Meade LX200R 12” Review

Posted by Jerry Wise   08/23/2006 03:52PM

Meade LX200R 12” Review
Meade LX200R 12” Review

By Jerry Wise

In 2005 when the RCX line began shipping I ordered a 10” RCX. The information promised a revolution in optics (“Hubbell in your own back yard”) and this sounded great. I’ve been a long time Meade fan starting back in 1992 with ETX and LX200 scopes. My trusty 10” LX200 Classic served well for over 10 years with no problems. It was replaced with a 14” LX200 UHTC GPS in 2004. The RCX information sounded so good I sold the 14” and cautiously ordered the 10 RCX as a replacement. I wanted to verify the quantum leap in technology before spending 10 thousand for a 14” telescope and mount.

The 10” RCX had fantastic optics and only had to go back to Meade one time. It worked fine for two months on the outlet transformer. One night I moved it out to the yard for a comparison with a Celestron C-9.25. The fork arms have a compartment for flashlight batteries to run the scope for up to 24 hours (without dew heater on). The RCX ran for 20 minutes on fork arm batteries before locking never to return to the world of the living. This was my first experience with Meade service after 12 years of owning a number of Meade products. 5 weeks to get the scope picked up and this with extended warranties and three way shipping were an eye opener. (Thankfully, as of this date, it looks like Meade is working hard to revamp their support process.) For whatever reason, I could never get the RCX stabile enough on my observatory pier for astrophotography so I began looking for an RCX type OTA.

When the LX200R OTA only option was announced it seemed like a gift from the stars. RCX optics in an OTA I could just slip onto my Celestron CGE mount. The RCX went to Astromart and a 10” LX200R OTA was ordered. The Meade lead time was a lot less on these scopes. A ship date set for February actually occurred in April. This is quite a good response in the new telescope world. A dealer called me saying they had no LX200R 10” units but just received a 12” OTA. A quick exchange of Credit Card information had the unit on the way.

A few days later (April 28, 2006) the OTA arrived in a large double box. Well packed and wrapped in plastic and foam, it was quite an imposing site. There was nothing else in the box. They come with OTA only. No manual, diagonal, finder, token 26mm EP or get well card. Nothing. The OTA weighs 38 pounds bare. After adding a full length Losmandy dovetail, William Optics diagonal and Feather Touch focuser it was nudging nearly 50 pounds. While not difficult to mount on the CGE a handle on the back of the OTA (like Celestron provides) would be a real plus.



After mounting on the CGE it was time for some observations. With a focal length of 3048mm and 12 inches of aperture with RCX optics it was time for fun. With clear skies the first night observations were done. First Jupiter and then Venus were observed with a 17mm Nagler T4. While showing pretty good detail there seemed to be a lot of glare and reflections. More than I’ve ever seen. A GOTO to M13 and several other Globulars looked OK. OK, not great. So did the Ring and Dumbbell nebulas. I had an Orion ED80 mounted beside the 12” LX200R and it was showing crystal clear views though not nearly as large. The clarity of the 10” RCX optics was not there. Something was wrong.



I pulled the 12” OTA off and looked down into the tube with a Maglite. Around the inside of the OTA were flecks of Styrofoam and dust. Not major but certainly there. Then, with the tube straight up, I looked down the baffle tube. Whoa. There, halfway around the inside of the first inch or so of the baffle tube was a thick layer of white grease. How cool is that? I took pictures of it and posted on another forum for advice and feedback then called my dealer. The dealer said they could talk me through pulling the corrector and cleaning it out or I could send it back. I’ve pulled correctors before and just didn’t feel comfortable doing this on RCX/LX200R optics. We decided to return the unit for replacement.



The dealer found another LX200R 12” OTA that had just arrived from Meade. He asked my permission to open the box and inspect the OTA before shipping to me. He said he didn’t want the new one to have any grease in the baffle. With my OK, they opened the box, inspected the unit and promptly called me saying they could not ship the second one. Seems it had Styrofoam and trash in the OTA as well. We agreed the time was not right for a 12” LX200R OTA.

I did some further observations before sending the 12” back. Saturn had a lot of glare but occasional moments of brilliance. Orion, low in the sky, would still show ease visualization of the “E” and “F” stars in the Trapezium since glare from the grease was not a problem on these dim objects. I think Meade does have a genuine quantum leap in optical resolution with these scopes. My 10” RCX had phenomenal views besting my new C-11 XLT OTA under similar conditions. However, as with many new products, Meade has some teething problems to work through.

For the optical quality, with a telescope with no quality control problems, I think the 12” LX200R would be hard to beat. I just was not able to prove it. The dealer told me there were no more 12” LX200Rs available and I could choose between a 10” model or 14” model. Worried about the QC aspect, I went for the 10” model until I could prove the investment in the 14” model would be a good one. The 10 LX200R experience is another story and fodder for another review.

Meade will eventually work through all the problems and QC on this new line. The LX200 scopes had problems when they were first released as did some of the Orion ED80 models. All manufacturers will encounter some problems with a new line as it reaches general distribution. Users can take equipment down paths and find idiosyncrasies not anticipated in final product testing. Just be sure you have a good clean OTA and you purchase through a knowledgeable dealer that can support you if something goes wrong.