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Code of Conduct for Meade 4M Community Forums:

1. This group is open to anyone interested in astronomy, without prejudice of previous experience or equipment used. While the main topics of discussion should be centered around astronomy and the Meade 4M community that has been created, many products and applications including; telescopes, cameras, mounts, filters, and imaging etc., will not only be allowed, but necessary as they are relevant to our hobby.

2. The Meade 4M Forums are not portals to Meade Instruments’ Sales, Marketing, or Customer Service departments. For questions to or service from Meade, please call (949) 451-1450 or visit www.meade.com/support.

3.  Our goal is to learn and share with other members of the Meade 4M Community in the hope of advancement for all. If you wish to be helpful or provide a source of encouragement, please do so. It is better to push someone up the ladder of success than to stand on their head to elevate yourself. There are members here who are new to astronomy, so please speak in a way that can be understood by all.

4. The rules are simple. Think before you post a message or reply. It should go without saying that flaming, badmouthing or profanity will result in immediate action. Slanderous criticism of people, organizations, companies, or products will not be tolerated. Evaluation in the interest of comparison is allowed if in a helpful, constructive manner. Remember, there is a fine line between reason and slander.

5. The responsibility of the moderators is to keep things in order. The responsibility of the individual member is to keep them from having to. If something goes wrong, remember - we do have jobs and are sometimes slow to respond. If anyone decides to display undesirable actions, the individual will receive a warning. If the problem persists, their posts will be moderated. If all else has failed, they will be removed from the group. These unfortunate actions would be to preserve the integrity of the group.

6. Be aware of sensitive topics, and no posts of a political nature. Topics like global warming, taxes, religion, politics or lifestyles could be considered "hot button" topics depending on their content and perceived intent. This is a judgment call the moderators of the forum will make. Please exercise your best judgment before posting.

The Moderators of the Meade 4M Community Forums

I had some clear sky for a change, so took some shots in hydrogen alpha light and "white light": http://sungazer127ma...nuary-13th.html

I've added the Noiseware Community Edition to my list of free software downloads:

http://philippugh.co...sDownloads.html

If you have any recommendations for software that can be downloaded for free, please reply to this message with them and I can make them available to everyone.

Anybody getting any interesting views or photos of the comet? Just curious.

Here's my first solar shoot of the year: http://sungazer127ma...anuary-1st.html

greetings all - i am using a 900 mm refractor  with good visual image but want a 1200 mm visual system  - thought of using my 8" schmidt cas. 2000 with focal reducer BUT i expect the image will not come out of 15 blocking filter - ANY IDEAS using a 2000 mm schmidt ?? i expect the 1200 created by the reducer will not give me an image at the eye piece - any one used a 2000 schmidt with the coronado filters ??

A warm Hello to everyone from SE England

Having learnt the skies with binoculars I recently acquired an LX10 with LX200 mount which has delivered some outstanding results for a newbie like me.  Seriously, Jupiter with four moons lined up on the east the other night was stunning, not to mention clusters and the Moon.

Last night however the movement of the Dec slow motion started to grind very slightly after I had reached the end of the thread and wound it back so I immediately packed up and had a look at it this morning, whereupon the knob unwound from the unit itself.  The manual sheds no light on the possible solution and I am not particularly confident in the engineering/electronics space, so was not about to start investigating without some advice or direction.

As this is my first scope it is probably a pitifully newb query so any help would be most gratefully received please.

Many thanks

Harry

Hi There,

From what i have read on various forums, the AUX ports on my scope are for future expansion and don't actually work.

On newer models, these ports are used to focus and guide as far as i can tell.

Does anyone have expereince of using these ports with my model? I can buy a port module 2nd hand, but i am not convinced this will help me.

i have a modified webcam ready to go with phd guiding, but am doubtful this will drive the scope via these ports. Any ideas or advice welcomed.

regards,

James

BIG NEWS: As of today the new LX850 is officially shipping! Those affected by the LX800 recall will be receiving units as early as next week, with dealers and new orders being handled immediately afterward.

For more information on the LX850, just go to the web site here: http://www.meade.com/lx850.

Copernicus-2/25/2013 0h UT
Telescope: Meade Lightbridge 16 @ f/9 (OPT 2” 2x Barlow)
Camera: Canon Rebel T2i, 1.25” adapter, manual remote switch
Filter: None
Exposure: 4x1/500sec, ISO 400 saved as RAW
Mirror Lock-up: On, 5 second pause to allow vibrations to settle
Software: Nebulosity 2, Panorama Maker 3, Registax 6, Photoshop CS4

This was taken on the evening of February 24^th, local time, about a day before the moon was full. Although I took enough images to build a mosaic (still working on that) I also wanted to take a short stack of images of Copernicus. The ray structure of this crater is simply amazing and I can’t help but wonder what it must have looked like when it was formed. I must say, building stacks of images are a heck of a lot easier than building a mosaic with an undriven altaz mount! To take the images I first set the focus with a Bahtinov mask and a nearby star. I then set the scope so that Copernicus would cross the center of the field. As it approached the center I trigger the mirror lockup with my wired remote switch, counted to 5 to let the vibrations settle, and then tripped the shutter. The resulting images are way over-sampled, so I binned them 2x2 with Nebulosity, stacked them in Registax, sharpened with a mild wavelet, and then finished the image in Photoshop. For these simple images Photoshop Elements would have worked just as well.

