71 replies to this topic

[LLEEGE]

Looks like Meade has revamped the LX75 into a new series. I hope they work out. I can use a portable mount. I'll wait for a few field tests. <$700 for a goto GEM with an 8" OTA......Could be interesting.

[LLEEGE]

Guess I should have read more closely. Manual controls.

[rmollise]

Well, it's good to see them doing something; I was beginning to wonder. This particular mount seems much like a CG4 to me, not a CG5.

[Spacetravelerx]

Hmmmm, I will have to check this out...

[d33d0gg]

Yeah, I got am email from Anacortes about this mount, and immediately went to Meade's website for more information, but there was none. Thought it might have been similar to a lx75, but this is manual. Although, there is this as an add-on:

 

LX70 Dual Axis Motor Drive

Dual Axis Motor Drive for LX70 German Equatorial Mount. Adds full time RA tracking and motorized movement in both RA and Declination controlled via the included keypad. Speed selectable for 2x, 4x and 8x sidereal. Northern and Southern Hemisphere compatible, with selectable N/S switch. Requires 4 D-Cell batteries, not included.

[KevH]

Looks like Synta stuff... Too bad really if Meade's future is rebadged Synta OTAs and spiffed up EQ4 mounts.  

[T1R2]

I just got off the phone with Meade and the guy says it a LXD75 size mount, but he said he will call me back after he talks with a engineer, initial impressions are its a LXD 75 size mount. I'll report back.

[Spacetravelerx]

I will have to make some calls.  If this new mount is basically the same thing as the LXD75 I will go ahead an buy one for the home in Michigan.  I have had great success traveling all over the country with my little LXD75. 

[ur7x]

Really hard to tell from the small and blurry photos, but it sure looks like a LDX75 sans the GOTO and the Dec motor.

While it is always good to see new products hitting the market, and it is very important to see Meade offer an entry level GEM, I fear this might be a little too entry level.

Reminds me of the mounts that I struggled with in high school. Now if Meade could bring back blue eyeshadow and "big hair" then they would be on to something!

[KevH]

Meade has a manual for the polar scope on their site with a few better photos of the mount... I think it's a tweaked SkyView Pro.

http://www.meade.com...nstructions.pdf

Coupled with the OTAs (the Mak and the 120 f8.3 achro in particular), it all looks like rebadged Synta gear.

Edited by KevH, 17 February 2015 - 07:29 PM.

[T1R2]

and after all these years they still think we want and like chrome Ra and Dec dials with numbers and markings that flake off...

how about some flat black or gray dials with engraved and painted in markings.

 

nothing ticks me off more than having a red or white light flashed right back in my face when dark adapted, and with the glare they produce, it almost impossible to see markings anyway....

 

whoever designs these things need to be fired!

[T1R2]

they are LXD 75's says Meade.

[Spacetravelerx]

If it is an LXD75 then I am immediately buying one.  I have been too busy to call/email Meade on about it.

 

My current one has worked like a champ, but like I said it would be nice to stage one or two in different locations.  One for Michigan, one for New Mexico and one for the road.  I love my LX850 mount, but it would get little use in Michigan (mostly cloudy), and I would hate to drag the LX850 all over the U.S. (I will drive it to a camp site in NM).

 

This is an excellent under $1000 mount.  And if indeed it is the full up LXD75 then Meade must be reading my messages, lol.  Meade needs an under $1k GEM mount that works and is easy to use.  For all the hassles I have had with the LX80 and read about some of the others that need tweaking and tuning, my LXD75 is a no fuss/no muss/works out of the box mount.  It maybe dated, but gosh - it works very well!  Bring back the big hair and shoulder pads!

[ur7x]

If it is an LXD75 then I am immediately buying one.  I have been too busy to call/email Meade on about it.
 
My current one has worked like a champ, but like I said it would be nice to stage one or two in different locations.  One for Michigan, one for New Mexico and one for the road.  I love my LX850 mount, but it would get little use in Michigan (mostly cloudy), and I would hate to drag the LX850 all over the U.S. (I will drive it to a camp site in NM).
 
This is an excellent under $1000 mount.  And if indeed it is the full up LXD75 then Meade must be reading my messages, lol.  Meade needs an under $1k GEM mount that works and is easy to use.  For all the hassles I have had with the LX80 and read about some of the others that need tweaking and tuning, my LXD75 is a no fuss/no muss/works out of the box mount.  It maybe dated, but gosh - it works very well!  Bring back the big hair and shoulder pads!

One thing is very clear, it is not an LXD75.
It might be an LXD75 chassis without the goto and with a manual Dec and RA controller.
But the more everyone looks at this, it sure looks like a re-badged Synta (EQ5) mount.
The next thing that is very clear this is not a <$1000 mount. This is a <$500 mount, maybe a less than $400 mount

http://telescopes.ne...rial-mount.html

If you want to add motors... then that is a $160 option. But still no Goto.

That leaves you with the questions of a $660ish mount, without goto? Well that fills a market niche... Not sure it was a niche that needed filling though.

Given that you can buy a used CG5 for about $350 And a new AVX can be had with GOTO for only $140 more ... then the LX70 without goto... almost the same price for floor demos and Christmas sales...

Sadly for New Meade this looks like another uphill battle.

[T1R2]

 

If it is an LXD75 then I am immediately buying one.  I have been too busy to call/email Meade on about it.
 
My current one has worked like a champ, but like I said it would be nice to stage one or two in different locations.  One for Michigan, one for New Mexico and one for the road.  I love my LX850 mount, but it would get little use in Michigan (mostly cloudy), and I would hate to drag the LX850 all over the U.S. (I will drive it to a camp site in NM).
 
