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I recently acquired a Meade LXD75 SN10 telescope [Schmidt-Newtonian]. It has been an adventure. It is big, heavy, awkward, etc. I only have to lug the beast about 15' to set it up, so despite my age and feebleness I can manage the task in about 15 minutes. I thus far have made the following observations:
1] one of the clamp rings does not align with the mounting ring.
2] the threaded end of the T-handle [part that secures mount to tripod] is bent. Very weird.
3] the stock eyepiece and barrel are mismatched. I 'lost' the lens half of the eyepiece about a dozen times before it occurred to me there might be a problem [doh!].
4] After 4 attempts, I still 'goto' bed before getting within 10 degrees of target using the the 'goto' function.
I returned the clamp ring and T-bar for replacement [shipped, of course, at my expense]. I stole a barrel from an ancient eyepiece. It fit perfectly. The 'goto' aint even close thing is a head slapper. I 'trained' the drive until it will fetch, roll over and beg for biscuits, but, still have some skull density room to work with. The bent T-bar may have something to do with that. And to think, I nearly forgot the joys of backyard astronomy.
1] one of the clamp rings does not align with the mounting ring.
2] the threaded end of the T-handle [part that secures mount to tripod] is bent. Very weird.
3] the stock eyepiece and barrel are mismatched. I 'lost' the lens half of the eyepiece about a dozen times before it occurred to me there might be a problem [doh!].
4] After 4 attempts, I still 'goto' bed before getting within 10 degrees of target using the the 'goto' function.
I returned the clamp ring and T-bar for replacement [shipped, of course, at my expense]. I stole a barrel from an ancient eyepiece. It fit perfectly. The 'goto' aint even close thing is a head slapper. I 'trained' the drive until it will fetch, roll over and beg for biscuits, but, still have some skull density room to work with. The bent T-bar may have something to do with that. And to think, I nearly forgot the joys of backyard astronomy.