-John

Hi
Firstly thanks in advanced to anyone who can help.  I have recently purchased an LT8 ACF and have been searching the net for any accessories for it. It has a label on it ETX-LT8 but the accessories (except for a few things like vibration dampeners and dew shields) don't ever mention LT's.  ETX something or other but not LT's. So is this an ETX  model telescope?
Can i say put an attachment to hold a camera on it for example. Can i get rid of the red dot finder and put a finder scope of other variety on it? Are there any type of focal reducers that will work with an ACF.
You can only scour the net for so long before wondering whether anyone else has ever purchased this model and seeing that there are only 2 posts in this forum yet this telescope seems to be on sale everywhere I can only assume they are great and no one has any issues with them or they are an unwanted scope. (sorry do not expect an answer to that question).
So are there any compatible accessories that Meade make for their other models that work with this model maybe.

Thanks
Kevin

Need some advisable pointers. I need to get some weights for my LXD55 for a slightly oversized optical tube. I have one 9.8lbs.weight currently. It is not enough for the 32lbs. or so optical tube. Before I buy weights I do not need is there any Rule of Thumb, or optical tube to weight ratio? I have looked online for any info, but no luck. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Ok im not sure if I am asking this right but I need to find or know where to get the power supply/s
as you know most of this scope equ. is 12 powered with the car plugins I need one of those that has 4 or more plugin ports and a inverter for truck..

Next I alsoneed to find a dc varable power supply with Multiple outlets for the different parts to plug into...

Hi

The other night I was using my autostar to align my lxd 75 n6-at.

It went to the align star ( Capella ) and I tried using the right arrow key to align it in my eyepiece but my auto star reset.

The upon entering time/date , when I came to daylight savings and pressed no the auto star would turn off and restart again.

I gave up and brought it inside I reset it  and I tried it again and this time I got Proc . trap 2  .

I restarted the auto star again and the R.A motor slewed what seemed to be the fastest speed and then when the DEC was about to hit the R.A motor I switched it off .

This continued for a day or so until It miraculously  it stopped .

I pressed align and got motor unit failure.

Now this whole mount was bought about 1 month ago from a guy who said he only used it once or twice while his other mount was getting fixed as it had a crack in it .

On the night I was using mains 12v DC and when it started restarting I tried the battery pack and it wouldn’t power it .(But it did when I brought it inside )

Does this sound like a firmware issue  with all these different errors .(I just updated to 43eg )
And by the way this was my first time using the austostar with this(NEW) mount outside but it worked fine inside.
NOTE : I had used this Autostar on my previous mount

Cheers for any help

Reece

I am purchasing an ETX 80 and I understand they are now coming with 497 Autostar controllers instead of the old 494 version. I believe the Meade number for the 497 version is 0805-04-26. I need the info for ordering. Can someone verify this? Thanks

I'm going to rehab for addiction to empanadas. As I get private medical insurance through my company, I'm going to the Priory.

In the meantime I've just finished by March video accompanied by Moonlight Shadow by Mike Oldfield:

Hi everyone,

I've owned the 16" lightbridge for a few years now and i'm starting to get interested in photography.  Is anyone here experiences with taking pictures with the 16" Lightbridge or if anything experienced with taking pictures with a telescope at all??

Since the number of locations for purchasing telescopes adn their accessories around me is limited im forced to buy things online.  Before i do i usually like to know as much about what im buying especially for things like this.  I need to make sure the adapters and everything fit together correctly and that im doing this right.

Specific question i have:

Do i need to buy an adapter piece for the telescope??  (I do understand that this may depend on the camera and most cameras have their own t-adapters.)  I'm wondering because if I have the adapter that comes with the camera do i need another one for the telescope or will it fit right in??  Before I purchase a camera i want to know which cameras will work with my telescope or how can i know this.

I was hoping to contact a product specialist from Meade but I'm having a hell of a time trying to contact any form of customer service from Meade unless i had already bought something from them and have an order number.  Kind of ridiculous customer support if you ask me but anyways....

Here is a link to the telescope i own: http://store.meade.c...-dobsonian.html

I purchased a Meade 2090 , white tube @ 21.5 inches along with a DS 2000 series mount and tripod. Some of the wires that attach the 424 controller to the mount have been pulled out of the plastic plug. Can someone provide me with the following information please ?
    The color sequence of the wires into the plug and
    Directions on how to open the plug so I can fix the connections
Or directions for opening the 424 controller

I will very much appreciate any assistance you may provide. I purchased the unit knowing the auto guide probably wouldn't work. I am in my 70s, living on Social Security and take pride in recycling items I want to have but cannot afford.

Thank You,

Sailing70s

The full March report is finished and I added some Moon shots and video of the ISS pass yesterday to the April thread.

Now check out the full blog: http://www.blogger.c...703845#allposts

Has anyone installed Bobs Knobs on their LS 6 or LS 8 scope? If so was there any problems getting them installed? After reading the instructions for installing them on the 6 screw LS series scopes I'm not too comfortable doing the installation.  Seems you can move one of the backing springs out of place and looks to be quite a process for getting them back into postition. Just wondering if moving the spring out of place is a real possibility.