Meade LX200 Classic Is this going to be a good scope for Astro-photography?
May 16, 2016 18:21:58 #
I just committed to purchasing this scope, it was purchased new in 2004, but kept in an executive's office more as a show piece than a scope that he actually used more than just a few times. As shown in the pictures it appears to be in great condition, my concern is being a 2004 scope will the tracking system be good enough for me to get quality images using this scope with my DSLRs...
Obviously I have no experience in Astro Photography but have always had an interest and this deal just seemed too good to pass up especially when considering the price of the newer 8" scopes.
I am just hoping that someone here knows a little about this scope and can tell me if it is going to work out well for me or not.
Obviously I have no experience in Astro Photography but have always had an interest and this deal just seemed too good to pass up especially when considering the price of the newer 8" scopes.
I am just hoping that someone here knows a little about this scope and can tell me if it is going to work out well for me or not.
May 16, 2016 18:50:02 #
May 16, 2016 18:54:36 #
Since it is an Alt-Az mount, there will be field rotation to contend with. This limits exposure times. The greater your magnification, i.e., focal length, the more you will have to deal with it.
You should still be able to capture many short exposures and stack.
And I suppose it might be compatible with a wedge that tilts it to act like an equatorial mount which can solve this problem.
You should still be able to capture many short exposures and stack.
And I suppose it might be compatible with a wedge that tilts it to act like an equatorial mount which can solve this problem.
May 16, 2016 22:08:25 #
JimH123 wrote:
Since it is an Alt-Az mount, there will be field rotation to contend with. This limits exposure times. The greater your magnification, i.e., focal length, the more you will have to deal with it.
You should still be able to capture many short exposures and stack.
And I suppose it might be compatible with a wedge that tilts it to act like an equatorial mount which can solve this problem.
You should still be able to capture many short exposures and stack.
And I suppose it might be compatible with a wedge that tilts it to act like an equatorial mount which can solve this problem.
I had a similar Meade 8" SCT on the Fork Mount and was limited to shorter exposures.
Once I added the Wedge it greatly increased my exposure times. With a DSLR you'll
be able to get 5 min easily.
Craig
May 16, 2016 22:15:36 #
May 17, 2016 09:28:02 #
I have the 10" model though the Dec board/motor is fried. Definitely need the a wedge for long exposures of over 60-90sec depending on your focal length.
IMHO I would avoid the Meade or Celestron wedges as they are not very sturdy without a few modifications. Personally if you can't make one up yourself, find a metal working shop in your area and have them make one for you. I would not worry about making the angle adjustable unless you plan on travelling hundreds of miles north or south from your normal viewing area, just have it made for your particular latitude with the holes so you can mount it to your tripod and telescope. At a guess 3/8" steel unpainted cut, welded and a couple times over with a grinder, probably cost less than $100.00
Matthew
IMHO I would avoid the Meade or Celestron wedges as they are not very sturdy without a few modifications. Personally if you can't make one up yourself, find a metal working shop in your area and have them make one for you. I would not worry about making the angle adjustable unless you plan on travelling hundreds of miles north or south from your normal viewing area, just have it made for your particular latitude with the holes so you can mount it to your tripod and telescope. At a guess 3/8" steel unpainted cut, welded and a couple times over with a grinder, probably cost less than $100.00
Matthew
May 17, 2016 10:12:31 #
dlmorris
Loc: Loma Linda, Ca
Get the heavy duty wedge. Use a focal reducer. You will need some sort of auto guiding....which you pretty much need anyway with any large scope. You can also just mount your camera piggy back on the scope, and shoot that way. You may need to do a bit of tweaking to make it all work right, but it can be done.
May 17, 2016 11:56:49 #
Sounds like a great find.
Even though a bit dated, it has been a decoration waiting for a loving touch to bring it to life.
As has been said, it won't really track like the latest greatest toy's from the Cracker Jacks Box. But by golly the telescope should be bang-on like brand new.
Quite possibly, the mount could be updated or replaced for Astrophotography use. And it should be quite capable for solar system, lunar, and planetary objects.
