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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ก.ค. 2024
- Note/Update: Feb 2024. Since this video appeared in 2021, I've gotten a semi-steady stream of comments from LX90 owners telling me this review is too positive. Owners complain about pointing accuracy, reliability, and the steadiness of the fork mount, which is a lighter duty version of the LX200 fork mount. Everyone hates the audio feature. Whatever you do, do not buy a 12" LX90. Perhaps an updated review is in order.
Do you have one of these? Is your experience different than mine? If so, is it better, or worse?
According to Meade, the AudioStar Controller #07640 is compatable with the StarNavigator, ETX, LT, LX80, LX90, and LXD75 series telescopes
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Thanks for watching!
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I own a 10 inch lx90 and you can fine tune the slew by just centering the object and pressing enter. The telescope becomes more accurate the more objects you do this with.
A manual sync re-sync the Autostar/Audiostar's position with where the scope is pointing at that moment but it does not becomes more accurate the more you do it.
LX200 10” is the same as well. Just hold enter when object is centered.
As a newbie to the hobby of astronomy, I always find you videos excellent. Whether you’re talking about an item that I am considering to purchase or not, I always gain some great knowledge to help me become more competent in my skills. You are an excellent teacher, friend!
He's great Meade aren't. They were sued a few years ago for lying to their customers about advanced tech that wasn't in their scopes. And then against a few years later for price fixing. No surprise the assholes have declared bankruptcy.
@@CuCulainn1 Meade high-end scopes are very good. As far as lying and supplying insufficient equipment and performance I would say Celestron is equally at fault. I have had, along with many others, poor customer service from Celestron far more often than Meade. Is what it is. Not to mention the vast majority of telescopes are made in China for the mid and lower priced equipment. It really comes down to customer service who is more worthy of business since 90% of everything related to astronomical equipment is made overseas. Celestron has had many bailouts saving them. So Meade filing bankruptcy is a moot point. Hard to stay alive as a business in a niche hobby without being bought out by a parent company to save you.
A clear case of Celestron snobbery.
@@velocityjockey1272, I dunno. Ed promotes the Orion XT 6 or 8 as the best beginner's scope. He praises some Sky-Watcher equipment as well. If he slips into snobbery, it might be that he's looked through some high end equipment like the Takahashi stuff... then he lets the casual viewer know what he's talking about. ...as I learn more as a novice, I watch quite a few astronomy channels here. Each has their own merit, but Ed is level and factual, without promoting himself. He's offered nothing but great advice.
Greetings from nearby Northwood NH and thanks so much for all your reviews. I'm taking my time looking around for a new scope and the attention to all the details you pay has been incredibly helpful!
Great job Ed. Love the fact that you included your favorite EPs. I am so glad that you are doing these videos, while I have always enjoyed your written work, the videos bring a new dimension to your teachings. Thanks for sharing.
You have to do more of this style of videos I love them!!
Just found your channel 1/15/2021 and like the humor and straight forward way you present your information.
Thank you for this review! I have been wanting to try one of these for some time. I’m pretty experienced with Dobsonians, but think I’d enjoy the “go to” function. This review really helped! Grateful for all your content!
Thank you. I always enjoy your videos so please keep them coming. Subscribed and a hearty thumbs up!
Fairly new Evolution 8 owner just north of Boston. Glad I found your videos Ed. Thanks!
I’m still using my old LX90 EMC from the 2005. :). Great review.
Excellent as always!
One of the best produced content creator's out there ✌🇺🇸
My first real telescope was an LX90 8” just after they were announced. I’ve had many scopes since then, Dobs, a 9.25 Celestron and 8” LX200 and a 10” LX200 as well as a few others, my main scope now is another 8” LX90, but a later ACF version from 2015. This is by far my favourite.
Thank you very much great production I'm in the process of buying a Schmidt casagrin and this will aid in the decision
I inherited a Meade 8" SCT many years ago missing a lot of parts and incredibly filthy. My local telescope store said it could easily be made usable, but they said they would take it as a trade in toward another used scope that had just come in. It was an old 10" LX50. It served me very well for 8 years. The optics were great and despite the abuse I subjected it to, not knowing the correct way to maintain such a scope, it provided great viewing and surprisingly, never required collimation in those 8 years. It was moved around to schools and on vacations and was a wonderful entry into the larger SCT's. I sold it for a nice price and bought a Celestron C-11 on a CGEM, which has been considerably more problematic, requiring frequent collimation, and needing upgrades to things like the focuser. My latest travail is now needing to get new encoders for the mount which gave up the ghost a few weeks ago. The ability to find faint objects and do AP is the big improvement in the hobby for me, but I miss the optics and ruggedness of my old LX50.
