Lidl LXD75 telescope help thread

1. Power Problems:
I have used my scope a number of times since and the main problem I have had is the power- the batteries are still in good condition but its worthwhile checking them with a meter if one is avaialble.

I have had a small problem with the battery connector onto the motor/control unit box. If you look at the red LED and move the connector slightly you may see the LED's Light fade or dim. If that happens the handbox CPU will reset and you end up having to go through the sSet Up procedure all over again!

The problem is that the power connector plug is not being held securely in the socket. In my case I found that the prong in the centre of the socket was not providing enough contact force.

If you shine a light carefully into the socket you will see that the centre prong in the middle of the socket. There are two vertical halves to the prong with a small separation between them. The gap between the prongs applies a radial force to the inner part of the plug which helps make the connection firm. If the gap is too small you get a poor connection.

Take a small headed normal slotted screw driver head ( ie not a Phillips or Hex type) and VERY CAREFULLY insert it down into the socket between the gap in the prong and GENTLY make the gap wider, if you make it too wide the plug won't enter the socket and you also run the risk of breaking one or both halves of the prong. This may sovle your problem.
Contact with the outer part of the plug is by means of a small srung ball which protrudes from the side of the socket, this may also be too weak but enlarging the gap in the centre prong has worked for me.

I suspect the plug supplied is not a correct match for the socket and that is the real cause of the problem- a poor quality 20c part on a 600E scope,
says it all about modern production practise doesn't it?

Anyway I hope this works for you.

2. Algnment : Sometimes I get close enough on alignment that Capella is within the eyepiece and then a few gentle taps of the arrow keys is enough to centre it. If it doesnt then I blame it on my having made an error in the polar alignment.

Have you set up your observing location and time zone correctly (15 degrees error sounds as if you have Daylight saving set ON when it should be OFF in winter).

Have you tried using Spiral Search rather than the arrow keys if the scope slews to the wrong position - press and hold the Goto key for a few seconds if the alignment star isnt in the viewfinder after the slew.
The scope will start a spiral search of the area and you need to look through the eyepiece and press enter to stop the search as soon as the star comes into view. I found that just using the arrow keys to search usually causes me to get totally lost !


Apart from all the above I have had a great time with my new scope apart of course from the lousy weather restricting the number of nights I could safely take it out.

As regards a working LXD75.
I had one of the dreaded Motor Unit Failures the fist day I set it up. Obtained a replacement RA drive from Meade Germany. Since then its been a treat to use. (When the clouds clear anyway).
I set it up in the same spot in the garden. Even using the same holes in the grass now. Use the Kochab Clock method to Polar align (See Mr Weasner web site). Autostar says 3 star alingment is often within 5 Arc minutes of Polaris. Sometimes one axis is better but the other is worse. (Not sure if that is good?).
I can get the alingment stars in a 26mm lens most nights. If not they are well in the FOV of the supplied viewfinder. GOTO's always within a 26 MM often a 12mm.
Still on batteries. I Train and calibrate the motors often.
Just use it for visual stuff.
Hope that some use to you. I am happy now.

Donal Mc

I bought the Meade Newtonian from Lidl last November and I added a set of eyepieces and filters along with a 2x Barlow. As a first real scope it seems to work well and I have enjoyed some great views of the various objects in Orion as well as Saturn and the Moon.

I know nothing is ever perfect and I have been hunting the internet to see what improvements I can make to what is fundamentally a good scope.

An obvious problem is that the focuser suffers from field shift and at high magnification the exit pupil doesn't seem to be centered on the eyepiece. ( Any comments about this would be appreciated)

Before investigating this further I have read a few sites about the need to keep this type of Newtonian in good collimation being a f/5 it seems this is rather critical.

The Meade manual outlines the steps necessary for collimation but it does seem to a have errors which as a newcomer caused me a bit of consternation:

The manual in Step 2 talks about loosening the 3 vane adjustment lock knobs on the outside of the OTA (2, Fig 38) in order to slide the secondary vane assembly up and down to adjust the position of the secondary if it is right or left of center.

This is actually impossible, while 3 screws are accessible on the outside of the OTA they do not adjust the mirror up and down, the corresponding holes which they occupy in the OTA are slightly slotted but only allow adjustment of the mirror by rotation ie with the OTA horizontal the image will move up and down vertically.

The three screws on the center of the vane assembly allow centering of the secondary to the left or right or slightly up and down (when the OTA is horizontal).

The second error concerns the primary mirror adjustment step 4 and Fig 36. The screw types are not as stated. In fact the lock nut heads are merely knurled as are the adjustment screws.

As far as I can see the smaller heads are locking screws and they are loosened before adjusting the mirror tilt with the bigger screws.

I have just completed a Cheshire type eyepiece based on a description by Nils Olof Carlin at( www.atmsite.org/contrib/Carlin/collimation/#simplesight ). It has helped me get things looking perfect but due to the weather I have not been able to sky test it yet.

Sorry the final part of my last post should of course have read - I have not had time to sky test the newly realigned scope yet ,(Not the Cheshire!)

This may annoy some people who have already posted here, but I got my Lidl LXD75 for xmas and haven't had one single problem with it. Bloody great scope, rock solid mount, flawless motors. Not to mention about twice as good an image as my old 4.5" reflector.

PS this is my first post on the boards. Good to be here!

This may annoy some people who have already posted here, but I got my Lidl LXD75 for xmas and haven't had one single problem with it. Bloody great scope, rock solid mount, flawless motors. Not to mention about twice as good an image as my old 4.5" reflector.

PS this is my first post on the boards. Good to be here!

Welcome StarryPlough!

Great to hear another person who had a good experience with the scope. Unfortunately, bad news travels way faster than good news so we may often think that those with bad experiences are in the majority. Good to hear that your scope is working flawlessly.