This is an excellent under $1000 mount.  And if indeed it is the full up LXD75 then Meade must be reading my messages, lol.  Meade needs an under $1k GEM mount that works and is easy to use.  For all the hassles I have had with the LX80 and read about some of the others that need tweaking and tuning, my LXD75 is a no fuss/no muss/works out of the box mount.  It maybe dated, but gosh - it works very well!  Bring back the big hair and shoulder pads!

One thing is very clear, it is not an LXD75.
It might be an LXD75 chassis without the goto and with a manual Dec and RA controller.
But the more everyone looks at this, it sure looks like a re-badged Synta (EQ5) mount.
The next thing that is very clear this is not a <$1000 mount. This is a <$500 mount, maybe a less than $400 mount

http://telescopes.ne...rial-mount.html

If you want to add motors... then that is a $160 option. But still no Goto.

That leaves you with the questions of a $660ish mount, without goto? Well that fills a market niche... Not sure it was a niche that needed filling though.

Given that you can buy a used CG5 for about $350 And a new AVX can be had with GOTO for only $140 more ... then the LX70 without goto... almost the same price for floor demos and Christmas sales...

Sadly for New Meade this looks like another uphill battle.

 

we don't mean that is exactly a LXD 75 mount , only that it is the same size, larger than the CG4 size

[Spacetravelerx]

@T1R2 you said "they are LXD 75's says Meade".  Now they not exactly.  This is why I need to call Meade exactly on the details.

 

The <$400 one is without the motors from what I can see online.

 

Time to make some of my own calls...

[MikeAllNight]

LX70 German Equatorial Mount
German EQ Mount with slow motion controls, steel tripod. Mount weight 9 pounds, tripod weight 12 pounds, Tripod height adjustable from 33 to 46 inches tall. Tripod footprint 38” leg tip to leg tip. Maximum recommended payload 20 pounds, excluding counterweight. Includes “Vixen” style dovetail for OTA mounting. Single 11.4 pound counterweight.

"Maximum recommended payload 20 pounds"

 

Meh...

[Herr Ointment]

Levmeadeenhuk has a nice ring to it.

[OzAndrewJ]

Just for info, the polar scope manual for the LX70 appears to have some better views of the body

http://www.meade.com...nstructions.pdf

 

Andrew Johansen Melbourne Australia

[T1R2]

@T1R2 you said "they are LXD 75's says Meade".  Now they not exactly.  This is why I need to call Meade exactly on the details.

 

The <$400 one is without the motors from what I can see online.

 

Time to make some of my own calls...

did you not read my post, I talked to them twice, they are LXD size mounts...I never said they were exactly like the LXD's only the same size

 

and the payload difference is more accurate of these mounts because most people are using them with 4-5" f7 to f8/9 refractors and 6" f5 reflectors anyway

 

edit: or I should say *will* be using with them...who wants to overload a mount

I think they are just being more realistic with the payload/ size of scope

Edited by T1R2, 18 February 2015 - 07:50 PM.

[Spacetravelerx]

Ok,  I made the calls and emails.

 

It is NOT in anyway like the LXD75 (maybe the paint color and optional polar scope?).

 

It is a very good, starter GEM.  The optional motor will not have autostar, but you will have control and tracking in both axes.  With the optics they are selling with it, it looks like a nice upper end entry level kit. 

 

Is it like the AVX, ZEQ25 and other stuff?  No.  That is not its intended market.  It is meant more for a larger market.

 

And as everyone snorts and huffs and puffs, remember most folks do not spend as much as we do in this field of study.

 

Side note - of the pictures I post to the masses, the ones that get the most likes?  Saturn, Moon and Jupiter and some times the Andromeda galaxy.  Most of the targets folks love looking at - Saturn, Moon, Jupiter…you get it.

[Spacetravelerx]

The payload of the LX70 is way different than my LXD75.  LX70 is 20 lbs.  I am running a 130mm ED APO with finder or guider, and camera on the LXD75 at about 30 lbs without a problem.

 

Since it really is not like the LXD75 in away, shape or form I will pass on it since it will not meet my requirements.  Still, it looks like a fun kit for a lot of budding astronomers out there!

[T1R2]

My question to Meade: are the new LX70 mounts LXD 75 size, or are they the smaller CG4 size?

 

Answer from Meade: They are LXD 75 size.

 

all I can report back is what I was told...twice.

Edited by T1R2, 18 February 2015 - 08:02 PM.

[Spacetravelerx]

My question to Meade: are the new LX70 mounts LXD 75 size, or are they the smaller CG4 size?

 

Answer from Meade: They are LXD 75 size.

 

all I can report back is what I was told...twice.

Your source needs to be slapped, lol.

 

I called my source at Meade (gosh I sound like a reporter from the Washington Post or something) and he/she (not to reveal my source), said it was a GEM - nothing to do with the LXD75, though one would think so given the pretty pictures we all saw.

 

Maybe dimensions wise it is similar, but nothing in the performance and feature department.  Your first quote, "they are LXD 75's says Meade" got me all excited.

[T1R2]

Maybe he does need to be slapped for not knowing the difference between the size of a CG4 compared to a LXD 75.

 

because the specs for the LX70 are almost identical to the CG4

 

LX70 spec's:

mount head- 9#

tripod- 12#

tripod height    33"-46"

counterweight   11#

total mount/tripod/weights    32.4#

payload 20#

 

CG4 spec's:

mount head 10# . this I don't get, how can a CG4 head weigh more than a LXD 75 size mount head?

tripod- 12.5#

tripod height-   33"-47"

counterweight- 11#

total mount/tripod/weights-   33.5#

payload 20#

 

I thought a LXD 75/ CG5 were larger and heavier than a CG4, how can the specs be identical?

not only that but the CG4 is taller when extended, only by an inch.

Edited by T1R2, 18 February 2015 - 09:16 PM.