'
For my causal use, the SCT seems to get the most use. My "larger" refractors simply have too much weight on each end making for great tuning forks, and fun getting in and out of the patio door. The SCT's don't suffer from that. Even the dob gets ignored. Funny how that worked out.
The SC is the only telescope that might sway me from my Maksutov. I love your reviews. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I have an LX90 I bought before the UHTC coatings were available. I believe this scope is approximately 15-17 years old, and its been fantastic. The only problem I had is recent were the autostar controller 497 failed. Unfortunately due to supply chain issues the controller is not available, but Meade believes they will be available by March of 2022. But this scope is incredible, period. Great review...
This guy gets me... ive always used in my life a nice f/4 reflector, however i just inhearted one of these... and jack of all trades works for me. thanks for the vid!
Hi Ed,
Thanks for this excellent review. I own an 8” version of this telescope myself, and it has given me nothing but pleasure.
Excellent, just EXCELLENT views of the night skies, especially with 2” eyepieces (FL 28 and 35 mm).
About aligning: I take my time with that, using a bubble level. I use that for levelling the tripod very carefully (90º angles), next I use it after aligning the tube due North. First, I loosen the knob and the lever on the mount and make sure it is pointed exactly at Polaris. Then I fix the bottom lever; next, I place the tube exactly level and tie the right knob. Then I start up the whole thing. Working with that routine, I never had any aligning troubles. First alignment star is always (almost) dead center, and the second one always is.
[After the major GPS overhaul, I turned the GPS unit off; I simply set date, time and location manually, because I am too lazy to have my Autostar updated. That’s entirely me.]
Thank you for this.
Hi Ed. Thanks for your many helpful videos. As a (thankful) former owner of an 8" LX90, I couldn't help but giving your viewers an "owners" viewpoint. After 11 months and 3 significant mount issues (including sending the unit back on day 2 for 7 weeks). First the good: The optics are fabulous. And the bad: The mount was a problem from day 2. Tracking for small ROI planetary imaging was like a very stressful video game, requiring constant adjustment to keep Jupiter in the field of view. After 11 months of problems, my vendor (Highpoint Sci) offered to replace this problem child with the scope/mount of my choosing. I chose a Feldstein SCT with an AVX GEM mount. This mount has been nothing but fun (especially considering it is under powered for my SCT). I will never buy another telescope/mount system which requires shipment of the delicate optics to fix deficiencies in the mount. Respectfully, Bob.
I had a similar experience but with a 12" LX90. The mount was diabolical making the system unusable, I returned mine to the dealer after 3 days, I just hated it so much. I'm surprised you put up with yours for 11 months.
Thank you, your video was really helpful, I will get one too
I have a 12" lx90 ACF and it's been a great scope but the tripod is to small for the weight of the OTA and it took Meade 4 tries to get me one that worked perfectly but their customer service department took car of me with shipping on the 8 times they had to ship the scope from California to Ohio!! The images are very good and the Audio star system works pretty well. Clear skies :)
2000 i got a the [old]meade16 inch star finder eq mount! $2500; sold it for 1500! that mirror was a pain to put in the tube!! pain the mirror alignment!! pain pain!! ha ha ;veiws were great when thier was no wind at all ;ha ha
I just got a 10 inch yesterday! It’s great, but pretty big!
some sanity in my life! best regards!
Very new to the hobby, getting started with an ST-80 - I'm in no position to start upgrading to a scope like this but your videos are always extremely informative and interesting!
Ed, I should have heeded your advice. The only reason I bought the 12" LX90 was because I owned 1 about 7 years ago and loved it as it had no problems and only sold it as I got into AP. Then I regretted selling it as I missed visual astronomy. The new Meade product is nothing like the 1 from 7 years ago and it cost thousands more. Oh my, the quality has gone to shit. The paint on the fork arms is so thin as to be almost nonexistent and it arrived pre-scratched, the OTA flocking incomplete, the critical focus zone nothing like before, so the optics not that great, much cheaper tripod, finder scope, diagonal, and worst of all I had to send it back today for replacement by Meade since it could not track properly without making a regular knocking that was hard enough to constantly shake the OTA so that the image never settled down. They say they will give me a new one. I have a feeling that I will be de-forking the next one and putting it on my CGX mount in the not-so-distant future. Sad really. Can you imagine this happening to a newbie? Very frustrating indeed.
