LX80 Mount

[loki78]

Now that they are available and being shipped, was wondering if anyone has got a hold of an LX80 mount as yet and given it a whirl?

Reviews of it seem to be pretty thin on the ground still from anywhere in the world, though I understand it was shipping here from early Feb onwards.

Where does it fit in with EQ/CGEM mounts? in line roughly with a HEQ5 or what?

[Forgey]

Don't think they are available untill march 21
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/5084195/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1/vc/1

&

http://www.telescopejunkies.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=6583&posts=3

[loki78]

Yeah I heard that earlier today also. Hopefully they will be worth the wait I suppose.

[traveller]

Lx80 has a stated payload of 40 lbs, so that's more in the EQ6 league, but performance will be another issue.

[loki78]

Yeah true. I'm in the market for one but at the moment not in a *huge* rush, so I'm wondering if it will be worth my while to wait and see how they turn out, esp in comparison to an EQ6PRO considering the vastly cheaper price.

[traveller]

A second hand EQ6 Pro can be had for around $1000. It's a proven performer with lots of support and freeware.
I was looking at LX80, but decided to give it a miss because of the "first edition" effect where bugs not found during testing can pop up, which can require un-scheduled servicing etc.

[loki78]

This is now being listed on bintel as 'Due 3rd quarter of 2012'

Talk about annoying. I've read everything from a warehouse fire to changing manufacturing from China to Mexico, to it's ready and they are just ironing out bugs.

I guess this will be a believe it when we see it kinda thing.

[MortonH]

Remember how long the Series 5000 APOs took to arrive???

I agreer with other comments above. I wouldn't touch it when it first comes out as it'll have all sorts of bugs that need to be addressed. So you might be looking at 12-24 months before you can buy one with any confidence, IMO. Better off with a HEQ5 Pro for now.