Will a LXD55 handle an 8' SCT?

Hello all,
I have a C8 on a CG-5 on a heavy duty wooden tripod.Moving it to an ugly but rigid tripod made it into a very stable mount.
My question:
Is the LXD55 "goto" capable of handling a C8?
I would transfer it to the heavy tripod as the aluminum legs are pretty useless.
Thanks
Dave

My own 2 cents is these mounts - along with the cg-5 and clones will hold them but it really depends on what you intend to do. For lower power viewing and very short photo stuff they will "work" - for critical higher power viewing, or long exposure work I'd move up....

Hi Dave,

I'm using my C8 with a LXD55 mount on a portable pier. My C8 w/diagonal, eyepiece, finder and all weights in about 16lbs. I’m also using a dovetail bar to mount to the LXD55, no rings. I would have to say that the LXD55 mount does handle my C8 favorably for viewing use. No problems with the goto’s. One or two tricks to be aware of are: Balancing the ota, I found that the balancing point sits farther back on the ota. That being said, the balancing the ota for both the DEC and RA is very critical for “goto” and tracking. The RA requires you to use the counterweights for balancing, you may want to use two smaller weights for fine tuning. The DEC will require you to slide the ota back and forth in the mount to find the perfect placement of the ota. Care spent in balancing the ota, pays big dividends when viewing. When setting up your LXD55 mount, be sure to Calibrate the Motors with your ota fully balanced in the mount. If you’re new the LXD55, join the Yahoo Group: LXD55telescope, access the Files section and download the Tips & Tricks.pdf file in the file section, it has some very good recommendations on how to setup the mount. Just one short note: I was viewing last weekend and after an hour or so, I added on my flexible dew shield to the front of the C8. Boy did that mess up the tracking and goto’s, I had to re-balance everything.

I have pictures of my setup if you’re interested. Don

Short answer: Yes, easily.

Slightly longer answer: I have an 8 inch newtonian on an LXD55. It slings it around the sky with ease. It can even be quite a lot out of balance and it still handles it well.

Meade sold this mount with a 10 inch Schmidt-Newtonian, weighing in at 30 lbs. THAT was a bit too much, but an 8 inch SCT should work fine.