Thanks for an easy-to-follow helpful review. This is exactly the telescope I have but have been a little intimidated in getting started. Do you ever use barlow lenses and can you say a little bit about them? Thanks.
Ed, what I wish would happen is that someone lends you a LX85 and LX65 8" ACF OTA. The LX85 is $1079 and the LX65 is $999. Both should ride well on an more entry level mount like the AVX or iOptron CEM 25/26, or a Sky Watcher HEQ5 mount. Even the LX90 8" should ride well on any of those mounts.
Personally, I think an 8" SCT is a great solar system scope, and can do some deep sky objects, but I'd rather it be on an EQ mount than an Alt/Az mount.
I really also would love to see a comparison between an 8" SCT and an 8" RC.
i have the 12" LX90 GPS and not the LX200 for weight, i also agree the sct are very good scopes
I bought a used LX-90 gps and added an Audiostar hand controller. The telescope came with a Vixen 40mm and 9mm eye pieces. I assume the previous owner bought the Vixen eye pieces as an upgrade but to me the Meade eye pieces are better and planets appear more sharply in focus with the base Meade eye pieces included with the telescope. Ed I heard you say there is Televue then everything else so I want to get a couple of televue eye pieces after I recover from the financial shock of buying the LX-90. I recently went to a star party at Mc Donald observatory. There was a full moon so only bright planets and a couple of star clusters were targeted. As far as planets go my LX-90 can compete with even the 22" dobsonian they were using at the star party. Thanks for your very thorough review of the LX-90. I used this information to make my decision to buy my LX-90. Its my first telescope and its Awesome.
Hey I'm curious, how accurate is your LX90? Does it always find the object? If so, is the object always in the center of the field of view, or is it often out towards the edge? I've been getting mixed messages from owners.
Ed, So far my Lux 90 does not find objects well. The objects are not even in the view finder even with my 40mm eyepiece. I always have to fine tune with my finder scope. I have not trained the drive yet. Does anyone say this helps?? I'm a newbie astronomer hobbyist and don't know where objects are yet so my LX90's inaccuracy makes it tough. The optics however are impressive to me.@@edting
Thank you. I pulled the plug and placed an order for a new Meade 8" ACF LX90 from OPT based on this review. Wish you could get credit for the sale. I am considering eyepieces, so if you have any recommendations, I would love to hear your opinion for this particular Meade scope. My only experience up to this point has be a small refractor scope and primarily low power observing the moon phases. Thank you again.
As I am interested in photography, I noticed that these dual fork mounts don't leave enough room for attaching a camera and filters. So, I was "forced" to go to a German Equatorial mount for a C9.25 XLT I bought used.
Hey Mr. Ting, the audio star has a precision tracking mode. It takes you to a star nearby your target prior to going to your target. I do astrophotography with my 125mm MCT StarNavigator NG. I use a monochrome ZWO ASI 120mm-s camera. Works great. I really need the etx125 tripod and wedge. Thanks for the video!
Hey thanks for that! OPT has this on their web site about this topic:
>>High Precision mode is not well explained in the manual. High Precision mode takes you to a brighter star each time you wish to access a new object until you turn the default (under "SETUP/TELESCOPE/HIGH PRECISION") off. This allows extremely accurate acquisition of objects that you might not be able to see in the finderscope or perhaps miss your first look into the telescope. It takes some additional time, so for brighter objects it should be turned off since it really would be unnecessary to go to a bright star beforehand if the object can clearly be seen in the finderscope or at low power in the telescope. An exception would be if your scope's GOTO was not performing adequately on any given night, whereas the HP selection would greatly improve object acquisition via the brighter star detour!
Nice one
Would love to see you review a TEC 140 or 160 to see how they compare to the mighty APs
Thanks for reviewing it. Please tell me which one should buy? Meade ACF LX65 or Celestron NexStar 65E. Lx65 feels more noisey.
That, and the LX90 solved the 'LX200 Tangle' and 'LX200 Dance' which affected that model of telescope - the first-hand experience I had of a series-1 12" LX200 many years ago...
Hi Ed, Thanks for making such informative videos. Would UHTC and ACF make you update your LX200 ?
