Telescope Reviews: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . .

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Equipment Discussions >> Mounts

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germana1
sage

Reged: 05/14/09

Loc: New Jersey

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . new

[Re: Hilmi]
#4839579 - 10/02/11 03:22 PM

It was the same way when Ioptron IEQ 45 came out they turned out to be ok so far. Ill wait and see when the field reports come along,they do look nice time will tell.
Pete

Edited by germana1 (10/02/11 03:23 PM)

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: greju]
#4839593 - 10/02/11 03:29 PM

Quote:

Efficiency does not always equal quality.

I'd bet that the reason the Paramounts are made that way has everything to do with efficiency. Namely, they probably don't think they'll see enough of them over the life of the product to tool up for doing castings.

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rmollise
Postmaster

Reged: 07/06/07

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Hilmi]
#4839619 - 10/02/11 03:40 PM

Quote:

I'm impressed that we have managed to come up with 11 pages of speculation, analysis, performance reports, product viability, performance comparisons and loads of other stuff about a mount most of us have only seen pictures of.

I guess you can say Meade's marketing team have hit a home run if they have managed to raise so much discussion.

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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)

Reged: 06/24/03

Loc: Los Angeles

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: FoxTrot]
#4839821 - 10/02/11 05:17 PM

Quote:

Does anyone know which handcontroller the lx80 will use, I know it has this 'audiostar'. Is that a type of HC, or does it use Autostar II ? (which has short cut buttons like Nextstar...?)
Fox

ETX/LX-90/LT/LX80--Audiostar (497 HC w/voice)
LX200/LX800--Autostar II
LS--Autostar III

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greju
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/13/05

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Lee Jay]
#4839850 - 10/02/11 05:31 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Efficiency does not always equal quality.

I'd bet that the reason the Paramounts are made that way has everything to do with efficiency. Namely, they probably don't think they'll see enough of them over the life of the product to tool up for doing castings.

I suspect it may have alot more to do with quality than efficiency. Something many companies seem to have forgotten about!

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: greju]
#4839860 - 10/02/11 05:37 PM

Quote:

I suspect it may have alot more to do with quality than efficiency. Something many companies seem to have forgotten about!

Hmmm...then why use just about the cheapest Aluminum you can get, instead of something high-end?

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greju
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/13/05

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Lee Jay]
#4839899 - 10/02/11 05:53 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I suspect it may have alot more to do with quality than efficiency. Something many companies seem to have forgotten about!

Hmmm...then why use just about the cheapest Aluminum you can get, instead of something high-end?

It's a telescope mount, not a rocketship.

Undoubtedly, cost effectiveness might be a consideration. I don't know if the quality of aluminum used equates to efficiency but maybe it does. I will stick with what I originaly posted which was "die-cast aluminum and ABS panels" SOUNDS cheap. Emphasis on SOUNDS. Never said it was cheap or was inferior in any way but that it SOUNDS cheap. I didn't like it when they switched to ABS for car bumpers either. Efficiency I guess.

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: greju]
#4843087 - 10/04/11 09:12 AM

Here's the mount with an 8" scope

http://www.meade.com/media/product_images/telescopes/lx80/lx80-8in.jpg

The box structure and RA mechanism look extremely robust, but the skimpy leg bosses and long DEC neck really bug me. A shortened neck may be the first of the mods done to this mount. A replacement tripod should be easy to implement. That done, it could be a killer mount.

-drl

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: deSitter]
#4843167 - 10/04/11 09:55 AM

Here's a bigger picture.

What's wrong with the leg bosses? The through bolt?

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Lee Jay]
#4843184 - 10/04/11 10:01 AM

One of the main sources of shakiness in any mount is the tendency of the entire shebang to oscillate about the vertical axis. Legs make great springs. The only way to resist that is with substantial leg bosses and mating flanges. I'm really stumped by the very small bosses. They should be at least as large as the leg diameter.

-drl

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: deSitter]
#4843216 - 10/04/11 10:26 AM

Hmmm...do you suppose they are the size they are because of this?

"Fine-tune tripod adjusters
Quickly and easily level your tripod for optimum pointing accuracy."

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Lee Jay]
#4843235 - 10/04/11 10:42 AM

I really have no idea what they are thinking. There can't be any advantage to small bosses. The tunable height is a nice touch - that's the grips at the top of the legs.

-drl

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: deSitter]
#4843260 - 10/04/11 10:56 AM

What I mean is, perhaps the mechanism for the adjustment limited the room inside the leg so that the portion sticking out the top to which the bosses attach is limited to something smaller than the inside diameter of the leg, rather than the usual size which would be something larger than the outside diameter of the leg.

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Roy McCoy
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/13/05

Loc: Glendale, AZ

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: deSitter]
#4843769 - 10/04/11 03:34 PM

Quote:

A shortened neck may be the first of the mods done to this mount.

I imagine the reason for the extra length of the neck is to allow a scope to clear the legs in Alt-Az mode.

Regards,
Roy

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deSitter
Still in Old School

Reged: 12/09/04

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Roy McCoy]
#4843956 - 10/04/11 06:05 PM

Yes, that's clear - a shorter neck option for persons who would never do this would be a good thing.

-drl

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Sean Puett
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/06/10

Loc: always cloudy, washington

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Roy McCoy]
#4843979 - 10/04/11 06:18 PM

i just waded through 12 pages of thread that brought down my excitement level considerably. this is a good thing but, there is a great deal of speculation and photo review going on.
it is a great concept and i hope it works well so i can buy one. it would be great to use the alt/az for visual and maybe try your hand at some AP later on to see if you want to pursue it.

i wasn't planning on running out to buy this mount/tripod, i can't afford to (potentially) throw money away like that. if it looks good in a lot of honest reviews, i will probably buy it. anyway, that.ls to the guys that did order it already. i look forward to reading your (and many other) reviews.
it doesn't have to be perfect for me to want one, the only goto scope i have used is a webster c22 and it needs some adjusting through the night.

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Bernie Skerl
member

Reged: 07/25/10

Loc: newburgh indiana

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Sean Puett]
#4846320 - 10/06/11 12:15 AM

why did they go with a serial port insted of usb?

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Starman1
Vendor (EyepiecesEtc.com)

Reged: 06/24/03

Loc: Los Angeles

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Bernie Skerl]
#4846359 - 10/06/11 12:48 AM

Quote:

why did they go with a serial port insted of usb?

1) no new circuits necessary
2) they already owned the parts
3) no limit to cable run length
4) blue tooth wireless devices available
5) no new programming necessary
6) lowers production cost

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Lee Jay
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 02/27/08

Loc: Westminster, CO

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Starman1]
#4846671 - 10/06/11 08:40 AM

Quote:

3) no limit to cable run length

Though it's longer than USB, that isn't really true. While the standard doesn't specify a length (cable capacitance is specified instead), it seems to fail somewhere between 50 and 300 feet most of the time. I have to switch to fiber or RS-485 for cables longer than about 100 feet. Still, that's somewhere close to 10 times USB.

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Bernie Skerl
member

Reged: 07/25/10

Loc: newburgh indiana

Re: I'll wait for the NEW !! Meade LX80 Mounts . . . [Re: Lee Jay]
#4849249 - 10/07/11 04:33 PM

1) no new circuits necessary
2) they already owned the parts
3) no limit to cable run length
4) blue tooth wireless devices available
5) no new programming necessary
6) lowers production cost

Post Extras:

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