Lidl "Refractor Telescope" forum

Hello and welcome,

If you purchased a "Refractor Telescope", better known outside of supermarkets as the Skylux 70, this is the place to come for support, advice and general discussion about the scope. So if you have problems setting up the scope or using it feel free to post questions here.

Even if you have got the scope working perfectly you may be interested in looking at our freely downloadable observing handbooks at
www.irishastronomy.org/observers/challenges
The Novice and Binocular ones are the best to star off with. Also check out our freely downloadable bimonthly magazine at www.irishastronomy.org/user_resources/viewFiles.php?folder_id=3

This service is being ran by members of astronomy clubs around the country and is not connected to lidl. For any queries regarding warranty or returns etc. etc. please contact lidl directly.

Cheers,
~Al

Could not get a Meade. Tried both Baldoyle and Coolock with no success. How ever I got a Skylux so that I can make a start. Not out of box yet but will let you know how I get on. Good luck to all those who got the meade. Hopefully they will pop up here in the near future. Clear skies, Peter

I popped into Lidl in Magherafelt this morning and they had a whole pallet load of skylux telescopes. I bought one,assembled it in an hour - pushed a 10mm Vixen lanthanam eyepiece in the small end - (worth twice the cost of the skylux when new! ) - end result - very pleasantly suprised by my new travel scope . Sitting next to the telescopes was a microscope with a computer based cmos imaging camera - for about £35 the lot including software - so I bought one of these as well.

IDEA: How about a competion - best image for under a hundred pounds worth of equipment- computer excluded? It might bring the ' amateur' back into amateur astronomy and encourage students, the unwaged or low waged to get involved and gain a love for the night sky. A whole bunch of cheap scopes with or without web cams or cheap cmos /ccd imaging devices could make a fine impression in a 'pavement astronomy meeting in a town shopping area or supermarket car park without scaring people away due the cost of high tech equipment that is so often on display.

Clear skies !

Got to Lidl in Arklow on Monday morning at 8.55am to find a queue at the door! Luckily there were plenty of both the Skylux and the computer controlled ones there. I must admit I was tempted by the more expensive model, but went for the Skylux in the end (plus two bottles of mulled wine!).

One tip ... I had a problem with a lot of play in the declination axis. After a bit of investigation it turned out that the little gear housing was loose, and that the thread was stripped on one of the holes the it's bolted onto the mount with. I toyed with the idea of calling the UK service number, but then noticed that you could also email lidl-service@meade.de. I sent them an email outlining the problem yesterday afternoon, and got a reply today that they're shipping a new part to me free of charge this week! That's what I call service!

Has anyone any info on where to find accesories such as a motor drive or camera bracket for the Skylux : Thanks in advance!

Yea, a motor drive would be nice. But I'm not too sure which one would fit. I think the mount that comes with the shylux is an 'EQ2', so any drive which fits an EQ2 should do it. I've searched the usual sites, but can't find one.

Also, one other thing that's putting me off, is should I first do the maintenance job on the mount gearings to get rid of the sticky grease and make the movement a bit more fluid.

I got the skylux last year, but haven't been brave enough to dismantle the mount yet... :roll: