new gear and new directions

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turonrambar
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new gear and new directions

#1

Post by turonrambar »


Dear TSS,

It's been awhile since I was on this board.

My Meade LX850 mount's main board failed on me and Meade wouldn't sell me a main board.
But, I could pay $500.00 plus shipping, both ways, to send my mount to them and they would
send to Mexico to be repaired. I struggled for a long time to make a decision on what to do
about my Meade mount the their offer to fix it. I've had it with Meade and I have
supported them for years, now it's time to move on to better pastures.

I bought a iOptron (Center-Balance Equatorial Mount) CEM 120 mount and it is super nice.
The mount weighs 57 lbs. and holds 115 lbs. The mount has an cable management system
incorporated into the OTA's base plate, with 3 2.0 USB and a 3.0 USB ports. one 12v 5
amps and three 1 amp outputs ports.

I install iPolar camera into the CEM120 mount to help with polar alignment.

Monday the Pier is going to be delivered, so I'm getting real close to first light.

I installed a dome rotation and shutter kits in the observatory and I need to install the
pier, mount and OTA and finish setting up the dome's shutter and rotation kits.

Well, I hope everyone is doing OK health wise? Wife and I are doing OK.

Take care,

:observatory: :Pirate:
Meade OTA f/8 12” on a CEM120 iOptron Mount,
G10 One Shot CMOS Color Camera, QHY 2” Filter Wheel, QHY OAG, SVBony SV305 guide camera
Canon T3i 60D Prime Focus and Eyepiece Projection,
ASCOM 6.5 SP1, Windows 10 Professional
LX850 Mount, ETX125, LX200 f/10 8” GPS, Meade 6” f/4 Newton Reflector on an Equatorial Mount
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smp United States of America
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Re: new gear and new directions

#2

Post by smp »


Hi turonrambar, and welcome back here to the Forum!

smp
Stephen
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Telescopes: Questar 3.5 Standard SN 18-11421; Stellina (EAA)
Solar: Thousand Oaks white light filter; Daystar Quark (chromosphere) Hα filter
Mounts: Explore Scientific Twilight I; Majestic heavy duty tripod
Local Club: New Hampshire Astronomical Society
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gregl
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Re: new gear and new directions

#3

Post by gregl »


It really sucks when manufacturers won't sell parts. What's even more frustrating is that the part on the board that went bad is probably something like a tiny capacitor that cost the manufacturer less than five cents. But you can't figure it out on your own.

Good luck on the new mount. Post a photo when you get it done.
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Lady Fraktor Slovakia
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Re: new gear and new directions

#4

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Welcome back :)
It is unfortunate that Meade has always seemed to be very hit and miss with their customer service for years. Even Celestron has vastly improved theirs since the early 2000.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
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My day was going well until... people
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: new gear and new directions

#5

Post by JayTee »


Welcome back,

It sucks that Meade has become so difficult to deal with. Glad to see you went with iOptron. They are my new favorite mount company. I own one also.

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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Re: new gear and new directions

#6

Post by turboscrew »


Welcome back to the forums, and welcome to the CEM120 users "group".
Are you getting the Tri-pier360?
- Juha

Senior Embedded SW Designer
Telescope: OrionOptics XV12, Mount: CEM120, Tri-pier 360 and alternative dobson mount.
Grab 'n go: Omegon AC 102/660 on AZ-3 mount
Eyepieces: 26 mm Omegon SWAN 70°, 15 mm TV Plössl, 12.5 mm Baader Morpheus, 10 mm TV Delos, 6 mm Baader Classic Ortho, 5 mm TV DeLite, 4 mm and 3 mm TV Radians
Cameras: ZWO ASI 294MM Pro, Omegon veLOX 178C
OAG: TS-Optics TSOAG09, ZWO EFW 7 x 36 mm, ZWO filter sets: LRGB and Ha/OIII/SII
Explore Scientific HR 2" coma corrector, Meade x3 1.25" Barlow, TV PowerMate 4x 2"
Some filters (#80A, ND-96, ND-09, Astronomik UHC)
Laptop: Acer Enduro Urban N3 semi-rugged, Windows 11
LAT 61° 28' 10.9" N, Bortle 5

I don't suffer from insanity. I'm enjoying every minute of it.

