1st Telescope

[ENVY]

:help: As a raw beginner i am thinking of purchasing a Meade LX 90 ACF as my first scope.

I first looked at a Meade 125pe, after reading forum's i formed the opinion that larger is better and would hate to think that in a few months i may wish to upgrade.

For the last 10 years every chance i can get i go camping to the Mid and Upper North and Central Australia usually 30 days a year.The clear skys are fantastic up thier.

Any advise on my selection would be greatly appricated on my choice.
Dob's seem to be better value for money but room in my 4x4 is limited
Also advise on EP for LX90 would be great

thanks

Peter

[renormalised]

Your selection of a Meade LX90 ACF is very good. I have one myself. Visually, they're an excellent scope....stars are pinpoint right across any FoV (field of view) with no coma or astigmatism. Photographically, you can use them in their normal alt/az configuration, however, you're restricted to short subs (sub exposures). If you want to do any long exposure pics, you need an equatorial wedge. Plus a few other things such as a guidescope, autoguider etc etc. However that'll be for you sometime down the track when you feel you want to do that sort of photography. The goto tracking system is excellent. I have no trouble getting any target object to come to near centre in an eyepiece once I tell the scope where to go. A few slight adjustments gets the object dead centre. It also tracks very well once I centre the object...slight adjustments every now and then keep the object centred. As far as eyepieces goes, your scope will come with a 26mm eyepiece (EP), which gives you a mag' of about x77. I also have a set of Meade series 4000 eyepieces ranging from 5mm to 40mm....there's 6 or so in a set. Plus you get a polarising (Moon) filter, a x2.5 barlow lens and a set of visual filters as well (4 in a set). The barlow lens effectively increases the power of each EP by it's rated mag'. In this case x2.5. The set comes in a really nice aluminium case with foam to pack everything in. The eyepieces are standard 1.25" EP's but you can also get 2" EP's, though you'll need a 2" barreled diagonal to put them in. Meade series 5000 EP's are good as well, but are dearer than the 4000's. I would also advise you to get a dew hood/shield and a dew zapper for your size scope. That'll keep moisture and such off your corrector plate and prevent it from fogging up. Plus the added benefit of the hood is that it keeps stray light out. Also get yourself a 12V power supply. Preferably one around 12-18amh. Although you can run the scope on C cells (8 of them), it's not advisable. With heavy use they can run low pretty quick!!!. And get yourself a good carrying case large enough to stick your scope in. A Pelican case would be good, but they're expensive. You can get away using a largish toolbox with foan inserts or have a wooden one made.

If you need anymore advice, PM me or just post here. There are a few of us here that have LX90's and LX200's and we'll be more than happy to help:)

[ENVY]

Thanks for the quick respone

I had read about the 4000 EP kit i was n't sure on the quality of it or to punt on other brands.It seemed to be value for money when purchasing with the scope as a package from local Meade agent

Are the dew hood/shield and dew zapper Meade products or generic brands

[renormalised]

You can get any brand you like for the dew hood/shield and the dew zappers....doesn't matter. Meade don't make dew zappers but there's plenty of other makes and models around. Kendrick make pretty good ones.

Meade EP's a pretty good....I'm happy with mine. Admittedly they're not Naglers or Ethos EP's but then again they're a lot cheaper. They're good quality mid range EP's.

[mozzie]

hi peter a excellent choice for a scope my lx 90 hasnt let me down over the past 3 years every time you centre an object it is smack in the middle of the fov you wont go wrong as for ep,s i like televue but they come at a heafty price start with basic ep,s then you can work your way up
mozzie

[mat,v]

Hi Peter,,:welcome: I am also a novice,,about 2 months,,I purchased an LX-90 for my first scope and just acquired a Series 4000 set of EP's,,,The scope is HEAPS of fun and delivers great views of the heavens,,It's REALY easy to set up and use too,I even plugged my DSLR into it last week for the first time and took photo's,,I'm not at the point of posting them yet compared to these guys,,but i reckon they ROCK,,,you could do a lot worse than this combo,,,Plenty good fun,,,,,,Cheers,,MAT:thumbsup:

[ENVY]

:(sorry for not responding earlier i certainly appreciated your replies

tomorrow i pickup my new toy

LX 200 10"GPS 2/3 years old in brillant nic(no marks or scuffing)
and few extra accessories i think helps make going s/h a good idea

meade auto star suite & LP1
meade equatorial wedge
meade F/6.3 focal reducer
meade variable projection camera adapter
meade T adapter plus a few eye pieces etc

i already have a wish list for more accessories to add to it (ed 80 and ccd camera etc) but for the first few weeks this will do for now

Let the fun begin :D:D

i am sure i will be asking more info and will certainly do suck up all information given

thanks again

peter