Hello. I have a new Meade Lx200 12 GPS UHTC. It is about 2 months old and I have had it out 6 or 7 times. I have not calibrated the drives or done PEC. The other night looking at Mars (I just put it in view and synched it; it was not goto tracking) the planet bounced around with a regular "bouncing" pattern. It was not vibrating/bouncing really fast, but moving enough that it was not sitting still. The scope is mounted alt/az on the tripod. I was using the Meade microfocuser, Meade star diaganol, Meade super plossls, Meade finderscope, and an Astrozap flexible dew shield. No counterweights were used. With the dew shield it is nose heavy. This was the first night I used the dew shield. Even after I removed the dew shield, released the ra and dec locks, and recentered Mars, it sill bounced around.
Will calibrating the drives and doing PEC address this? No other accessories were used on the scope. This has not happened before. Without the dew shieled the scope is close to being balanced, though not quite.
This also was the first time I used the scope after replacing the Meade screws with stainless steel/rust proof screws. Perhaps I screwed the ra or dec covers too tightly, but Scopestuff, the vendor from whom I purchased the screws, thought this was unlikely. They suggested I open the dec covers and see if the dec gears are properly engaging (btw, Scopestuff has been very helpful with very good advice and acessories--excellent service).
Any suggestions are appreciated
Gregg D. Bernstein
Will calibrating the drives and doing PEC address this? No other accessories were used on the scope. This has not happened before. Without the dew shieled the scope is close to being balanced, though not quite.
This also was the first time I used the scope after replacing the Meade screws with stainless steel/rust proof screws. Perhaps I screwed the ra or dec covers too tightly, but Scopestuff, the vendor from whom I purchased the screws, thought this was unlikely. They suggested I open the dec covers and see if the dec gears are properly engaging (btw, Scopestuff has been very helpful with very good advice and acessories--excellent service).
Any suggestions are appreciated
Gregg D. Bernstein
