Meade LT-6ACF Alignment Woes !

[Cliff (Clifford)]

Hi Jeremy,

Unfortunately my second hand LT-6 Scope decided to fail yesterday, found the fault burnt out IC and open circuit Azimuth Motor, Now to see if I can get parts.? Or put it on another mount?

Might just get a pair of Binoculars

Not enjoying Astronomy at the moment.

Cheers
Cliff

[redbeard (Damien)]

Gee, that's no good.

Don't give up though, get a different mount, EQ with warranty? 6" Meade aperture is a good thing. Good pair.

Give Bintel a call and ask them about options/hints to put a dovetail on the deforked tube, correct length, etc and see if parts are available.

If you have seen Saturn, then there is no turning back.

Cheers,
Damien.

[Cliff (Clifford)]

Thanks for the encouragement Damien, buy used you take your chance ! But at least the Scope itself is in excellent condition and it did come with extra stuff.

Looking at a couple of mounts like the AZ/EQ types but they are expensive.

Best of both worlds, I guess a good mount will last many years though.

Something I can grow into perhaps. The Meade only weighs about 4.4kg once removed.

Cheers
Cliff

[sil (Steve)]

Buying a good mount is essential if you want to do astrophotography, as sturdiness (weight) is needed for accuracy over time. But an AZ/EQ mount may seem like the best of both world but in practice maybe too much grief. a jack of all trades master of none situation. Would be good for others experienced to say if the dual type is worth it or best to get separate az and eq mounts better fit for purpose (visual and imaging). depends on your needs etc. Your 6"meade should be easy to mount on something else, OTA rings and dovetail mounts etc are available to let you use what you want on any OTA, but best to sort out your mount issue first as what you put on the OTA depends on the mount. There are usually two sizes of dovetails and you may not be able to use both on the mount you get, for example the narrow type mounts dont often open far enough to also use the wide types. take it slow sort your mount needs then you can start collecting OTAs and standardise their mounts so you can put whatever you want on the night on the same mount. there are also piggyback and sideby side options. but dont cheap out on the mount, yes good ones are expensive, with good reason but getting that part correct you are set for life basically. get a cheaper wobbly mount and no matter how much money you spend on the OTA you're experience will always be limited and its unfixable. get the right mount first or maybe avoid spending until you are able to do this we all have our early buying regrets gathering dust, best to not waste that money in the first place, just wait until you have the money to get the good mount from day one. No reason you cant get a ring with 1/4" threaded hole to attach a camera tripod plate and just use for visual from any old camera tripod in the mean time. I understand the thrill of spending and getting new toys up and running fast

[Cliff (Clifford)]

Thanks Steve,

You maybe right dual type mounts have to a compromise somewhere. So far no joy finding a dovetail mount to fit seems 8" Meades and up are catered for but not 6" , interesting idea using it with rings on a standard camera tripod might be an idea though have no experience using rings etc... Have a ok tripod might be worth a try.

Appreciate the ideas and suggestions

Cliff

[Cliff (Clifford)]

Hi Steve,

Just an update on my Meade issue, I removed the Faulty Az Motor Worm drive Assembly so the Az axis is freely rotating not ideal no way to lock it unless I put a wedge in between the rotating part.but at least I can use it somewhat.

Cheers
Cliff
PS: Bought some Binoculars they'll probably get more use .

[Cliff (Clifford)]

Just an update I got the Motor going after disassembling and cleaning, polishing the armature. Has had a lot more use than I was told.

Now to fix the burnt out PCB. PCB fixed and working

Motor still has an issue ordered a replacement. Waiting!