just recently been going through the motions of doing some research into this scope. I want one for a number of reasons, mainly getting perfect collimation so that I can image the planets and for its flat field (DSO work), incorporated dew heater and all the new connections in the rear of the telescope.
I enquired with Bintel and they say they will not have the scope until later in the year, reason being there has been some problems with the model and Meade want to sort it out before sending anymore to Australia. As I understand it the scope might be back in Australia by November.
In doing this I will obviously be selling the LX200 10", Weight sets, dew shield, dew heater and other odds and sods. The price will be very competitive for anyone interested.
Does anyone else have one of these scopes? What if any are your comments on the scope? Should I just stick with the current scope (bear in mind that I want to do hi resolution planetary imaging), even though I am so sick of collimating the scope.
Yeah, I had thought of this option and once upon a time I had a good 8" Newt on a purpose built mount, but found that you need a really long scope (physically) to get the focal length needed for hi res planetary work. I just don't have that sort of room in my little back yard. I know Anthony has this configuration but even swinging something this size is an issue. So I will have to go with a folding design and I have spoken to Don from Bintel and he was very impressed with the performace of the star tests and the scope in general. So it looks like it will either be a RCX or a 9.25 Celestron if I go through with this at all.
A Mak, ohh how I would love one of those. Gary sent me a link a while ago of a firm that makes beautiful Maks, costly too. But alas even a Mak will be a bit long to swing.
The vixen sounds alright, but would prefer not to go down this path again.
However, I really like the features on the RCX and it has had some great reviews.
Keep the suggestions coming, there might be something I have not looked at. I would still like some feed back from those that have an RCX though. I know that people own them in Australia, so let me know.
Mak-Newt or Schmid-Newt perhaps, i think gbeal has taken some great planetary shots with his Make-Newt. http://www.2fdesign.co.nz/zeissnut/equipment.htm Gary has indicated that if he could only own one scope it would be the MN76, i think thats a good tip from an expert.
If I had the cash I wouldn't hesitate. As you say Paul they're getting great reviews and the added bonus of electric collimation and dew heater inbuilt are icing on the cake.
What about the LX200 7 "Mak , if there was ever a sleeper scope that warrants more attention its this one , i havent looked through one but trust me ive been thoroughly tempted by it . Costs the same as the ten , a lymax cat cooler might be a necessity though
hi Paul, just a couple of thoughts, the new RCX was of course designed to be a dedicated astrophotography scope hence the automatic collimation, there is no improvement in visual performance ( my brother who lives in America has a look through quite a few ), my main point being that once the collimation on your scope is correct and the fact that it is permanently on a pier it should stay that way more or less would you not be better of to invest in some really high end photo gear and motor drive focuser attached to your existing scope and avoid any problems that might pop up on a new scope, the RCX is relatively new and a long way from being proven in the field, they've been building LX 200's for a long time and still having problems.
Theres the superseded LX50 series Paul , ive seen some good prices on astromart for the Mak version {plus the classic LX200 version}.....Dew heater ! more electronics to stuff up down the line
Yeah your right Mick, thing is I have my collimation pretty good now, but it just always needs that little tweek, ask EXFSO, he thinks that my collimation is very good but the perfectionist in me says it just needs a 128 of a turn tweek.
I know that the RCX was designed for Astrophotography and that is one of my other interests as you know, but I have heard from many others in the US that the scope is excellent for planetary work also. Since I do this the most and DSO secondary I wanted a scope that has the collimation issue put aside with a longish focal length and with aperture and not cost the entire earth.
However, like you say the RCX is new and prone to problems and this has been largely on my mind from the moment I considered this two months ago. I have had very good success so far with the LX200 and maybe if I bought a camera like Birds new one I would save myself a grand overall. It is just that the RCX has so many other features. Yes many things can go wrong, and would most like knowing my luck. But you know how it is.
Youre right, Id wait for a bit. Ive noticed Meade products are very nice. But they all seem to have quite few bugs in them for some time. Id wait until they have been tested in the real world for some time so everyone is aware of the bugs and perhaps Meade takes another look at them. That way you will have a tighter product in the end.
Ive just got aan lx90 lnt and im glad i waited for awhile to scope out all the little probs that i would have. Saved me alot of grief as i was expecting them and knew what to do.
See ya
I think that 'Gearhead' JRCrilly is in the process of writing a review of the RCX for Cloudynights. I and many others have alot of respect for his opinion. If I were in the market, I'd wait to hear what John has to say.
Sorry to spoil the party guys. One of my extremely learned colleagues in the USA told me last week that Meade have halted production on this scope because of several known issues with it. They have basically put the brakes on production until the issues are resolved. A couple are apparently not of a minor nature. One for instance I think is collimation changing or something similar when you refocus due to an electronic fault. The sad thing is Meade are not going to correct existing issues with scopes that have already been sold. Anything your likely to buy at the moment could have issues.
I can find out what the issues are if you like and get back to you.
It has a Strehl of .985, and a cost of $4150 US
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