I won't bore you with the details now, but my 12 inch LX90, while mounted on the standard field tripod, fell twice - once backwards onto the visual back and once side wards onto the finder scope side on my lawn.
The backwards fall apparently mashed the threads of the visual back into the threads of the rear cell thread, because, while I can turn the visual back CCW with a pair of channel locks, it can not be removed from the rear cell holder.
The collector plate was not cracked or damaged. The secondary mirror is still nice and snug.
When I focus on a star or group of stars, they appear as sharp pinpoints of light and are not distorted.
However two things concern me: First, when I unfocus on a star to get the typical collimation donut, the dark circle in the center is a little off centered but not bad. Of more concern, when I move this collimation donut off to the side of the field of view - whether I move it north east, south or west - when it is about halfway out of the field of vision I start to see an eclipse of darkness forming on the remaining circle of light, enterin from the center of the the field of view side.
Is this normal? If not, what problem is it indicative of and how can it be corrected?
Secondly there is a definite lag time ( perhaps 2 or 3 seconds) from when you turn the focusing knob until it actually stops focusing. When I quickly tried to focus on a star using a 32 mm TeleVue, I overshot the focal point, and, when I quickly went the other way, I did it again. This problem is even worse with higher power EP's.
Prior to buying this scope I had an 8 inch LX90 and it didn't seeme to have any lag time at all - when you turned the focus knob, the respond was immeadiate.
Is this lag time normal or indicative of some damage from the falls? If not normal, how can it be repaired.
I am heartbroken over this turn of events - I just got this scope a couple of weeks ago.
Any advice and/or assistance you can provide would be deeply appreciated.
Respectfully........Mike
The backwards fall apparently mashed the threads of the visual back into the threads of the rear cell thread, because, while I can turn the visual back CCW with a pair of channel locks, it can not be removed from the rear cell holder.
The collector plate was not cracked or damaged. The secondary mirror is still nice and snug.
When I focus on a star or group of stars, they appear as sharp pinpoints of light and are not distorted.
However two things concern me: First, when I unfocus on a star to get the typical collimation donut, the dark circle in the center is a little off centered but not bad. Of more concern, when I move this collimation donut off to the side of the field of view - whether I move it north east, south or west - when it is about halfway out of the field of vision I start to see an eclipse of darkness forming on the remaining circle of light, enterin from the center of the the field of view side.
Is this normal? If not, what problem is it indicative of and how can it be corrected?
Secondly there is a definite lag time ( perhaps 2 or 3 seconds) from when you turn the focusing knob until it actually stops focusing. When I quickly tried to focus on a star using a 32 mm TeleVue, I overshot the focal point, and, when I quickly went the other way, I did it again. This problem is even worse with higher power EP's.
Prior to buying this scope I had an 8 inch LX90 and it didn't seeme to have any lag time at all - when you turned the focus knob, the respond was immeadiate.
Is this lag time normal or indicative of some damage from the falls? If not normal, how can it be repaired.
I am heartbroken over this turn of events - I just got this scope a couple of weeks ago.
Any advice and/or assistance you can provide would be deeply appreciated.
Respectfully........Mike