Lx200s had UHTC standard by 1999 or 2000. 2003-4 the 'R' Lx200 was early ACF. For hard for imaging DEEPSKY the Lx200 has a mirror lock missing on LX90 models. Optically an upgrade to ACF is really complex question. If not shooting above APS-C sensor size the difference will be minor
8:40 the first upgrade I did was to add collimation screws.
Hi Ed, this review is awesome and I wish I could afford this particular telescope. I was wondering if you were thinking of reviewing the LX65 8” and it’s mount perchance? Maybe a slight comparison with this one and equivalent Celestron or other brand? Cheers from Australian:-)
I have the OG LX90 EMC, my only issues is the keys have to be pressed really hard on the controller. Optically, I cannot tell the difference in it and the new one. Other than the setup of the non-GPS version is kind of a pain. Also, from time to time you should run the motor calibration program it makes its tracking much closer.
What makes this more appealing is the two arms. I heard and it “should” make the image/viewing more stable. But I still thinking about the evo 8 edge hd single arm mount.
I have the Celestron Evo 8 EdgeHD with StarSense. I haven’t seen any issues with the single arm mount yet. It’s pretty solid. I like the StarSense Auto Align, takes about 3 mins. Then you still have the option of up to 10 more star alignments. After 2 or 3 added stars, I find that targets usually appear well inside the field of view of medium power eyepieces. I’ve used the Evo 8 fir some basic planetary imaging in find it’s very good at that.
@@martynh5410 thank you for your reply.
Thank you, this was very informative. For myself, I often wonder about the 10 inch LX200 and how it might be configured. I like the idea of that model purchased as an OTA only and placed on a beefy equatorial mount. Purchased that way you get, already included, a wide dovetail bar of the Losmandy type for the attaching. Then you could add a focal reducer and and a webcam to exploit the light gathering ability of that scope, and if you have a mount already, you needn't have to spend that much (relatively speaking). I wanted to add that there is something special about this video that I really like. This is its focus on telescopes of the present day, and the fact that they may look similar, but are in fact a lot better than earlier models. Thanks!
i own a meade lx50emc 10" and can tell you that putting it on an beefy equatorial mount is the best thing you can do with a big meade sct. My OTA with fork weighed around 30kg(around 66 lbs) and was really bulky. Its not something you want to transport around, you can but its just to much. So i deforked it and put it on an skywatcher eq6 mount. The OTA with losmandy dovetail weights around 13kg( 28 lbs). Its so much more manageable since i lost almost all of its bulk. it is not quite as comfortable as with the fork to observe since you can get weird angels with the finder but it is still 100 times better than carrying the fork around
@@julian281198 Thank you, this is very helpful because I haven’t made this decision yet, so the feedback is timely. I have an Orion Atlas mount, which probably is not beefy enough.
@@JamesAdams-ev6fc to my knowledge the orion Atlas mount is almost identical to the skywatcher eq6. Since the SCT is quite short so the leverage is less than on an newtonian, so you can get away with a smaller mount
@@julian281198 Nice! Then it isn’t that costly to do. And you can add an ADM bar on top of the ACF and a handle to that bar and it all becomes very manageable as well as safer to move around. Thanks 🙏 for the information.
@@julian281198 Just to return the favor, have you experimented with the JMI wheeley bars? I have a medium size one for my small scopes. One slightly more heavy duty would handle the Meade 10 inch on a Skywatcher EQ6R easily. You could just wheel your large scopes around, no observatory needed.
Hi Mr. Ting… I’m in a market for a all around, good quality telescope for under $2000. After months of research I’ve settled for Meade 8”LX90. Have the price gone up since this review. A new 8” LX90 is going for $2800 and the LX200 is $4300. This model is so popular that I can’t find one in the used market. The only used ones I saw in at a reasonable price was in a Indonesian telescope and medical instruments internet store shop. I don’t know if I can trust them or even if they could deliver to the USA. Inflation has hit a lot worse for telescope buying.
The Indonesian place is a scam. In this class of scope, I like the Celestron C8 on an AVX better than the Meades. Stay with the reputable US sellers.
@@edting thanks for the recommendation. The Indonesian place sounded to good to be true.
I settled on the Meade because of its coma reducing technology. Does the Celestron have a comparable technology or is it all a marketing ploy?
In the meantime I’ll look around for more information about the Celestron. Maybe there’s something about it that I’ve overlooked.
12:44 the expanded “jack of all trades” quote makes me appreciate Jack a whole lot more….
“Jack of all trades, master of none but oftentimes better than master of one.”
