Telescope
My telescope is a Meade 10" f/10 LX-200.
I am very impressed with it. It took me nearly six months to get over my skepticism, having owned Meade products before.
Once you get past all the hype, you have a very well thought out, well made machine. I'm fairly hard on it, and it holds up quite well.
Everything they say about the GOTO capabilities is true. And then some. I like everything but the finder.
Never get an SCT with a straight-through finder. If you can't look through the main scope without a 90 degree diagonal, how on earth are you supposed to see through the finder without one?
Loosely attached to the top is a recent addition. An 80mm f/5 no-name scope I got from Telescope Warehouse. William Vorce is very easy to do business with.
The current accessory list reads something like this:
- Meade f/0.63 Telecompressor
- Meade f/0.33 Telecompressor
- JMI NGF-S Focuser
- No-Name 80mm f/5 Refractor
- Super Wedge
- LPR Filter
- DC power supply
- Meade Tele-extender
- Vixen 10mm Plossl
I had a Tele-Vue 40mm eyepiece, which was very nice, but I use the f/0.63 telecompressor exclusively for deep sky visual, and it really doesn't work well for that. If I break down and use the LX at f/10, it is generally for planets, and again, the 40mm just doesn't work for that. A friend who has an ETX has found it to be just the eyepiece for him.
Wish List:
I would really like a Losmandy dovetail plate and rings for the 80mm, but at a bit over twice the price of the scope, I can find many, many alternatives. I'll get some 16 penny nails and nail it on before I'll pay what he's asking. Aluminum must be a precious metal in Hollywood.