they want to proceed.
At some point, people have to take a little responsibility for what they buy.

Andrew

[g__day]

So out of curiousity - did you know of these discoverable bugs and glitches with the advanced features you wanted before you bought - or did you only find out about the errors afterwards?

Malcolm is right about goods being fit for sale - bugs in advanced capabilities aren't listed in any Meade advertisment I've seen - I was unaware of these issues until this thread. This means local importers are exposed to returns as I would view goods are not fit for sale if many of the advanced features haven't worked for a long time and many patches are needed to try an cobble something together. Not acting allows a continued bad product to be foisted onto all new entrants into the field. At the very least their advertising should prominently be truthful to real world capabilities.

Matthew

[jenchris]

I have to say that the manual I got looked like it was written at least 10 years ago - (it mentioned that digital cameras were now available!!!)
The advice about digital cameras was not only out of date, most of it was incorrect. It also wasn't corrected for the Southern hemisphere. When you consider the cost of the machine, the poorly scripted and produced manual is quite awful.
It points out the collimation screws - as the outer screws - which are in fact the secondary securing screws. I had a frustrating time to start with until I reasoned it out.
The firmware is pathetic when you consider the availability of such hi tech as ipads etc. It isn't even robust, one slip with the voltage or polarity and it's fried.
You can work round most of the stuff - but you shouldn't need to.
The LS is junk too - the Astronomer inside thing is pure child stuff - the light switch alignment will only work if there's stars visible - a cheap garmin will do as good a job without a star visible and also give you altitude.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Matthew

I dont disagree with a lot of whats been said,
but i'm also a realist on a budget.
Yes i did know of some of the bugs when i purchased,
and others have been found since.
New ones have recently come about as a result of the new hardware used in the 497EP and Audiostar handboxes.

Again, there is now a wealth of knowledge on the net re the known problems, and how to get around most "if you want to"
so caveat emptor.

PS i keep getting patches and warnings for my PC operating system
ie how its not safe and can be compromised by hackers
( And they want me to do internet banking ???? :shrug: )
I would consider that a product more "not fit for purpose"
than my telescope :D, but i still use it.

Andrew

[g__day]

When all is said and done - I bet you will enjoy the OTA firmly mounted on an EQ6 a lot more than the gear it arrived with when it comes to astro-photography!

From memory Meade had problems with their uber expensive Maxmount - to handle 20" RCs - it was withdrawn from sales I recall for over a year. Making really good mounts must be part science / part magic I sense!

[PeterM]

As this is now turning into a "Meade" product discussion I will let you know my experience.
My 12inch LX200
Optics - ACF superb as advertised
GoTo - superb as advertised
Mount - Solid as advertised
Linking to and controlling by PC - SKYX Pro, CCD Soft, Orchestate all work perfectly well with LX200.
Usage - minimum 120 nights per year @ about 5 hours per night = 600 hours usage per year and some 6-10,000 gotos and tracking (ok - short up to one minute exposure in al az mode) no issues.
In use since June 2007.
No issues that cause me any concern.
And the 12inch package for under $6500, geez I really don't know where this thread is going. The LX200 product does what it is advertised to do and better, bang for your buck is huge. If you have an issue then you have the best trained people in Oz through Mike and Don at Bintel to assist.

PeterM.

[g__day]

I've only had good experiences at Bintel Sydney too!

The LX200 is well above the LX90 in precision and accuracy isn't it?

[AndrewJ]

Gday Matthew



You would lose yr money :thumbsup:
I am portable and 90% visual, hence am happy with how it works.
Portable AltAz with binoviewers walks all over a GEM for setup speed and goto accuracy.
If i was going to go totally Astro, i would certainly look at a good GEM,
but i do have an EQ6 and funnily enuf, people have written external code
to make it "work better than / without with the supplied Hbx";)"
Just another "patch" of sorts to get the required functionality???



Not really. Its making them to a cost/quality breakpoint that meets peoples requirements that is the hard bit.


Yep, but it also has its own bugs.
PEC in the Sth Hemi being one. Again, most are well known and patched,
but out of the box it can be a problem.

Andrew

[Poita]

I gotta say I am extremely happy with my 10" LX200R OTA as well, very, very nice piece of kit, and the ACF optics are marvellous.

[tonybarry]

I've an LX90-10" ACF with AudioStar, purchased in July from Don at Bintel (Sydney). It has had a couple of issues, unlike the LX90-8" GPS that it replaced.

First was a stripped collimation Bob's Knob. Fixed without charge.

Second was a peculiar vibration issue, where the scope was very unsteady on the tripod. The issue was due to the central vertical axis not landing on the tripod top; the actual land was done by the base cover which was not strong and allowed the axis to vibrate easily. Fixed again without charge, and I made up a central spacer to ensure the axis was the point of contact between the tripod and the scope.

I use the LX90-10" for asteroid occultation work, in Alt-az, and its Gotos appear to be done to Jnow rather than J2000 co-ordinates. Using J2000 will not land me where I want ...

The tracking is very good, and there is little periodic error (not the correct term for an Alt-az mount, but you get the idea).

The optics are also very good, although the ACF has no focal reducers of the amount that the SCT optics had available. This is a bit of a PITA for occ. work, but that's life. Focusing is smooth and does not slip with altitude changes.

I am pleased with the 10", although I think the LX90-8" GPS is still the best scope I ever had. I can recommend the Bintel crew for their good attitude to product support.

(Disclaimer - I have no financial affiliation with Bintel or Meade).

Regards,
Tony Barry

[Poita]

I find the AP focal reducer works well with the 10" ACF scope.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Tony



ANY "user" supplied coordinates are required as JNow.
ie using Hbx entered coords, or any user objects, comets, asteroids etc.
Anything in the internal database uses the epoch of that data
( IIRC stars are J2000, but not sure on the deepsky stuff )
The 497s have no precession, PM or refraction routines
so what is entered is what is used.
The LX200s use precession and refraction for internal databases,
and apply PM for stars
but again, all user supplied data must be JNow.
( And before you ask, there is no easy way round it )

Andrew

[PeterM]

[QUOTE=tonybarry;778711]I've an LX90-10" ACF with AudioStar, purchased in July from Don at Bintel (Sydney). It has had a couple of issues, unlike the LX90-8" GPS that it replaced.

The optics are also very good, although the ACF has no focal reducers of the amount that the SCT optics had available. This is a bit of a PITA for occ. work, but that's life.

Hi Tony
There are several reducers that will be very useful with the ACF scopes. The AP has been noted. I have been using the Optec F7 Ultra widefield with the 12inch and this is a a very fine reducer for this telescope. I have recently purchased the Optec F6.2 Lepus and this is specifically designed for the ACF scopes. They do require the correct spacer adapter for CCD / DSLR camera.
The Lepus is $259 from Sirius Optics and I think there maybe 1 or 2 in stock. The adapter is about $80?? double check that with Ron when they arrive next week.
Yeah yeah I declare as usual that I work for Sirius Optics once a fortnite.
PeterM.