The deal is, the human eye adjusts rapidly, but your camera is finite. So while this gem is coming out of long term hibernation, it may be an uphill battle to do photography with the type of mount, Alt/Az.
So even if it doesn't quite satisfy your original thoughts, it will probably be wonderful as a visual telescope and mount.
(And quite frankly, I'd bet the optics are probably beefier than the latest greatest offerings. Like higher grade / heavier duty materials.)
It is a slippery slope, fraught with much damage to your wallet. But one filled with great wonders of far away places. You will put your eye to a time machine and view things that may no longer exist. It's not the Hubble, but it is yours.
And it is not unlike Macro. You will still be taking things too tiny to see, and bringing them into view for yourself. In that respect, I bet it fits like a glove.
Congratulations!
Even though a bit dated, it has been a decoration waiting for a loving touch to bring it to life.
As has been said, it won't really track like the latest greatest toy's from the Cracker Jacks Box. But by golly the telescope should be bang-on like brand new.
Quite possibly, the mount could be updated or replaced for Astrophotography use. And it should be quite capable for solar system, lunar, and planetary objects.
The deal is, the human eye adjusts rapidly, but your camera is finite. So while this gem is coming out of long term hibernation, it may be an uphill battle to do photography with the type of mount, Alt/Az.
So even if it doesn't quite satisfy your original thoughts, it will probably be wonderful as a visual telescope and mount.
(And quite frankly, I'd bet the optics are probably beefier than the latest greatest offerings. Like higher grade / heavier duty materials.)
It is a slippery slope, fraught with much damage to your wallet. But one filled with great wonders of far away places. You will put your eye to a time machine and view things that may no longer exist. It's not the Hubble, but it is yours.
And it is not unlike Macro. You will still be taking things too tiny to see, and bringing them into view for yourself. In that respect, I bet it fits like a glove.
Congratulations!
May 17, 2016 12:37:23 #
Oknoder wrote:
I have the 10" model though the Dec board/mot... (show quote)
Matthew, I have access to steel, table saws, welders, grinders and such, how would I go about finding the proper angle for my lattitude?
May 17, 2016 13:00:21 #
Blurryeyed wrote:
Matthew, I have access to steel, table saws, welders, grinders and such, how would I go about finding the proper angle for my lattitude?
Make it tune-able.
May 17, 2016 13:15:35 #
Blurryeyed wrote:
Matthew, I have access to steel, table saws, welders, grinders and such, how would I go about finding the proper angle for my lattitude?
Well what I did was take my Latitude off of my GPS, which is N 47° 48' 3.1032, so I had it made to sit on a pillar of concrete with a level top and had some steel welded 48° from the level base, which is within a half of a degree. I had the welder leave the back open so I could peer through the one of the holes to help align to Polaris, and allow easy access incase it had to be removed for whatever reason. I have run into issues with putting up a permanent observatory so it is not, yet in use. I presently use this scope for mostly visual observing, and stick to either my Nikon lens or refractor for my main imaging, when I do image something small I use an AT6RC, which while being a bit on the cheap side has served me fairly well.
Couple of pieces of advice made the holes that will hold the wedge to the pier elongated to allow you to shift the wedge so your J-bolts do not have to be exact. When you place your camera on the rear of the scope, unless you are planning on using Starizona's hyperstar system, that your camera may not be able to clear the underside of the of the fork. I would hate to see you damage anything before you really got a chance to play with it.
HTH,
Matthew
May 17, 2016 13:15:45 #
Blurryeyed wrote:
Matthew, I have access to steel, table saws, welders, grinders and such, how would I go about finding the proper angle for my lattitude?
29.2108° N that is your latitude or elevation.
It really needs to be at least adjustable to + or - 5*
Craig
May 19, 2016 19:36:35 #
Thanks everybody for your feedback, the seller called me and told me that someone had offered him more than our agreed upon price so if I wanted it I would have to pay a few hundred dollars more, so although upset I told him to sell it to the better offer. At anyrate, he called me back two days later, it turned out that he had fallen for one of those craigslist scams and so we are back on. Glad I did not blow my top with the guy as I was tempted to do at the time.
