LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

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astrowolf67
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LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#1

Post by astrowolf67 »


Does anyone know where I can find a replacement illuminator for the polar alignment scope on my LXD75? Or, at least the switch/cap. My caliper shows the illuminator stud would need to be 11mm diameter thread, and, all I seem to find, are for 8mm. When I turned it on yesterday evening, the switch felt different, and just spins. I took the switch apart, and, the elliptical shaped piece of pcb, that acted as a switch cam, has disintegrated, and is unrepairable (I've fixed it once before).

I rarely used it, mainly when at a very dark site, without enough sky glow to see the polar reticle. But, it was nice to have it when I did need it.
David
Celestron 8" Starhopper Dob, Meade Starfinder EQ 8", Apertura 6" F/5, Meade 114NT, Edmund Astroscan, ES AR102, Sky Watcher 102mm Mak, ETX 80, ETX 60, Orion ST80, Sears Discoverer 4 6333a, Meade LXD75, ES Twilight 1, Star Adventurer 2i
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#2

Post by StarLord101 »


Wish I had one for you, but I can sympathize being the fellow owner of an lxd75 and finding out there's next to no parts available unless you want to buy another one. Could be wrong here, but our lxd75 is based on that often cloned vixen gp line correct? Seems like everyone had a version cloned from it at one point. If no luck finding an actual lxd75 version, could be worth checking the polar scope illuminator specs on the various clones, as many would use the same or similar dimensions. CG5, lxd55 to name a few. I myself had a drum gear get bent near the top of the teeth when it got stuck, and now once put back together, far more friction than there should be. And sheared metal inside the body. Odds of me finding replacements= very slim lol
LXD75 GEM mount used with 90mm Meade Refractor, 102mm Celestron reflector, and a deforked Original Meade ETX Mak
Canon T1i stock
Various modified or 3d printed DIY enhancements or tweaks
Does a kids sunglass lens count as a fancy filter? Cause I have lots of those :)
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


It should be just a standard illuminator. https://agenaastro.com/agena-deluxe-cor ... nator.html

If you go on the page and start typing illuminator into the search it will bring up all of the different ones they sell.
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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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#4

Post by astrowolf67 »


Starlord, I've been reading your thread on yours, since I am considering tearing mine down for a cleaning, and relube. I purchased mine new, back when they were first released, and, it has been trouble free, aside from the illuminator issue, and an occasional Autostar freeze. I guess I got lucky with mine.

Lady Fraaktor, I have been eyeballing the Agena illuminator, and thinking I might go with that one, and try to make an adapter somehow. Maybe cut the 11mm end off the original, and tap the center for the 8mm threads.
David
Celestron 8" Starhopper Dob, Meade Starfinder EQ 8", Apertura 6" F/5, Meade 114NT, Edmund Astroscan, ES AR102, Sky Watcher 102mm Mak, ETX 80, ETX 60, Orion ST80, Sears Discoverer 4 6333a, Meade LXD75, ES Twilight 1, Star Adventurer 2i
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#5

Post by Lady Fraktor »


What thread size do you need, there are many others available.
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
The only culture I have is from yogurt
My day was going well until... people
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#6

Post by astrowolf67 »


Lady Fraktor wrote: Sun May 03, 2020 3:04 am What thread size do you need, there are many others available.
I'm not sure the thread pitch, but, the stub on the illuminator measures 11mm with my caliper.
David
Celestron 8" Starhopper Dob, Meade Starfinder EQ 8", Apertura 6" F/5, Meade 114NT, Edmund Astroscan, ES AR102, Sky Watcher 102mm Mak, ETX 80, ETX 60, Orion ST80, Sears Discoverer 4 6333a, Meade LXD75, ES Twilight 1, Star Adventurer 2i
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#7

Post by Lady Fraktor »


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
The only culture I have is from yogurt
My day was going well until... people
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#8

Post by moonpie4594 »


The illuminator on my LXD55 mount measures 11mm and the thread pitch is 1.0
The LXD75 more than likely uses the same illuminator, but I don't know for sure.
But since they are both 11mm diameter the thread pitch should be the same.
By the way, I just happened to have a metric thread gauge. No guessing involved.

