Last updated: 27 April 2006 |
This page is for user comments and information of a general nature or items applicable to all LXD55 models. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or answers to questions posed here, e-mail them to me and I'll post them. Please use an appropriate Subject Line on your message. Thanks.
Subject: GO-TO Fault - 'Motor Unit Fault' Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 02:34:39 From: Neill McKeown (neillmckeown@hotmail.co.uk) I am emailing you about a LXD 75 8 inch reflector. I was at a star party/meteor watch on Friday night and when I attempted to align the scope, I ran into difficulties. I sent the scope to Arcturus, but it ended up pointing to the ground with the hand controller display reading 'Motor Unit Fault'. As far as I could tell, its not a power issue, as the scope was hooked up to a power pack and it was fully charged and it was the start of the session. Have you any ideas? Your help would be appreciated. Thanks Neill McKeownMike here: Does the problem repeat? Does it appear when you power on or just when slewing? Check the cable connections, check for bent pins on the connectors and jacks. Lastly, if the problem doe not occur on power on, do a CALIBRATE MOTOR and TRAIN DRIVES. If that doesn't work, do a RESET, CALIBRATE MOTOR, and TRAIN DRIVES. Let me know.
Subject: re: Electric focuser for LXD75-SC8 Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 22:03:20 From: richard seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com) If the 1206 has a 'stereo' plug, it's meant to go into the focuser socket on a Meade 909 APM module ($50, i think). That module -is- compatible/usable with an LXD scope. The only part with doesn't work (with Meade's blessing) is the autoguider socket... and my patch kit for 42Ed shall attempt to activate that for all models (if it fits) But you can -focus- (and drive illuminated reticles) with it now. This brings the focus control into the Autostar, and also allows remote focusing. For an extra $50 (which may not be worth it to you) have fun --dick
Subject: LDX55 is absent in Autostar Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 09:22:32 From: Rana (khan_rana@dataone.in) We bought LXD55 on Sep'2002. the telescope arrived with a defect in RA gear. somehow we manage to recover it. then in 2005 autostar #497 totally shut down its operation. we failed to restart it. then we bought another autostar for LXD55 but in telescope section there in nothing for LXD55. it includes other later models. it failed to drive telescope properly. how can i use it with LXD55 and how the softwre of LXd55 be loaded? Please help us. Rana Khan, Kolkata. India.Mike here: Assuming the Autostar "sees" the telescope, you may just need to update it. You will need the Autostar Update application (from Meade's site) or the AutostarX application (from the Helpful Information: Autostar Info page on my ETX and LXD sites). You will also need a #505 serial cable as well as a RS-232 port. You can find details on making such a cable on the Autostar Info page. If your computer has a USB port but no RS-232 serial port you will need a USB-serial adapter; see the article "Autostar and USB" on the Autostar Info page. As to using the software, see the article "How to use the 3.x Updater" on the Autostar Info page; it is mostly applicable to the 4.x version as well.
Subject: Differences between the LX90, LX200 AND LXD75 Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 21:47:27 From: Alfonso Mndez Tenorio (aamendez@prodigy.net.mx) My idea is to buy a new telescope, as my experience on using telescopes has increased in the last years. I began with a small 4 inches refractor (with only manual controls), then I move to the Meade 4500 (A Newtonian It seems is now discontinued), finally I bough a Meade ETX 90 EC, that it is until now the best telescope I ever had. I've experimented also with classical and CCD astrophotography and now I am interested in buying a SC telescope 8''. I figured the Meade's models LX90, LX200 and LXD75 SC have the same (or similar) optical system, and I found in the MEADE's web page that main differences between all them are related with the Autostar's database and the mount which is considerable different between the LX90-LX200 and LXD75 models. The German equatorial mount in the LXD75 is cheaper than that for the LX90 and LX200 however, what about the performance? I am think I am capable to deal with the setup of the polar alignment which is the kind I prefer for astrophotography, are other important differences in the performance compared with the mounts in the LX90 and LX200 models?. Also I thinking in to buy the telescope in USA in my next visit to the country in one or two months from now, and then I will bring it to my home in Mexico city. This is the reason because I am thinking in the compact design of the SC and I feel comfortable with this kind of optics despite its f/10 speed. Do you know the difference in weight between the mounts of the LXD75 and the LX90_LX200 models? I was not able to find this information in the MEADE's web page for the LXD75. How stable is the mount of the LXD75 compared with that of the LX90-LX200 models? Congratulations for your site. It is wonderful the information you have on it Best wishes Alfonso Mendez-Tenorio Mexico city.Mike here: Yes, the difference is in the mounts. The 8"SC is the same OTA (just different tube colors) on each. (One caveat: the new LX200R is NOT the same OTA, only the older LX200 and LX200GPS models have the same 8"SC). The LXD55/75 is the GEM mount as you noted and has the good and bad points about GEM (always Polar, no Alt/Az, stability, need for proper balancing). The LX90 mount is next up and is designed for Alt/Az operations, and the LX200 the highest (of the three) mount, also designed for Alt/Az. A wedge can be purchased with both the LX90 and LX200 for polar mounting. Both the LX90 and LX200 have excellent stability but the drive mechanism in the LX200 is better. The LX200 is an excellent telescope for serious astrophotography but the LXD55/75 and LX90 (as well as the ETX) can be used for astrophotography (as can be seen on my ETX and LXD sites). As to the weights, other than what is shown on the Meade site in the product guide, don't know.
