22 replies to this topic

[stargazermax72]

I told my dealer yesterday to order me an LX80 mount only. After putting my 7" Mak LX200 OTA on it, it worked great and seemed very stable. They told me they have 3 or 4 others before mine on their list for people who ordered before me. Are these shipping in volume and when do you think I should receive my LX80 mount. Week? 2? 3? Longer?

[Meade]

The LX80s started shipping on April 23, we expect it will take a couple months to fill all the back orders. Whether it wil take that long to get your mount I can't say, I would suggest checking in with your dealer every week or 2 to see where you stand on their list.

[TCampbell]

I've had one on order for a few months now.  I checked with my dealer who then checked with Meade.  They tell us that they are only shipping limited quantities of the full LX-80 scopes -- the "mount only" isn't shipping yet.

I ordered mine in February hoping to have it for the transit which is now exactly one month from today.  I've no idea when the mount will ship, but it's now too close for comfort.  I had to order a different mount -- I can't risk not having a mount on June 5.

[stargazermax72]

Meade, why isn't the mount only shipping yet? My local dealer I ordered from ordered one with the 8" SCT and two other mounts only. And they have only received the 8" SCT version. When will the mount only ship??

[exparrot]

Meade, on 03 May 2012 - 02:56 PM, said:

The LX80s started shipping on April 23, we expect it will take a couple months to fill all the back orders. Whether it wil take that long to get your mount I can't say, I would suggest checking in with your dealer every week or 2 to see where you stand on their list.

A guy posted to a popular astronomy forum that he ordered one last Tuesday from a So-Cal reseller and not only got it at the original price, but has already got confirmation of shipment/delivery for next week.  How does that happen?  I'm sitting on a pre-order from February and he orders one in front of me and will have it before me.  That's doesn't seem to fit with the shipping description you provided previously.

[Meade]

Meade only ships to dealers and to customers who order through the Meade online store. It's up to dealers to distribute the LX80s they've ordered to their customers, so it may just be that the dealer he ordered from had more of that particular model in stock, or the waitlist for that model was shorter. As was stated earlier we suspect it will take a couple months for all backorders to be filled, however, we can't predict when a customer who ordered through a dealer might receive their order. This is why I would suggest keeping in touch with your dealer to see where you stand on their list.

[stargazermax72]

Is the LX80 mount only shipping yet? How many are going to Skies Unlimited?

[JimMo]

I ordered from Skies Unlimited, too, and I also wonder when they'll get thier first shipment.  

I just recently ordered when the price increase was announced and Skies Unlimited told me just today that although they are waiting for thier first shipment I was fairly high on the list and my mount would be included in thier first order they placed back in September, '11 when the mount was announced.

They also said most of their orders came in right after mine on April 30th.

[stargazermax72]

Yea. I was two or three on the list. So hopefully they will come in soon. Would love to have it for the Venus transit

[JimMo]

That's what I was hoping for.  I do have a Voyager mount so at least I won't have to hand hold my solar scope.

[satcomsta]

Any new information on the mounts status yet? It's been over a month and a half and no light at the end of the tunnel.......

[rrankins]

Well, the latest news I got from my vendor was not good.
They got a shipment of the mounts only a few weeks ago, but apparently only got 3-4 of them and there were other people ahead of me on the list to get them first, so I didn't get one of those.
I called today and they are now saying that they are not expecting to get another shipment in until September 18!!!!
Yes, that's September 18, not June 18.
I ordered my LX80 mount back in September 2011, and not I may not see it until September 2012?
The vendor is telescopes.com and I would think that they are one of the larger vendors and should be able to get another allotment of LX80 mounts before September, unless Meade is having problems producing them and the delay is coming from the factory itself.
Or is it that Meade is focusing on shipping the mounts with OTAs and is not shipping out enough of the bare mount kits to satisfy demand?
Or is there a quality control/production issue with the mounts that they need to fix that's holding up shipment.
Hopefully someone from Meade will comment and let us know what might be going on.

[AC5TF]

Got a mount-only on order from B&H Photo.  When purchased, the ad said allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery....that was May 9th.  I called B&H last week and was told it could be August or September.  Since these comments appear to be happening across the board, the bottleneck would appear to be Meade.  Come on guys!  Hiding in the dark and not telling us what's going on does not exactly foster warm and fuzzy feelings with the customer!  You're better than that.

[FrankM]

I agree that Meade is not very forthcoming about delivery dates on newly-developed products...but they are no different than any other manufacturer.  Part of the universal development model on new products seems to be to advertise it LONG before it will be availablle, and promise relatively short delivery times to build enthusiasm and a backlog of orders.  When I ordered a Lunt solar scope a few years ago, I was told delivery was about 3 months out.  It took more than 2 years to receive that telescope.  I've had similar experiences with 2 other scopes...one from Celestron and the other from Meade.  I've had the same experience with several cameras.  It's the price you pay for being an "early-adopter."  I currently have a 12-inch LX600 on order.  I'm first on the list at a large national retailer.  Meade originally stated they would start shipping at the end of May.  I check with the dealer every couple of months.  The last word is that they will start shipping in September.  So be patient.  The LX80 mount looks like it will be a great mount once it ships.  I would prefer that Meade work out all the bugs rather than rush a product to market.  They apparently did not do that with the LX800.

[AC5TF]

Frank, I consider myself as being patient...I haven't cancelled my order yet, even though I'm now being told "October!"  I think your marketting model description is absolutely correct, but it's sad that we, as consumers, have allowed ourselves to accept these deceptive, unethical practices as "the norm."

[TCampbell]

My LX80 (ordered as a mount-only) has finally arrived (delivered yesterday).  It was ordered back in February from B&H.

[rrankins]

TCampbell, on 23 August 2012 - 07:44 AM, said:

My LX80 (ordered as a mount-only) has finally arrived (delivered yesterday).  It was ordered back in February from B&H.

Lucky you! I ordered mine back in September of last year from telescopes.com and I'm still waiting, although last word was they were expecting them in around 9/18.
So hopefully I'll finally have mine in about a month.

[rrankins]

Well, what do you know. Just got a notice today that my LX80 has shipped!! Finally - only 11 months after I ordered it!
Best thing is, it's estimated delivery date is my birthday, so looks like I'm getting an unexpected birthday present!

[AC5TF]

Finally got mine from B&H Photo last week.  The counterweight bar would not screw into the declination shaft because the threads on the bar were not cut deep enough!  .....Sigh.....  However, Meade support tried another one on one of their mounts to make sure it fit, then promptly sent it out to me, so am now back in the waiting mode.

[MistrBadgr]

Which scope did you get and how is it to move around?  If you have one that came with counterweights, how much weight did they send?  I am trying to envision the overall handling of the scope, moving one in and out of a house.

Thanks,

Bill Steen