Hope this helps.
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#9

Post by StarLord101 »


astrowolf67 wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 10:41 pm Starlord, I've been reading your thread on yours, since I am considering tearing mine down for a cleaning, and relube. I purchased mine new, back when they were first released, and, it has been trouble free, aside from the illuminator issue, and an occasional Autostar freeze. I guess I got lucky with mine.
Hey @astrowolf67, Yes, it seems I did NOT win the lottery but I bought mine used and something like 12 years old already at the time, so all in all, had to have reasonable expectations. What I can tell you, is that although the threads listed problems, I was in the end successful, and pretty happy with the result of my hypertune. Unless you have the dvd or are an advanced hypertuner, please feel free to contact me via pm or a thread (if we want the information to be available to others) with any questions or if you want guidance based on the learnings of the test guinea pig...aka ME! lol. There is a cg hypertune guide by astroboy that can certainly help with the gist of it, but our lxd75 has quite a few differences, particularly with parts completely missing or added (so you are looking at the guide and scratching your head going "what the h...."?). I can let you know about any particular areas that need caution or a special approach and what worked/didn't. Also, the screws are sometimes different and a few times I came close to damaging something because I assumed the Astroboy guide was accurate for me, not realizing there was more in ours.
LXD75 GEM mount used with 90mm Meade Refractor, 102mm Celestron reflector, and a deforked Original Meade ETX Mak
Canon T1i stock
Various modified or 3d printed DIY enhancements or tweaks
Does a kids sunglass lens count as a fancy filter? Cause I have lots of those :)
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#10

Post by StarLord101 »


You know what really trips me out about the lxd75....the supposed exact same model....a bunch of them have the dec motor on the left hand side (when viewed from the polar scope eyepiece end) in various pictures, and a bunch have it on the right hand side. Mine has the arrows literally stamped and extruded into the cast body, so there is no misplaced sticker. Hell, even Meade manual for it shows it as being on different sides when in the "home position" from picture to picture throughout.
LXD75 GEM mount used with 90mm Meade Refractor, 102mm Celestron reflector, and a deforked Original Meade ETX Mak
Canon T1i stock
Various modified or 3d printed DIY enhancements or tweaks
Does a kids sunglass lens count as a fancy filter? Cause I have lots of those :)
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#11

Post by astrowolf67 »


StarLord101 wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 9:04 pm You know what really trips me out about the lxd75....the supposed exact same model....a bunch of them have the dec motor on the left hand side (when viewed from the polar scope eyepiece end) in various pictures, and a bunch have it on the right hand side. Mine has the arrows literally stamped and extruded into the cast body, so there is no misplaced sticker. Hell, even Meade manual for it shows it as being on different sides when in the "home position" from picture to picture throughout.
Mine is the same, manual shows different than what is cast on the mount. I've always gone with the mount casting, and, never had an issue. Even if I use the park scope function, it goes right back to the starting "home" position. The only thing I've done different on the exterior of mine, is to color all cast reference arrows with a black sharpie. It sure made things much easier when doing alignments and such in the dark.
David
Celestron 8" Starhopper Dob, Meade Starfinder EQ 8", Apertura 6" F/5, Meade 114NT, Edmund Astroscan, ES AR102, Sky Watcher 102mm Mak, ETX 80, ETX 60, Orion ST80, Sears Discoverer 4 6333a, Meade LXD75, ES Twilight 1, Star Adventurer 2i
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#12

Post by astrowolf67 »