I like my legacy 1997 8” LX200
Hi Ting
Would do a similar video on the Meade LX850 Starlock system? Thanks for videos
Ed, yeah, I have an Lx90 ACF GPS. I love it. Audiostar is fantastic for my 6 year old. Optics are great. There is one major weakness, and that is the focuser. My 6se has a much better focuser than my Lx90.
Sorry to hear that. I don't often hear of bad focusers on Meade SCTs.
@@edting Maybe a "major weakness" is a bit strong. But the focuser on the lx90 8'' is not as good as on my 6SE. It is quite good at low or medium magnifications, but when I start putting on a 9mm or 6mm eyepiece, it gets hard to get the focus just right on jupiter.
@@nathanbrown8531 I may have the perfect solution for that: use a large clothes peg (or something similar) and use that as a lever. I fiddle like that all the time, being a 2 cents astronomer ;-)
@@atjous3131 I admittedly have taken the more expensive approach. I bought a used feathertouch and this is no longer an issue.
Hi Ed! One major difference between the LX90 and LX200 is the LX90 lacks slow-motion controls. I've got an LX200 with a dead mount, and those controls are a salvation
Hey thanks for that!
@@edting Hi Ed! Do you know of any other Goto mounts that can be operated unpowered like the LX200? I'm struggling to find something portable that is as easily dual-purpose
Ed who da man, you da man!!!!!
What about the gears in the fork mount? Are they still plastic? I have an older model in which the gears gave out. As for the OTA it was great. Some great views of Mars. I eventually took it off the fork, added a dovetail, and use it on my GPD2 Mount. Meade was going to charge me hundreds of dollars to repair and add that to shipping and handling both ways to expensive.
Nice review. I am going to buy the 12" version very soon. I see that the 8" you have is equipped with a Meade 2" diagonal. Do you recommend this diagonal or would you suggest something else? Thank you!
Do NOT buy a 12" LX90. You will be very disappointed. The thin fork arms are nowhere near strong enough to hold that big optical tube. It will also have accuracy issues. Did you watch my overview of the Meade SCTs?
I want to get into some deep space astrphotography not real intense some DSO 70% and planets 30% .. Im tore between the LX90 the LX200 or the Celestron 9.25 ..any of those I should not consider or one that is best? love your channel
I got an old Meade 8" SCT and I did not realize until it actually arrived that this thing does not have a mounting bracket. Any ideas no what should be the next course of action? thanks!
I salivated over that Meade 20 years ago.
In Dec 2019, I bought a 8" LX90. Worst mistake I've made in a telescope mount. In all fairness the optics were good, but the fork mount is terrible; poorly stabilized.
The GoTo's were way off the mark too after multiple attempts. I am not a newbie to scopes.
I sent it back within the 90 days, received another..Same issues. Never again.
I went with a Shywatcher EQ6R mount and Celestron HD 8"...I could not be happier.
The fork mount will also prevent one from any serious astro=photography endeavors.
While a wedge may work, it presents a weak link in the mount train; (i.e) Unstable.
Trying to learn about telescopes and have been unable to find a layperson/clear definition of “inside focus” and “outside focus”; can you possibly explain? Thank you.
Hi Sir .....Wow....just found your website .....a beginner looking for information
Hello, Ed! I always enjoy your videos and have been a longtime reader of your review website. Keep up the great work!
I have a 2002 vintage LX90. I see you have a 2" diagonal on your review specimen. I assume that is a Meade 5000 series 2" diagonal # 07680 , but I am interested in what adapter is between the scope and the diagonal. As best I can tell from your video, it appears to be longer than the 2" adapter # 07085 Meade sells (I hope I am wrong). Did the adapter you used come with the diagonal? If not, what one did you use? I want to attach a Tele Vue 2" Everbrite diagonal to mine, but I need to make sure the adapter isn't too long thus causing it to hit the fork base.
Thanks for any help you can provide. Clear skies!
Anthony, the owner of this LX90 (it's not mine) put the Series 5000 diagonal on the scope. He told me there were minor issues getting it to fit and had to get a replacement. The combo seemed fine when I used it. If it were me, I'd put a 2" TeleVue SCT visual back on it and use my AP MaxBright. The Everbrite is excellent also. Hope this helps!
@@edting Thank you for the quick reply! That was helpful.
Is Majel Barrett-Roddenberry the voice of the telescope? 😊
I have a Mead and it has this automatic calibration. Problem though is, i dont know where vega is or capella. How about something obvious like the moon and the northstar.
