beammeup
member
Reged: 12/22/08
Loc: Straight of Gibraltar
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: sphelps]
#5196148 - 04/29/12 08:55 AM
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I wanted this scope for its ease of setup and use. If it turns into a nightmare, I may rethink my purchase as I'm a person with not enough patience and time to fool around with setting up a scope all night long to take a couple photos. I hope Meade is reading this thread and takes notice.
. Not quite the point-and-shoot mount it is supposed to be then... 
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rmollise
Postmaster
Reged: 07/06/07
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196166 - 04/29/12 09:06 AM
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If the cable is not compatible there
It isn't compatible. You will need a Meade cable.
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rmollise
Postmaster
Reged: 07/06/07
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: sphelps]
#5196170 - 04/29/12 09:09 AM
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My itchy trigger finger is moving again towards that cancel button.
I would try the drift alignment routine and if that doesnt work, I would set the scope up with the OTA it was shipped with which I believe was a 12" you ordered?
Hope you have better luck.
If you wanted the mount to begin with, I haven't seen (too much) here that should dissuade you. I think what you have mostly is the combo of a new mount, a so-so manual, and a user inexperienced with mounts of this type.
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rmollise
Postmaster
Reged: 07/06/07
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: beammeup]
#5196173 - 04/29/12 09:10 AM
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Not quite the point-and-shoot mount it is supposed to be then...
Maybe, maybe not.
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Gord
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/06/04
Loc: Toronto, ON, Canada
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: rmollise]
#5196266 - 04/29/12 09:49 AM
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Well, this issues are unfortunate but as Rod says not exactly unexpected for V1.0. I think if people are expecting out of the box, no fiddling, perfect, they are going to be waiting a bit to get that.
All that being said though, Meade's response is looking great if they are actively following this on here and calling people at home. They have a lot riding on this and that's the kind of commitment and dedication that's required to pull this off. Good on you Meade!
Clear skies,
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Gord
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/06/04
Loc: Toronto, ON, Canada
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196279 - 04/29/12 10:00 AM
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I got it out side, leveled the mount and started working on balancing. Noticed something weird. Loosen the clutches all the way and it seems that it doesn't matter where the balance is at all. Meaning if you swing the OTA so that the bar is parallel with the ground it doesn't swing down or up on its own. It acts like it is in perfect balance. Move the weights quite a bit and still the same thing. Same with the OTA balancing. Doesn't seem to matter where you place the OTA (forward or back). It acts as though the clutches are still engaged even if you remove the clutch bolts all the way out. I don't get it. You can move it with your hand and swing it every which way. There is some resistance like you are doing it under water but I'd think that if I was out of balance it would be easy to see. I am comparing this to balancing my CGE-Pro which if a fly landed on one of the weights you would see it swing down if the clutches were loose. Well maybe not but you get the idea. Moved very freely and it was easy to balance it. *shrug* no clue what this means. Working as intended? Of course I'll shoot some day time video tomorrow showing what I mean.
Couple things come to mind.
1. Clutches are not disengaging. It would have to be by a lot if there is that much drag.
2. Tolerance is to tight on something inside. I had this issue on an EQ5. It makes getting the balance right difficult to nearly impossible. However, once you get it, things will still work.
However, the other negative associated with that was the poor tolerance was really just a symptom of poor overall machining and quality. That mount worked, but had horrible PE (think minutes, not seconds).
It will be interesting to see the variation among samples.
Clear skies,
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Jay Wise
sage
Reged: 11/21/08
Loc: Near Williamsburg VA
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Gord]
#5196310 - 04/29/12 10:30 AM
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Wait a cotton pickin' minute. My $495 EQ5 came with a compatible computer cable! There's not one with a $6000 mount! I did call and cancel my order. It is on the dock at Meade for drop shipping and the kind folks say they think , but are not sure it can be held. I jumped the gun on ordering this expensive item since the price is going up $1300 on May 1st but I am terrified with the thought shipping this monster back and forth across the country for service. So I really hope the order can be stopped. To be continued..... 
JayW
P.S. I hope Uncle Rod's assessment is correct and we all just need to calm down.
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JSnuff1
sage
Reged: 12/29/04
Loc: NY
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: sphelps]
#5196384 - 04/29/12 11:25 AM
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You can still test PE with Pempro without connecting the mount to your computer. All you need is a guide camera (or any camera) that can connect to Pempro and it can collect PE data.
Connection to computer is only required to upload/replay the PE corrections to the mount.
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Whichwayisnorth
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Jay Wise]
#5196407 - 04/29/12 11:37 AM
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Wait a cotton pickin' minute. My $495 EQ5 came with a compatible computer cable! There's not one with a $6000 mount! I did call and cancel my order. It is on the dock at Meade for drop shipping and the kind folks say they think , but are not sure it can be held. I jumped the gun on ordering this expensive item since the price is going up $1300 on May 1st but I am terrified with the thought shipping this monster back and forth across the country for service. So I really hope the order can be stopped. To be continued.....
