Posts Made By: Dave Schliepp

Does the 14" swing "down" like the classic LX-200's? I've never seen a picture of the corrector plate end pointing towards the drive base. If not I guess that would explain why I was thinking the measurement from my earlier post was too short.

I think I came up with an improved way to power the LX200GPS, or any other scope than runs on 12v for that matter. In anticipation of my new scope, I was trying to figure out how to power it. The 120v adaptor is $85, and is vunerable to power outages, variances etc. Just using the 12v adaptor means charging a battery (not a big deal), and the C-cells just aren't an option. Well, one trip to walmart solved all that. They sell a cool little converter (transformer?) in the automotive section. You plug one end into your 120vac outlet, and the other end allows you to plug in your Meade 12v power cable. Then I went to the Computer section and bought a UPS (battery backup) for $38. so for under $50 (plus the cost of the meade cord, which I already had), I can power my scope from the wall outlet, yet, I don't have to worry about power outages and variances. Comments?

Who ever said astronomy was a safe & calming hobby, has never ripped their forhead open on a telrad (last night)! Man that hurt!

I plan on turning my old 10" Starfinder Equatorial into a dob after I get my new scope. I won't have a use for the old mount (see picture). The mount has a 26# weight and will track as well. I'll probably put it in the classifieds in a couple weeks (no offers from this post please). Does anyone have a guess of how much something like that might be worth? I bought the whole scope for $879+shipping a few years ago. I don't want to ask too much for it, but yet I'd like to get a fair share as well. Thanks!

Well I just got my new 13mm Nagler last night (bought it here), and I feel compelled to share my first outing with it (through 10" LX200). I know it's apples to oranges, but I put it up against my 15mm and 26mm SPL's. I'll just start by saying that is has about the same magnification as my 15, and almost as much FOV as the 26. One of the highlights of the night was the dumbell. Through the 26 it was a great view, plenty of contrast, well defined shape. I was amazed when I put in the Nagler. I had expected the brightness of the object to be cut way down, that was not the case. While it was slightly dimmer (yet brighter than in my 15mm), the contrast was outstanding. The shape was there, as well as the fainter nebulosity on the sides. M13 was another obvious target. The resolution was outstanding, it took on much more od a 3-D view than I have ever seen before. Just for kicks I swung over to M51. Therough the 26mm SPL, it was visable as two nuclei with the spiral arms barely there (this was all done before 10pm, so it was not real dark yet either). This one suprosed me the most with the Nagler. I was actually able to see more detail with the nagler, the spiral arms came into view quite easily. I can't imagine what it would have looked like an hour later when it got really dark. And for those of you who have used the Nagler before, I can vouch that I did not notice any of the kidney bean effect in this EP. I even tried it during the day, pointed at a tree, and did not see any blackout spots.

I was pretty happy to capture any image of Mars, but this is a long way off from the images I've seen here. I took this with a Sony DSC-P72, I stacked about 19 images in Registax. I also used photoeditor to Decrease the brightness and increase the contrast to bring out a little more of the surface features. Any thoughts on how to make this better? Would stacking even more images help? Thanks for any input.

Cool map, where'd you find it?

This is probably more of a Meade forum question, but I'll try it here anyways. Does anyone with the new LX200GPS have any experiance with the Eye Opener II visual back and the Microfocuser? I'm awaiting my 14", which will have the microfocuser, 2" diagonal, and a 22mm Nagler (2"). Will the eyeopener II make a difference in this setup, or will/does the microfocuser channel it down to a 1-1/4" opening? Just want to make sure it's worth it before I go and buy one, but if it is worth it, I'd like to order it ahead of time so it's here when I get the new scope. Thanks!

Does anyone with the new LX200GPS have any experiance with the Eye Opener II visual back and the Microfocuser? I'm awaiting my 14", which will have the microfocuser, 2" diagonal, and a 22mm Nagler (2"). Will the eyeopener II make a difference in this setup, or will/does the microfocuser channel it down to a 1-1/4" opening? Just want to make sure it's worth it before I go and buy one, but if it is worth it, I'd like to order it ahead of time so it's here when I get the new scope. Thanks!

Lost the email from the party who was interested in my Meade Giant Field Tripod, this was from a couple months ago...please let me know if it was you!!!