Subject: Electric focuser for LXD75-SC8 Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 06:01:01 From: Dave Wallace (d_wallace@ecrm.com) I'm confused. I want to get an electric focuser for my telescope (LXD75-SC8), but I can't tell from the product descriptions whether the 1205, 1206 or neither would be the correct model. Since you have essentially the same telescope as I do, which one would/did you get?Mike here: The 1206 uses a port on the LX90 that is not available on the LXD55/75 mount. So you would need the 1205 that uses a separate handcontroller. Physically, it looks like it should fit OK.
And:
Thanks, Mike.
Subject: LXD75 Sent: Monday, April 10, 2006 15:36:48 From: Marco A Diaz (marcodiaz1@earthlink.net) I have wanted a telescope all of my adult life and finally bought one about 3 weeks ago. So far, I have been very disappointed and disillusioned by the representatives from Oceanside photo and telescopes and Meade telescope customer service personnel. All have been rude, curt and generally unhelpful. OPT sold me a $280.00 battery that arrived without one bit of instruction and then I'm told by OPT that I can't plug my telescope into the battery and need to buy another expensive battery to power the telescope. I finally called Meade and was told that it was ok to power the telescope with the 12 volt battery I bought and did not need to purchase another battery. When I finally put the telescope together, I found that the azimuth control knob was bent. After several calls to Meade, I finally got through to a very uninterested, rude customer representative. It appears you are genuinely interested in astronomy and are trying to provide those of us who are newbies with current useful information, but I cannot understand why you would allow yourself to be tainted by companies such as OPT and even Meade. I have just begun my journey into astronomy and am already very disappointed. I hope it gets better from here. Marco A. Diaz Indio, CA.Mike here: Sorry to hear about your bad experiences.
And:
I recently complained to you about your affiliation with OPT and Meade Telescopes. I had some bad experiences with them and should have waited a day or two in order to calm down and cool off. You apparently actually do read your e-mail and I received a call from the owner of OPT inquiring as to the details of my complaint. I must admit, I am impressed and have since had that day or two to cool off. I sincerely apologize to you for making unwarranted claims and complaints. I believe I just had some bad contacts and luck and plan to move forward in a positive manner. Thank you Marco A. DiazMike here: Yes, I do read all my email, at least that email that doesn't look like SPAM. Glad to hear that things are improved now.
Subject: Choosing the right scope Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2006 10:25:12 From: Bart spreeuwenberg (bart_spreeuw@hotmail.com) For 3 years now I have been using the etx-70 telescope. This i=amazing scope has shown me some awesome things and has allways been my favorite waste of time :D But after 3 years I have started to search for a big brother for my scope. I have been looking around and have now chosen 2 candidates, both from the measde LXD75 series. The 6 inch goto refractor, or the 8 inch UHTC goto sc. I want to choose the right one, for I will be using it for life if possible. Well, at least for a long time. The refractor I like because of the high contrast, the sc because of the exra 2 inches. Portabilit is not really the issue, because both are quite large. After saving and scraping money I am getting ready to place an order this week, but have not made a real choice just yet. My choice is now kind of depending on what I will be able to see. Could you please tell me witch scope will offer me more? I know 8" catches more light, but will a 6" refractor outperform it? If you maybe have some other pro's and con's, could you please teel me about them? You have in the past helped me greatly with my etx and was hoping if you could give me some tips again. Thanks for your great website, I love it! Bart SpreeuwenbergMike here: Both are fine telescopes. The refractor does have a shorter focal length than the 8"SC (1219mm vs 2000mm) but is f/8 vs f/10 (which isn't that much diiference). So, yes, the 8" will capture more light but the faster refractor will get more light to your eye, albeit with less magnification for a specific eyepiece. BUT I think the 8"SC is more easily moved than the 6" refractor since the optics are "folded" into a more compact form.
And:
Wasn't it just a couple of minutes ao I sent this question? I hardly finished my game of mine sweeper!!! Thnx for that!!! Ok, so the bottem line is that they will show me pretty much the same thing, though the 8inch will magnify more. Since for me transpotation is not really a problem, I think I will go for the cristal clear pictures a refractor has to offer me. TNX for helping me out again, can't wait for the box to arive!!!
Subject: Same problem here Sent: Saturday, April 1, 2006 13:49:24 From: don (handsonmytime@peoplepc.com) My LXD-75 not Align!!! I saw this problem when I googled for the problem I'm having with my LXD75. Even just manually trying to rotate the new mount ( I've always used a fork equatorial before) to various DEC and RA many cause the Dec motor to hit the computer motor panel. What am I missing about German Eq. mounts????? Thanks DonMike here: PLEASE read the Email Etiquette item on my ETX or LXD sites; your message was originally deleted UNREAD as SPAM due to the ambiguous subject line. Thanks for understanding. As to the problem, which side the mount is the DEC drive housing?
Subject: My observatory Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 02:20:50 From: John Kalantzis (acent4@vol.forthnet.gr) I spent a lot of time reading in your web site about your Oracle Observatory and I want from you to learn about my observatory in Volos - Greece and the nearby area. The city of Volos is 320 Km north of Athens. You can see it in the map. I leave in Volos and I have a summer house 40 Km away in a place away from the city lights. In this place I have my observatory. I send you some photos of my place. BEST REGARDS JOHN KALANTZIS
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