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Lidl LXD75 telescope help thread
- paulevans
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- bertthebudgie
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- paulevans
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- bertthebudgie
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- paulevans
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17 years 11 months ago #36721
by paulevans
Replied by paulevans on topic Re: Lidl LXD75 telescope help thread
Yes David, I would agree with that assessment. A fault with the reading of information from the encoder which fails to initiate the feedback loop until an error forces a reset. Or someting like that 
Paul.
Paul.
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- jhoare
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17 years 11 months ago #36723
by jhoare
John
Better that old people should die of talk than to have young people die in war.
Replied by jhoare on topic Re: Lidl LXD75 telescope help thread
Happy to report that mine is working fine so far.
Snags and foibles noted:
Before you do ANYTHING else polar align the mount. The dumb defaults are not for our location so using Autostar without elevating the polar axis to our latitude and inputting the right date, time and site could mean that the scope will slam into something.
Until the polar axis is elevated to our latitude it might be a good idea to remove the reticle illuminator and put it in your pocket until ready to align. It looks like it could snag on the polar axis screw.
When Autostar starts up it doesn't go straight to setup, Align comes up instead. The defaults are not for our latitude so the scope might slam into something if you try to align without completing setup first. It would be a good idea to power up and verify the Autostar setup before attaching the scope and counterweight as part of your routine. Above all make sure it's set up for the right telescope/mount!
The motors need a perfectly balanced setup. Not enough emphasis is placed in the manual on getting this right. Given the mass of the counterweight compared to the telescope if the rig isn't balanced right it could burn out one or both motors.
If you set the mount to German North don't expect to be able to use the Polarscope, something else I didn't see in the manual. The designer assumed a Newt or Schmidt Newt will be mounted and the port in the axis shaft that sits in front of the scope only allows alignment when the tube is rotated to roughly parallel with the ground so that it's not in the way of your head. Don't forget to set the scope back to German North when you've aligned the mount.
There's no level bubble. Easy fix: make sure the spreader is as tight up against the legs as it will go, then get one of those North & Level bubble gizmos that drop into the focuser (sold for scopes like the NexStar 4 or ETX) and drop it in one of the eyepiece slots in the spreader. Hey presto level bubble. Your polar alignment won't be accurate unless you level the tripod.
I need to work out. The tube is light enough but this is the heaviest mount I've ever owned.
If you have any lighter scopes that you'd like to try out on the LXD75 rustle up some smaller counterweights first. Anything lighter than the N6 is liable to be overbalanced by the single counterweight that comes with the mount.
When you 'Train' the mount while taking you through the steps for each axis it will move first one way and ask you to swing the scope back on target, then the other. Don't overshoot because you've only got the use of one arrow key during each step.
Finally, if you've never owned something very like it before (my only relevant experiences are with a NexStar 4 and a manual GEM - very basic) it will pay to start out easy and slow with this baby like when you're learning to dance the way grandad and grandma did, otherwise you're likely to step on some toes and in this case they are liable to break. Learn its snags and foibles and how to operate it by heart before you take it out in the dark without a manual. You'll need to use what you've learned because this is not nearly as simple or forgiving as an ETX or a NexStar 4/5. Comparing the mechanics of an ETX fork mount to the LXD75 would be a bit like comparing the simplicity of a shotgun to the complexities of a heavy artillery piece and just as dangerous.
So what am I complaining about? Not much really. All said given the price I paid for this rig it's got what it takes and it's a bargain!
And I haven't broken it yet
Snags and foibles noted:
Before you do ANYTHING else polar align the mount. The dumb defaults are not for our location so using Autostar without elevating the polar axis to our latitude and inputting the right date, time and site could mean that the scope will slam into something.
Until the polar axis is elevated to our latitude it might be a good idea to remove the reticle illuminator and put it in your pocket until ready to align. It looks like it could snag on the polar axis screw.
When Autostar starts up it doesn't go straight to setup, Align comes up instead. The defaults are not for our latitude so the scope might slam into something if you try to align without completing setup first. It would be a good idea to power up and verify the Autostar setup before attaching the scope and counterweight as part of your routine. Above all make sure it's set up for the right telescope/mount!
The motors need a perfectly balanced setup. Not enough emphasis is placed in the manual on getting this right. Given the mass of the counterweight compared to the telescope if the rig isn't balanced right it could burn out one or both motors.
If you set the mount to German North don't expect to be able to use the Polarscope, something else I didn't see in the manual. The designer assumed a Newt or Schmidt Newt will be mounted and the port in the axis shaft that sits in front of the scope only allows alignment when the tube is rotated to roughly parallel with the ground so that it's not in the way of your head. Don't forget to set the scope back to German North when you've aligned the mount.
There's no level bubble. Easy fix: make sure the spreader is as tight up against the legs as it will go, then get one of those North & Level bubble gizmos that drop into the focuser (sold for scopes like the NexStar 4 or ETX) and drop it in one of the eyepiece slots in the spreader. Hey presto level bubble. Your polar alignment won't be accurate unless you level the tripod.
I need to work out. The tube is light enough but this is the heaviest mount I've ever owned.
If you have any lighter scopes that you'd like to try out on the LXD75 rustle up some smaller counterweights first. Anything lighter than the N6 is liable to be overbalanced by the single counterweight that comes with the mount.
When you 'Train' the mount while taking you through the steps for each axis it will move first one way and ask you to swing the scope back on target, then the other. Don't overshoot because you've only got the use of one arrow key during each step.
Finally, if you've never owned something very like it before (my only relevant experiences are with a NexStar 4 and a manual GEM - very basic) it will pay to start out easy and slow with this baby like when you're learning to dance the way grandad and grandma did, otherwise you're likely to step on some toes and in this case they are liable to break. Learn its snags and foibles and how to operate it by heart before you take it out in the dark without a manual. You'll need to use what you've learned because this is not nearly as simple or forgiving as an ETX or a NexStar 4/5. Comparing the mechanics of an ETX fork mount to the LXD75 would be a bit like comparing the simplicity of a shotgun to the complexities of a heavy artillery piece and just as dangerous.
So what am I complaining about? Not much really. All said given the price I paid for this rig it's got what it takes and it's a bargain!
And I haven't broken it yet
John
Better that old people should die of talk than to have young people die in war.
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