Is the painting on the wall behind you a Rothko?
I would have liked to hear your thoughts of using this scope in alt-az versus equatorial mount.
I'll tell you...its about $400 my friend. EQ wedge mounts are ridiculously expensive
Would this be good for Astrophotography with a wedge
I’d love to see a side by side comparison of this telescope to the Celestron 8” Nexstar
Yep Me2
Hmmmm....good idea. Might be able to arrange that.
Yes please.
When comparing the 8” LX90ACF to the 8” LX200ACF there are no difference optically, the main difference is that the LX200 has Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PPEC) and the LX90 only PEC. The LX200 has focus lock and the LX90 don’t.
But I am sorry to say that I don’t think you did enough research on this particular telescope or at least paged through the manual.
I would be the first to admit that the LX90 is not perfect but most of your criticism about the LX90 and these types of telescopes, were due to lack of knowledge. During the two-star alignment the error between where the first alignment star and where the OTA is pointing is due to your true North error (X component) and level error (Y component) and a bit of precession, not because “it needs to build a model of the sky” Its model just has to be sync with the sky. The North error is not critical because after you sync with the first alignment star any error is eliminated. You compare it with Celestron equatorial mounts and state that you missed being able to add alignment stars after the two-star alignment, well you can only add one more alignment star with a Celectron, with the Audiostar you can select a three-star alignment if it is paired with a LX85 equatorial mount but not with the LX90 because even in polar configuration it does not need a third star to reduce the cone effect and that is the only benefit of a third alignment star. If your LX90 becomes less accurate during a session it can be rectified it with a manual sync which is easy to do: after you have done a goto press “enter” for more than two seconds, centre the object when prompted followed by pressing “enter” again to sync. This can be done as many times as you want after a two-star alignment has been done, a “re-initialization” is not necessary. If the mount loses accuracy during a session it could be an indication that you need to do drive training. Drive training measures the amount of gear “slop” in the gearbox by measuring how much the motor spins before the OTA moves, this amount is then discarded every time the drives changers direction and the mount stays accurate. I am sorry to criticise your review but there seems to be a lot of new LX90 users lately and to avoid making them more frustrated I think it’s important that you provide them with accurate information, so maybe a follow-up to put things in order would be a great idea ?
I agree with you 100%. I have owned a LX90 ACF for 8 years now and have no problem with tracking or lining up objects as long as you are meticulous when you setup the tripod and make sure that everything is level. After you do the initial 2 star lineup then re sync to your next 2 objects it is bang on target for the rest of the session.
At time 11:36 I noticed the telescope behind you... Is that a Criterion DynaScope 6" Newtonian reflector??? Wow! I had one of those when I lived in Nairobi in 1972.
Meade #591, the "student" version of the #628. These competed with the RV-6 back in the 1970s and early 1980s.
@@edting Thank you! I appreciate the walk down memory lane.
Hey what do you recommend, a dobsonian xt 4.5 or a tabletop orion starblast? Thanks, i love watching your videos
Longer tube XT4.5. But then I would just point you to the XT8
Better idea, 6XTi push to
@@scuba5k its just hard to find one right now, most of the places don’t have any right now, the are sold out
@@ricardohdz1987 totally understand. Everyone is in the same situation. In fact it seems like everything increased in price 5-10%. I’m in an odd situation where I place my order on a 2-3 month waiting list. A month pass, save some more coin and a cancel my order for a more expensive setup. Ken from Orion must be getting annoyed. I’m on my 3rd order.
Hi, got a Q about the 2 star align. What if the only sky available to you is blocked partially/mostly by trees, buildings, etc. When the scope slews to the star, what if by chance it is blocked? You wouldn't be able to do the fine tuning.
If you're doing a two star alignment with a Audiostar/Autostar and the star is bloked from view just press the down scroll arrow and it would pick the next bright star available, move to it and you can align on that.
My keypad directional buttons slew the scope EXCEPT when I am trying to align the guide stars. The left-right buttons do not work when I am trying to center the star under those circumstances.
I had a CG-5 that did something similar to me. If it will let you, try doing a factory reset on the hand controller. If that doesn't work, try a firmware update.
@@edting can’t do a firmware update. Windows only. I only have Macs. Tried the hardware reset immediately, didn’t work. Thanks!!!
I had this problem and still do sometimes. My solution was to go to a faster slew speed then back to a slow speed.
