Go-to scope
I have been using Meade LXD-55 8″ Schmidt-Newtonian reflector for more than 5 years. After using it a couple of times, I thought that using the go-to system took a long time to set up and I stopped using it. Also, it ate batteries and didn’t want to keep buying more when I could search and find most everything manually. Sometime last year, I bought a 12V power supply for the drive along with accessories to mount my new WO Megrez90. All those things collected dust as I continued using Megrez90 in manual mode. Last week, I got very annoyed when I couldn’t work the tripod head properly with my frozen fingers and decided to get LXD-55 out of the box again.
Last night, I set everything up very crudely with Megrez90 on the mount. I did a good job of polar alignment but didn’t bother balancing the tripod. Two star alignment worked quite flawlessly and the first object that I selected for go-to, M82 was right in the middle of the field. I was hopping from one object to next with just a couple of clicks of buttons and I must admit that it was very enjoyable. I was able to see M81, M82, double cluster in perseus, M42, M35, M36, M37, Moon and Saturn in 15-20 minutes.
Spending those 10-15 extra minutes to setup the mount was really worth it. Maybe, I had problems earlier with the heavier 8″ scope and things worked very well with the smaller refractor. That shouldn’t be the case if everything is properly balanced with counterweights. Must have been my mistake in setting things up or my memory is failing me about my earlier experience with the mount. Anyway, after last night’s fun time, I’ll be using the go-to functionality more and more.
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