JayW
P.S. I hope Uncle Rod's assessment is correct and we all just need to calm down.
Yes I was really surprised that there wasn't an included cable especially since they include software and talk about using the software at the back of the manual. Oh but they did thrown in a set of vibration isolation pads!
Like I said in my above post. I figure most of my issues are related to learning this specific mount and its hand controller.
Uploading processing a video right now that I'll put up on youtube showing what I experienced with the clutches.
BTW I have not heard anything from Meade about my forum posts. I have not contacted them either. I prefer to work things out for myself and if all else fails I'll contact them.
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gillmj24
Post Laureate
Reged: 12/06/05
Loc: PA
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: JSnuff1]
#5196410 - 04/29/12 11:38 AM
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Glad things are looking up, I spoent some time at the NEAF booth and both the LX800 and even the LX600 fork mounts looked to be very solid. Not to hijack this but the 600 seemed better than the LX200 fork mounts were. The bad news about the fork mounted LX600 is they don't stow inside the forks except for the 10". The RCX 12 and 14 were also f8 and stowed within the forks (not corrector-"up" like the LX200 12 and 14). They probably shortened the forks for more stability.
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ewave
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 05/16/09
Loc: northwest NJ
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196415 - 04/29/12 11:43 AM
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Somehow, I hope everything works out for Meade and its customers. But I smell something fishy when they market and offer a product where you can only buy the OTA/Mount combo. Seems they decided this was the only way to convince their shareholders (or bank loan officers) to pick things up. Please give the community some good reports. It is a better thing overall to have competition and of course, newer better technology through R&D.
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Griffin!
super member
Reged: 09/12/10
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: ewave]
#5196441 - 04/29/12 11:58 AM
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But I smell something fishy when they market and offer a product where you can only buy the OTA/Mount combo.
The LX80 and LX800 are offered mount only so you can put whatever you want on it.
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Whichwayisnorth
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196445 - 04/29/12 12:01 PM Attachment (95 downloads)
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Here is a photo of one of the clutch bolt holes with the bolt removed. (see my video in about 30 minutes). I noticed on the side there are two adjustments? that look like with a special tool I can adjust something. Perhaps these were set a little tight at the factory? I don't want to mess with them until I know more.
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nemo129
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 01/03/10
Loc: WMass
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196454 - 04/29/12 12:05 PM
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that look like with a special tool I can adjust something.
Spanner wrench?
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Whichwayisnorth
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: nemo129]
#5196504 - 04/29/12 12:39 PM
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that look like with a special tool I can adjust something.
Spanner wrench?
Gazuntite!
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Whichwayisnorth
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196506 - 04/29/12 12:41 PM
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Ok here is the clutches video.
Also a FYI. The 14" F/8 OTA bare is 56 pounds.
http://youtu.be/eXqv3HZa2cM
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sphelps
member
Reged: 07/03/10
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196536 - 04/29/12 01:00 PM
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Ok here is the clutches video.
Also a FYI. The 14" F/8 OTA bare is 56 pounds.
http://youtu.be/eXqv3HZa2cM
Thanks for the update. One thing I noticed is that you might want to put a rubber bumper on the starlock counterweight so it doesn't scratch up your tripod head if it gets away from you and swings down all the way like in the video. It does seem as though the factory has the clutch preset a little stiff. This might be so it doesn't get away from you and hit the tripod head.
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Whichwayisnorth
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/04/11
Loc: Southern California
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: sphelps]
#5196547 - 04/29/12 01:13 PM
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Could be. I like the rubber bumper idea. I'll try to source something. I already re-purposed some iPad screen protectors for the North leg because when removing the counter weights it is difficult to control the sudden weight and they hit the leg and take chunks out of the paint. I only had that happen once (small scratch) so I put on two layers of packing tape for a temp fix. Now I use the thicker screen protector material instead.
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Stew57
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/03/09
Loc: Silsbee Texas
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196562 - 04/29/12 01:29 PM
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How is the DEC axis?
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BlueGrass
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 07/25/09
Loc: Wasatch Front, UT
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Re: Meade's new LX800...
[Re: Whichwayisnorth]
#5196592 - 04/29/12 01:44 PM
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The stiffness in balancing reminds me of the Mach1. While not as stiff as your video shows for the 800, AP basically says don't worry too much about it. Get it in the ballpark and the Mach1 will track fine. And for AP mounts, that 'fine' translates to extremely well ... How do the axis move without any weight on them? Do they turn freely, i.e. much easier without any load?
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