Is this good for nebula / galaxy Astrophotography
Pointing accuracy... most people tend to forget that having the tripod absolutely levelled is essential. Don't think it was mentioned here
With the $800 left over “ You could always buy a new telescope “ Classic Ed
Ed, remember that video you did a while back: "Five telescopes I regret selling"? I sold my LX90 8" about ten years ago. I've never recovered!
Buy another LX-90!
Same here. Plan on selling some stuff and buying another one, maybe a 10". I owned a Celestron SCT and liked the Meade far better.
I recently lucked into a 12" LX200GPS for way under market value (I told the seller multiple times to sell to someone else for more money but she just wanted it out of her house). I've got some cleaning to do on the optics, but it's just about ready to go. Anything I should know about this telescope in light of your vast experience? Looks like your 8" LX200 is the "classic" model.
To clarify, I'm not new to astronomy, I own several telescopes, this just happens to be the largest one in inventory and I've never used one of the Meade mounts.
Nice catch! If you have one of the GPS models, you're likely out of the early units like mine, which operate off the annoying 18V system.
@@edting Correct, it is 12v. I purchased an adapter off Amazon so I can use the same battery packs I've been running my NexStar mounts on the Meade. The center post is wider on the Meade's 12v power jack.
I have one. The tripod is heavy and the scope is heavy. Definitely not a grab-and-go setup. Lol
Ugh. That Audiostar thing would drive me INSANE. Hope there would be a way to turn it off. I go out under the stars to enjoy peace and quiet. Even goto drives are on the noisy side for me when I'm observing.
Most people turn the audio off after the first few nights.
Do they have a headphone plug on it ? Sounds like it would be annoying to play late at night. Drive your Niebor and family crazy !
What would be the Celestron equivalent of the Meade LX90? Is there an Orion equivalent?
The Celestron equivalent is ... the Celestron! The 8" LX200 costs around $3000. The LX90 is around $2400, I believe. The Celestron Nextar 8SE is $1600. I just purchased an older 10 " LX200 for $1500 (came with a ton of accessories, including the equatorial wedge). I digress! Meade's CSTs are more expensive, even in its less expensive line.
Ed what do you think of the Meade 826 ?
That's a classic vintage reflector from the 1970s and early 1980s. They are generally still usable today as long as the one you have has all the parts, but are considered a bit clunky and inconvenient by today's standards.
Do you think it would work if I de-forked the 8 inch and put it on a HEQ5? Or should I get a 8 inch edge HD.
P.S.
I have not purchased either scope, just choosing one
Yes, the HEQ5 is the right class of equatorial mount for an 8" SCT. If you get the LX90 though, just use it as-is for a while.
@@edting I found a OTA only it is cheaper than the full LX90 (Obviously). If you think the HEQ5 will pair nice with a Meade 8 inch SCT I will get the OTA and a dovetail. Thank you for the advice!
Aloha and Mahalo Ed! I don't like bothering experts like you with questions; however, I think you'll see why I'm asking you this. If you can't reply, no problem and sorry to bother you.
I have a chance to buy a Meade 8" LX90. A couple bought it in 2008; used it only a few times; it hasn't been used in over 10 yrs; and it's been stored in a de-humidified room. I'll check it out next week, but here's what I'm wondering: Will 10 yrs of storage negatively affect the electric motor? Things with moving parts sometimes like to move! Should I be concerned?
It's hard to tell without seeing the actual scope! Each sample will age differently. With older scopes, I try not to pay too much. To be safe, I try not to pay more than what the OTA is worth.
@@edting Thank you! So you're saying there's a chance!
I had the 12" LX90, it was terrible, the tripod is not up to the job, far to much flex in it even with a light breeze blowing it made the view unusable not to mention other smaller issues. The Audio Star voice narration was downright irritating, couldn't work out how to turn it off. I returned it to my dealer and purchased a Celestron 11" Edge HD and never looked back.
Ouch, sorry to hear about that. I've since heard privately from other 12" LX90 owners about the instability issues. I like the C11 very much, glad you got it sorted out.
Saving money at the expense of mechanical slow-motion controls is not an option many serious visual observers would go for I think. Especially with that noisey slewing, guaranteed to wake the neighbours.
Ed have you or anyone else at NH Astronomical Society ever attempted capturing images of satellites?
Too small, I think.
@@fivefive6 Many have captured images of the ISS with medium sized telescopes. There are images on the Cloudy Nights forum. Of course, that’s a pretty big object compared to typical communication satellites.
