Posts Made By: gregg bernstein

I am about to purchase a new meade lx200 12 uhtc. I probably have performed too much research on this scope. Each time I am about to make the purchase, however, I come back to one item, Quality Control. I have looked on Astromart for a used scope, but have decided to purchase a new one. I am struck, though, by the larger number of Meade Lx200 scopes for sale, over the Celestrons, especially ocassional comments about the superiority of the Celestron 11 to the Meade 12, despite the additional inch of aperture. This is in contrast to many of the recent reviews I have read. Is it that the Meade scopes are larger and heavier than most first imagined--which seems to be a common theme--or is there still an optical and general quality control problem? Any help is appreciated.

Gregg D. Bernstein
Augusta, Maine

I am about to purchase a new meade lx200 12 uhtc. I probably have performed too much research on this scope. Each time I am about to make the purchase, however, I come back to one item, Quality Control. I have looked on Astromart for a used scope, but have decided to purchase a new one. I am struck, though, by the larger number of Meade Lx200 scopes for sale, over the Celestrons, especially ocassional comments about the superiority of the Celestron 11 to the Meade 12, despite the additional inch of aperture. This is in contrast to many of the recent reviews I have read. Is it that the Meade scopes are larger and heavier than most first imagined--which seems to be a common theme--or is there still an optical and general quality control problem? Any help is appreciated.

Gregg D. Bernstein
Augusta, Maine

I have an orange C8 from when I was a teenager. It was purchased new for me as a present in 1984. It has a fair amount of cosmetic wear and tear, though nothing terrible and otherwise is in pretty good condition. Always gave me good views. What is a fair asking price for the scope, wedge, and tripod to place on Astromart? I appreciate any suggestions.

Gregg D. Bernstein

Hi all:

I just received my 12 GPS UHTC a few weeks ago, but have not been out to view with it b/c of the weather. I have asked a number of questions on Astromart and (Yahoo) before and after the purchase and appreciate all of the help. I do forget sometimes to reply to those who have helped me; I apologize.

I was hoping sopmeone could let me know if I can slow down the go-to speed, not the slew speed, but the go-to. Until I replace the plastic gears with a set of Buck's Gears I want to preserve the gears as much as possible. I could not find a way in the manual to slow
the go-to speeds.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Gregg D. Bernstein
Augusta, Maine

Hi all:

I just received my 12 GPS UHTC a few weeks ago, but have not been out to view with it b/c of the weather. I have asked a number of questions on Astromart and (Yahoo) before and after the purchase and appreciate all of the help. I do forget sometimes to reply to those who have helped me; I apologize.

I was hoping someone could let me know if I can slow down the go-to speed, not the slew speed, but the go-to. Until I replace the plastic gears with a set of Buck's Gears I want to preserve the gears as much as possible. I could not find a way in the manual to slow the go-to speeds.

Any help is very much appreciated.

Gregg D. Bernstein
Augusta, Maine

Hi all. I have a new Meade 12 LX200 GPS UHTC. I do not want to spend $500 on the JMI case and have been looking at the soft cases by Meade and Sirus. I will always be transporting the scope to view. I am not worried about hard v. soft (I will not be shipping the case or throwing it around), but am concerned that lifting the scope by myself repreatedly via handles or a shoulder strap will cause the foam to bend and eventually tear or break. Does anyone have any experience with either of these soft cases? Including durability, moisture protection, and ease of use? Also, any suggestions for a case for the giant field tripod?

I appreciate any help.

Gregg
Augusta, Maine

pos am

Hello all. I was hoping I could get some advice on eyepieces. I have read some reviews of the UO Orthos and Televue Radians, but any further comments would be appreciated.

I have a new Meade 12 GPS UHTC. I sent away for the eyepiece deal, but Meade is back ordered. I was thinking of getting an orthoscopic by UO--the new HD series, something like a 9mm or 7mm to use as a very high power eyepiece when conditions permit. I also thought I might use this over the next month or so, if possible, as I await the delivery of the Meade eyepieces.

Is the UO HD Ortho (or just the regular UO Ortho) a significant upgrade over the Series 4000 Super Plossl (probably mostly for planetary viewing) such that it is worth getting the UO Ortho even though I will have another Meade Super Plossl of the same size?

Also, how does the UO Ortho compare to the Radian, apart from FOV and eye relief (I do not wear glasses). The UO HD Ortho is about $80, which is very inexpensive compared to the Radian.

I plan to use my scope for general viewing and I am an intermediate amateur, but I have not done any viewing in almost 15 years (with my old C8).

Any assistance is appreciated.

Gregg D. Bernstein
Augusta, Maine

Hello all. I just purchased an 18mm HD UO Orthoscopic from Helix. Very friendly, prompt service. The eyepiece arrived quickly and was well shipped/packed. I am dissappointed with the eyepiece, though, and may send it back. I was wondering whether anyone elese has tried the UO or HD UO Orthos.

I have a 12 GPS LX200 UHTC. I was looking at Mars the other night and a couple of nights before and used the UO HD Orthosopic. I have the Meade eyepiece set and compared the 18mm UO HD with the Meade 20mm and 15mm Super Plossls. I felt the views were superior in either of the Meade eyepieces when compared to the UO HD. None of the views were particularly great, but what I did see was slightly better and sharper in the Meades (I live in central Maine--dark skies, but Northeastern quality skies). There also was an annoying reflection/haze around Mars at many angles, even straight on, through all of the eyepieces, including the UO HD Orthoscopic. I really expected the UO HD to be sharper and better.

Do you think I received a bad eyepiece or did I just get a really good set of Meades or are two tests on Mars insufficient? I guess I felt there should have been a noticeable diference with the UO HD, that I shouldn't have to guess or even see the Super Plossls giving a better view-that was the whole point in getting the UO HD.

Any help is appreciated.
Gregg D. Bernstin

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

Hello all. I have a Meade 12 LX200 GPS UHTC and the Meade eyepiece set. I will be selling the Meade set and a C-8 that I have to fund a couple of premium eyepieces. I have read many reviews of the Naglers and Pentax eyepieces. There seems to be a consensus that the Naglers and Pentax eyepieces are about equal with perhaps a very slight nod to the Naglers (indicated by some).

I am an intermediate level amatuer and for years have always thought of the Naglers as the best, but I also was always swayed by those glossy Meade ads--so my naiveté is clear. Is the price difference between the Naglers and Pentax eyepieces worth it? There is the additonal 12 degrees of fov, but all else seems to be about equal. I am looking to buy a 20 Nagler or Pentax or perhaps a 17 Nagler for use as a medium power eyepiece, but still somewhat for general use, and perhpas the 31 Nagler or 30 Pentax for lower power deep sky stuff.

Any help is really appreciated. And, some day, when I move from intermediate to more advanced I will answer questions instead of being a pain and keep asking them all the time.

Thank you for any help.
Gregg
Augusta, Maine