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AstroBee United States of America
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Re: new gear and new directions

#7

Post by AstroBee »


I de-forked my 12" LX200GPS a while back and have never looked back. The OTA works great on my CGX mount.
Greg M.~ "Ad Astra per Aspera"
Scopes: Celestron EdgeHD14", Explore Scientific ED152CF & ED127 APO's, StellarVue SV70T, Classic Orange-Tube C-8, Lunt 80mm Ha double-stack solar scope.
Mounts: Astro-Physics Mach One, iOptron CEM70EC Mount, iOptron ZEQ25 Mount.
Cameras: ZWO ASI2600mm Pro, ZWO 2600MC Pro, ZWO ASI1600mm
Filters: 36mm Chroma LRGB & 3nm Ha, OIII, SII, L-Pro, L-eXtreme
Eyepieces: 27mm TeleVue Panoptic, 4mm TeleVue Radian, Explore Scientific 82° 30mm, 6.7mm , Baader 13mm Hyperion, Explore Scientific 70° 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, Meade 8.8mm UWA
Software: N.I.N.A., SharpCapPro, PixInsight, PhotoShop CC, Phd2, Stellarium
https://www.nevadadesertskies.com
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Re: new gear and new directions

#8

Post by Graeme1858 »


Hello Turonrambar good to see you again.

Hope you have better luck with the iOptron!

Regards

Graeme
______________________________________________
Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

https://www.averywayobservatory.co.uk/
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Makuser United States of America
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Re: new gear and new directions

#9

Post by Makuser »


Hi Kip. Congratulations on the new gear and welcome back to the TSS forum.
:text-welcomeconfetti: BACK
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
Kamakura 7x35 Binoculars and Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars. ZWO ASI 120MC camera.
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Re: new gear and new directions

#10

Post by KingNothing13 »


Cool. I know nothing about that gear, but welcome back!
-- Brett

Scope: Apertura AD10 with Nexus II with 8192/716000 Step Encoders
EPs: ES 82* 18mm, 11mm, 6.7mm; GSO 30mm
Celestron SkyMaster 15x70 Binoculars
List Counts: Messier: 75; Herschel 400: 30; Caldwell: 12; AL Carbon Star List: 16
Brett's Carbon Star Hunt

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Re: new gear and new directions

#11

Post by Bigzmey »


Glad to hear back from you Turonrambar. Bummer about Meade, but sometimes it is better to cut the losses and move forward.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: new gear and new directions

#12

Post by Unitron48 »


Hello and welcome back! Have you posted pics of your observatory anywhere?

Dave
Unitron (60mm, 102mm), Brandon 94
Stellarvue SVX127D
http://www.unitronhistory.com

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better." Albert Einstein
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Re: new gear and new directions

#13

Post by OzEclipse »


Hi Turonrambar,

Welcome back.

Bad luck about the 850. The 120 seems to mostly have a good reputation although one member here has had some trouble.

Enjoy!

Joe
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Amateur astronomer since 1978...................Web site : http://joe-cali.com/
Scopes: ATM 18" Dob, Vixen VC200L, ATM 6"f7, Stellarvue 102ED, Saxon ED80, WO M70 ED, Orion 102 Maksutov, ST80.
Mounts: Takahashi EM-200, iOptron iEQ45, Push dobsonian with Nexus DSC, three homemade EQ's.
Eyepieces: TV Naglers 31, 17, 12, 7; Denkmeier D21 & D14; Pentax XW10, XW5, Unitron 40mm Kellner, Meade Or 25,12
Cameras : Pentax K1, K5, K01, K10D / VIDEO CAMS : TacosBD, Lihmsec.
Cam/guider/controllers: Lacerta MGEN 3, SW Synguider, Simulation Curriculum SkyFi 3+Sky safari
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Re: new gear and new directions

#14

Post by mikemarotta »


turonrambar wrote: Fri Sep 24, 2021 11:18 pm Monday the Pier is going to be delivered, so I'm getting real close to first light.
Gee whiz, what an ordeal. Sorry about the board but it is a known situation. If you care to keep an eye out there are after-market retrofits every now and then. I looked for one for a Meade Classic LX 200 8-inch SCT but gave up. So, I get that, but it's an idea for down the road because after all the glass is still good, right?

Well... what's the haps? Do you have an update for us?
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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