@@martynh5410 oh yes, ISS is certainly possible. But most satellites are further out and a ton smaller.
how would you compare the meade lx 90 or lx 200 acf 8 inch to the celestron edge hd 8 inch?
Your choice, they are roughly equal. Check prices - Celestrons are a little cheaper right now, and they have the Hyperstar if that matters to you.
@@edting thanks
Can you review the 12” Meade LX600?
I don't have one handy right now but I'd love to. Those things are huge.
@@edting I have one of these scopes in my NexDome observatory.
How does it compare to then 8" SCTs from Celestron?
I chose the Celestron 8 EdgeHD after a lot of research but I haven’t compared them myself. I read somewhere that Meade had filed for bankruptcy and that tilted my decision in case I need support later on. I did contact Celestron tech support with a question on back focus (not a telescope problem), and they responded within a few hours with a detailed answer. I’ve had the scope since October of last year so still not enough time on it yet. Already upgraded the visual back and diagonal to 2” to allow wider field of view with lower magnification 2” eyepieces and I must say, there’s an improvement when I use my recently purchased APM 30 degree Ultra Flat Field eyepiece. My next upgrades might be a wedge to make it an equatorial mount and also the 0.7 focal reducer. Overall though I’m very happy with the scope.
Martyn H - huh, hadn't realized it didn't have a 2" visual back. Thanks for the info, will have to factor that into my own decisionmaking
I've found the Meade 8" ACF to be very good, nice flat field all the way to the edge. You should be aware of the limited accessory options though. No focal reducers or hyperstar systems are made for them wheras the celestrons are supported. Meade revised the optical design of the corrector plate to get the flat field, Celestron added a field flattener into the optical train.
Most 8" scts aren't going to have an 2" visual back out of the box. Has the threads though. Easy, cheap upgrade.
William M - ah. I had been looking at 8" Dobs, and most of those seem to have a 2" focuser and come we ith a reducer and a 1.25" eyepiece, so I kind of assumed that SCTs were the same. Good to know, thank you.
Hey I’m here cause I have a chance to get a lx90 10” for $350 and I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth it
If it's in good condition, grab that. The optical tube alone is worth the asking price.
@@edting ok thanks you! It’s in great condition only thing is I need a replacement remote for it cause the screen on the one that comes with it is broke but other than that 👌
A year after this video lx90 8 " are 2999$ and la 200 are 4500$ !
There is a lot of uncertainty with Meade's future right now. Try the Celestron equivalents, the CPC800 or the C8 on an AVX.
@@edting almost the same price
I have an old lx10 that I've had forever. Not worth anything anymore now with these new fangled ones...
No, the LX10 is actually good today! If it works hang on to it. It's good because it doesn't have all that gadgetry to break, and which you can't find parts for.
@@edting That's the truth. I need some thumb wheels for it and can't find them.. a long time ago I put it next to a celestion 8 and it let in way more light....
@@edting I could use a recommendation for a camera for it. Something that doesn't break the bank....
Flat earthers take it to the next level, they ALWAYS look at stars and planets out of focus, and most of them dont even need a telescope because they have the mighty nikon p900 and p1000
A couple suggestions: Do a one line introduction of yourself at the start of each video, like how Momma Doctor Jones does. Second, invite viewers to subscribe some time during the video, but not the last minute. Also, prompt for comments, you've done this a few times, which is good.
Can you turn off the audio? I would find that annoying.
Everyone turns off the audio. EVERYONE.
Dear me!
Are people in 2023 actually THAT LAZY??? That they refuse to do a proper "Set up" of their scope/mount combo and simply "dial in" an object using the "Setting Circles"?????
I learned how to use "Setting Circles" by age 12. And have never even wanted (or needed!) a Computerized mounting! After all, isn't THAT the entire POINT of learning our Craft? Becoming enough of an "Astronomer" that you can do these things YOURSELF? Without out needing a computer 🖥 to do everything for you?
You can't be much of an Astronomer, IF you need a computer just to tell you how to find.......?
Thanks for the nostalgia trip. I haven't heard anyone say this since the 1990s. And yes, the use of setting circles has become a lost art. I can't recall the last time I met someone under the age of 65 who uses them.
Sadly Meade is a mostly failed product and their align north lawsuit against Celestron convinced me to never touch one again.
If compared to Celestron Meade falls behind every time
Meade quality isn’t that great anymore.
Thank you, your video was really helpful, I will get one too