Anyway thanks for all the great feed back regarding the scope, I will be picking it up this weekend but I am sure that it will be some time before I am posting images as there will be many accessories to purchase.
Interestingly I did find a link on a Florida group's website to these images which I am posting below, he has modified his dslr to full spectrum, says he did it himself, wondering what that may involve. He was shooting with a 12" scope which I know is quite a bit different than the Meade I am purchasing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxT3qWmJL4
Anyway thanks for all the great feed back regarding the scope, I will be picking it up this weekend but I am sure that it will be some time before I am posting images as there will be many accessories to purchase.
Interestingly I did find a link on a Florida group's website to these images which I am posting below, he has modified his dslr to full spectrum, says he did it himself, wondering what that may involve. He was shooting with a 12" scope which I know is quite a bit different than the Meade I am purchasing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAxT3qWmJL4
May 19, 2016 19:37:38 #
May 19, 2016 22:19:03 #
I have done a few modifications to my D5100 over the past year or so. Canon is a bit easier, as Hap Griffin, I believe has step by step tutorials on how to modify various models. I can presently strip my Nikon down and reassemble it within 15-20 minutes, with no left over screws, no less.
My first mod, was to remove the "hot filter", I measured the three pieces of glass sandwiched together to have a thickness of just under 1mm, so decided to go with no extra filter. I was still able to achieve infinity focus with all of my lenses, along with auto focus working, without a hitch.
Second was stripping the bayer filter off of my sensor to make it monochromatic. This was an endeavor not for the faint of heart, as I destroyed quite a few sensors, mostly due to damaging the fine gold wires attaching the imaging chip to the silicon. I also learned that for some reason you cannot strip the whole bayer filter array off, if you get too close to the edge, the chip will cease to work. I don't know why but, I learned this the hard way. In the end my D5100 has a usable monochrome sensor a little smaller than a 4/3s sensor.
My next mod will be running a cold finger onto the back aluminum plate to cool the sensor. This will be chilled with probably a 20-30w TEC puck. The cold finger will be attached to a heat sink on the bottom of the camera to help dissipate the heat the TEC creates.
As far as DIY, to modify your camera to a full spectrum camera, it is fairly easy, especially if you do not need to add a piece of glass for focus. I would not do this to an expensive camera, but then again the term expensive is a relative term. Just video record the whole process and keep different length screws separated and its all easy-peasy. What I did the first time I took my camera apart was googled Nikon D5100 teardown and found a few tutorials that got me started. I am sure there is probably one for your specific model.
THT
Matthew
My first mod, was to remove the "hot filter", I measured the three pieces of glass sandwiched together to have a thickness of just under 1mm, so decided to go with no extra filter. I was still able to achieve infinity focus with all of my lenses, along with auto focus working, without a hitch.
Second was stripping the bayer filter off of my sensor to make it monochromatic. This was an endeavor not for the faint of heart, as I destroyed quite a few sensors, mostly due to damaging the fine gold wires attaching the imaging chip to the silicon. I also learned that for some reason you cannot strip the whole bayer filter array off, if you get too close to the edge, the chip will cease to work. I don't know why but, I learned this the hard way. In the end my D5100 has a usable monochrome sensor a little smaller than a 4/3s sensor.
My next mod will be running a cold finger onto the back aluminum plate to cool the sensor. This will be chilled with probably a 20-30w TEC puck. The cold finger will be attached to a heat sink on the bottom of the camera to help dissipate the heat the TEC creates.
As far as DIY, to modify your camera to a full spectrum camera, it is fairly easy, especially if you do not need to add a piece of glass for focus. I would not do this to an expensive camera, but then again the term expensive is a relative term. Just video record the whole process and keep different length screws separated and its all easy-peasy. What I did the first time I took my camera apart was googled Nikon D5100 teardown and found a few tutorials that got me started. I am sure there is probably one for your specific model.
THT
Matthew
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