Problems with 12" LX200 GPS

[Dr. Dave Landis]

Greetings:

I have a 12" LX200 GPS, running the lastest Meade firmware (1.4G), and am
having a number of problems. I have tried to contact Scott Byram, Meade's
head of Custom Support. The dealer that sold me the scope says that they
are unable to provide comprehensive support, as Meade told them to direct
all service calls to Meade. They recommended that I contact Mr. Bryam
directly, as my problems were severe and they felt that the standard tech
support representative wouldn't be able to assist me. The dealer agrees
with me that I just got a lemon of a scope. I have called Mr. Byram 6-7
times over the last month with no return call. My scope is unusable (the
two worst ones are horrible, horrible backlash [5-6 seconds at 8x to take up
the gear slack], GoTo rarely shows the object of interest in a 35 mm
eyepiece, and never to their 2 arc min. accuracy, and never on my CCD chip).
I can't take an unguided exposure (at f/6.3) for more than about 20 seconds
before the image jumps -- everything in the image displaces about 40-80
micons at the image plane. This is much more than any periodic error can
account for. Even if it was peroidic error, one would expect the image to be
smeared, not abruptly translated.

I have the scope polar aligned, and have told AutoStar so. I have done all
forms of alignment, calibration, training, etc. and all of my problems still
persist. My first contact with Meade about this support issue was a call to
their standard tech support line. I was told, directly and exactly, to
tighten the worm gears until there was no play. Gee, the motors sure loved
that one. I undid their recommended "fix", and the motors are happier, but
the problems still persist. I have download all firmware upgrades, but the
problems still persist.

The tech support guy actually said "I think your scope is just like the ETX,
right?"

Has anyone else had problems with a LX200 GPS? Does Meade care about their
customers anymore? This is my second Meade LX200 (I loved the first one, a
standard 10" f/6.3), and all I want is 1) to get it to work or 2) my money
back for the lemon I bought.

Dr. Dave Landis

[Shultz]

Did you try to go the route of the normal service number and start that way,
I have found the people there to be very knowledgable and very helpful. If
they can't help I am sure they will move you up the ladder.

Bob

"Dr. Dave Landis" <dla...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:RbrP9.12871$Jb....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...

[Dr. Dave Landis]

I did. The rep I talked to recommended that I tighten all the play out of
the worm gear, and said "I think your scope is just like the ETX, right?"

"Shultz" <rshultz....@rochester.rr.com> wrote in message
news:PhrP9.31476$eq2.7...@twister.nyroc.rr.com...

[Rod Mollise]

>
>I have a 12" LX200 GPS, running the lastest Meade firmware (1.4G), and am
>having a number of problems. I

Hi:

Continue pursuing Meade. BUT...while you're waiting -GET OVER TO THE LX200GPS
GROUP ON YAHOO- the folks there are _very_ knowledgeable about this scope (Clay
Sherrod hangs out there, and is probably the #1 LX200 GPS/Autostar/ETX guru
around), and may be able to get it going without having to enlist Meade's aid.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto <http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html>

[Lunar-Observing]

Hi Dave,

Meade's customer support seems to do well one time and lousy the next. While
you are battling with Meade, I would recommend to different groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-Uncensored/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LX200GPS-UNCENSORED/

They have a lot of very knowledgable LX200 owners and may be able to get it
up and running long before Meade does (they also obviously know more than
the tech you talked with!)

Good luck and hang in there!
--
Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Check out the Lunar-Observing Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/
Home of the Lunar-Feature-of-the-Month,
and in-depth preparation for your observing.

"Dr. Dave Landis" <dla...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:RbrP9.12871$Jb....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...

[Michael A. Covington]

Are you in the loop with www.mapug.com? A lot of experts can be contacted
there. Also, it sounds like you got a support person who mixed up LX200 GPS
with LX90 (which *is* rather like the ETX). Even so, tightening the worm
gears to have "no play" is of course ridiculous. I haven't seen the innards
of an LX200 GPS, but there should be a spring, and what you want is of
course to have uniform and sufficient pressure on it.

Since you're dealing with sudden jerks (I mean in the telescope, not on the
support line :) I have 2 thoughts. (1) Lubrication. Is there something
lumpy and hard in the grease? You might try cleaning it out and
relubricating. (2) Worm gear actually loose on its shaft and slipping back
and forth. Check carefully for a loose setscrew.

Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

[Rod Mollise]

>Are you in the loop with www.mapug.com?

Hi Michael:

MAPUG's good...but they really deal mostly with the LX200 "Classic."

As for the original poster... For the straight poop on the GPS:

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LX200GPS>

You might also want to sign up for my (much smaller) LX200 GPS Uncensored group
at:

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LX200GPS-UNCENSORED>

[Richard]

I too have had bad luck with Meade Tech Support and that was over a 12"
LX200GPS scope. If it helps while you are talking to Meade tech support,
think of a bunch of monkeys trying to breed a football. It may help. You may
want to join www.yahoo.groups.lx200gps as there are quite a few people that
are that can help you with your problems. The other posts here have also
listed some great sites to get needed help. They are quite informative and
have in depth information. Sure takes the fun out of a new toy when it
breaks and all you can talk to at Meade is a bunch of jerks. Good luck with
your new scope.
RICHARD

"Dr. Dave Landis" <dla...@gte.net> wrote in message
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[Lunar-Observing]

> If it helps while you are talking to Meade tech support,
> think of a bunch of monkeys trying to breed a football. It may help.

I'm not even going to try and imagine that scene!

[huub jacobs]

Dave,

Did you try to put your complain on Yahoo's newsgroup LX200GPS?
This newsgroup discusses many of this kind of questions and problems all
related to the LX200GPS scopes.
The group has 1760 members and discusses more then 2000 remarks, questions,
problems and answers per month.
A number of them are related to the problems you describe.

Huub

"Dr. Dave Landis" <dla...@gte.net> wrote in message
news:RbrP9.12871$Jb....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...

[Paul M]

Is the scope under warranty?

"Dr. Dave Landis" <dla...@gte.net> wrote in message
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