How do I...ruin my Meade LX200?

[Nico13 (Ken)]

Hi Simon,

Mozzie and Peter may be making the right choices for you to send it to Bintel if you have the slightest doubts about it at all.

For myself, well as a mechanic that has serviced everthing from lawn mowers to FA18A and Mirage fighter jets I have no problems about disassembling somthing different but when you have no real manufacturers instructions then things can go pear shaped on you.

While it may look simple and I've had no trouble with mine there is always that missing bit of info that can be important so do what you think is best mate and play it safe.

[Barrykgerdes]

Reading through the posts I think you have given yourself a major reconstruction problem. I gather your first problem with the OTA was poor focus and you set about re-collimation.

This may not have been the correct first procedure. When looking at a daylight object that is in the normal focus range the secondary mirror collimation can be a long way off without any noticeable effect on the sharpness of focus although if the collimation is out by miles you may get secondary images. I get the impression that you have another problem with optical path in the OTA.

I have had my secondary mirror housing come loose in the field at night and completetly destroy focusing ability. I have just tightened it up without trying to find the original position as the orientation of the secondary is no where near as important as the orientation of the corrector.

I have then done a recollimation by trial and error in the dark with an allen key by just focusing on a reasonably bright star (3rd or 4th mag) and adjusting till the comet like tails dissolve into the star blob.so that the stars are round dots. This has been enough to continue with the nights vieiwing. I always told myself that I would do a full collimation later but have not yet got around to it as the telescope does the job I need as it is. Just showing the sky to the general public at astronomy nights.



Barry

[Nico13 (Ken)]

Barry,
I think the original problem was not a focus one but an apparent out of round outer ring while doing a colimation after fitting Bobs knobs.

See the first post.

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by Nico13

Barry,
I think the original problem was not a focus one but an apparent out of round outer ring while doing a colimation after fitting Bobs knobs.

See the first post.

That may be so but reading between the lines on the 4th paragraph I get the impression that there was a focus problem before the fitting of the bob's knobs.

That out of round shown in the pictures is only a minor problem. It will be fixed by the preliminary setting of the secondary by adjusting the knobs to get the outer circle round before attempting a star test.

However the first thing to do is get the corrector back in its correct position.

I suggest reading Thierry leGault's article on collimation before anyone makes a serious attempt at collimation.

Barry

[steve000 (Steve)]

You ruined it, I guess your just gonna have to dump it in the back of my boot, I'll be over this weekend to help you .

I did similarish to my newt, loosen things up, start again, mine was one bolt waaaaaaaay too tight

[baileys2611 (Simon Bailey)]

HAAHAAHAA! No boots allowed.

I've decided to give Bintel a call and send it to them. These e-go.com.au fellows seems pretty good and not expensive at all ($30 bucks each way to Sydney).

I called Bintel, they were of course helpful in saying send it over, 'it'll take a few days but we'll help'.

I'd be lying if I said I was confident to do this without help so it would be foolish to attempt this without either a week of free time or some experience on something less critical. Either aren't likely in the short term, so I will happily ask for expert assistance.

[GraemeT (Graeme)]

Send to Bintel. I've just had my Meade Mak to them for a fix, the service is phenomenal!

[baileys2611 (Simon Bailey)]

Yep, packaged off and sent today.

[baileys2611 (Simon Bailey)]

Don at Bintel rocks! He Raawks! LX200R beautifully collimated, software patched, OTA cleaned. +1 Happy camper.

[Nico13 (Ken)]

Hey great Simon, glad you got it sorted without any heart ache over doing it yourself.

[mozzie (Peter)]

Originally Posted by baileys2611

Don at Bintel rocks! He Raawks! LX200R beautifully collimated, software patched, OTA cleaned. +1 Happy camper.

and peace of mind!!!!!!! for what monies you have to spend it's done properly.

[Ric]

Glad to see it's all up and running Simon.

They do good work at Bintel.

Happy stargazing.