StarLord101 wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 8:55 pm
astrowolf67 wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 10:41 pm Starlord, I've been reading your thread on yours, since I am considering tearing mine down for a cleaning, and relube. I purchased mine new, back when they were first released, and, it has been trouble free, aside from the illuminator issue, and an occasional Autostar freeze. I guess I got lucky with mine.
Hey @astrowolf67, Yes, it seems I did NOT win the lottery but I bought mine used and something like 12 years old already at the time, so all in all, had to have reasonable expectations. What I can tell you, is that although the threads listed problems, I was in the end successful, and pretty happy with the result of my hypertune. Unless you have the dvd or are an advanced hypertuner, please feel free to contact me via pm or a thread (if we want the information to be available to others) with any questions or if you want guidance based on the learnings of the test guinea pig...aka ME! lol. There is a cg hypertune guide by astroboy that can certainly help with the gist of it, but our lxd75 has quite a few differences, particularly with parts completely missing or added (so you are looking at the guide and scratching your head going "what the h...."?). I can let you know about any particular areas that need caution or a special approach and what worked/didn't. Also, the screws are sometimes different and a few times I came close to damaging something because I assumed the Astroboy guide was accurate for me, not realizing there was more in ours.
I appreciate the offer, but, I'm not quite ready to tear in to it yet. I figure, as long as I can keep the backlash adjusted out, and it keeps running trouble free, I'm not messing with it, lol! The old, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I just want to be careful, and not keep running it if it does need lubing.
David
Celestron 8" Starhopper Dob, Meade Starfinder EQ 8", Apertura 6" F/5, Meade 114NT, Edmund Astroscan, ES AR102, Sky Watcher 102mm Mak, ETX 80, ETX 60, Orion ST80, Sears Discoverer 4 6333a, Meade LXD75, ES Twilight 1, Star Adventurer 2i
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Re: LXD75 Polar Scope Illuminator

#13

Post by StarLord101 »


astrowolf67 wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 11:14 pm
StarLord101 wrote: Tue May 19, 2020 8:55 pm
astrowolf67 wrote: Sat May 02, 2020 10:41 pm Starlord, I've been reading your thread on yours, since I am considering tearing mine down for a cleaning, and relube. I purchased mine new, back when they were first released, and, it has been trouble free, aside from the illuminator issue, and an occasional Autostar freeze. I guess I got lucky with mine.
Hey @astrowolf67, Yes, it seems I did NOT win the lottery but I bought mine used and something like 12 years old already at the time, so all in all, had to have reasonable expectations. What I can tell you, is that although the threads listed problems, I was in the end successful, and pretty happy with the result of my hypertune. Unless you have the dvd or are an advanced hypertuner, please feel free to contact me via pm or a thread (if we want the information to be available to others) with any questions or if you want guidance based on the learnings of the test guinea pig...aka ME! lol. There is a cg hypertune guide by astroboy that can certainly help with the gist of it, but our lxd75 has quite a few differences, particularly with parts completely missing or added (so you are looking at the guide and scratching your head going "what the h...."?). I can let you know about any particular areas that need caution or a special approach and what worked/didn't. Also, the screws are sometimes different and a few times I came close to damaging something because I assumed the Astroboy guide was accurate for me, not realizing there was more in ours.
I appreciate the offer, but, I'm not quite ready to tear in to it yet. I figure, as long as I can keep the backlash adjusted out, and it keeps running trouble free, I'm not messing with it, lol! The old, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I just want to be careful, and not keep running it if it does need lubing.
Believe me, I'm absolutely on board with that. If it's operating amazingly for you, then leave it be. It could also be that you are used to it, and would be surprised by the difference the hypertune makes in general. Play it safe. But I can give you the info for reference and planning if needed. Not too many of these out there anymore since they ended production so long ago
LXD75 GEM mount used with 90mm Meade Refractor, 102mm Celestron reflector, and a deforked Original Meade ETX Mak
Canon T1i stock
Various modified or 3d printed DIY enhancements or tweaks
Does a kids sunglass lens count as a fancy filter? Cause I have lots of those :)
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