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Milburn Wedge or Meade Super Wedge??Photos plus advantages & disadvantages of each. If you own an LX200 or LX50 and want to do any photography, This is a decision that you will have to deal with. |
What is 'Drift Alignment'??Here is one of the very best, highly detailed explanations on drift alignment that you will find anywhere. It also includes many drawings to help simplify and explain how drift alignment works. If you don't understand how drift alignment works, be sure to check this out. |
SCT CollimationHow to collimate your SCT, complete with drawings. A very valuable thing to know, simplifies the mystery of collimating your telescope. |
The CollimationA very comprehensive page on how to collimate your SCT, complete with many photos, charts & drawings. |
GoTo & Tracking SystemsThis site is all about converting a manually guided telescope into a computer controlled telescope. By computer controlled I mean one that is quite capable of pointing your optics (via motors) to known celestial objects (aka Go To) and then holding them in the eyepiece for however long you choose (aka tracking). The objects most frequently looked at are not only the stars you can see un-aided at night. By objects I mean nebulae, galaxies, open and globular clusters, planets, double stars, the moon and sun. The data base of available objects is only limited by your observing location and size of your optics. |
Focal Reducer Test ReportTesting of focal ratios, vignetting, flats, etc. using a 8" LX-200 f/10 telescope with Celestron (same as Meade) 6.3 reducer and Meade 3.3 reducer, MX5C camera. NGF-S Focuser installed for all tests. Photos of results, charts, etc. |
Make a Dew Heater and Power panel for 8" SCTAfter losing most of a dark site session due to heavy dew, I decided to make a dew heater for my 8" SCT. (Another astronomer at the same session with heaters had no problems). |
Optical Tube Alignment Procedure to Improve Meade LX200 Pointing AccuracyA misaligned Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) will significantly reduce the pointing accuracy of your LX200. The purpose of this document is to give the owner of an LX200 with poor pointing accuracy the option to attempt to correct this problem himself before sending his scope to Meade for realignment. This document assumes that the owner is familiar with his scope and has an average mechanical aptitude. |
Celestron Fastar for CCD ImagingA very good review showing photos the FASTAR, how it works, how it is installed and sample photos taken using the FASTAR. |
LX 200 'GOTO' problems |
Catching the Light - AstrophotographyBy Jerry Lodriguss |
Field Power BoxA great little design for a "Field Power Box". It has plenty of photos, wiring schematic and even a Radio Shack Parts List! The entire project cost around $100 including a marine battery from Wal-Mart, wood and hardware from Home Depot, and electrical components from Radio Shack. |
MMSD Observatory's On-Line Training Course 4Using "CCDSoft" SoftwareSection 4.1 Digital Cameras and Images Section 4.2 The MMSD Observatory's Digital Camera Section 4.3 Running CCDSoft Section 4.4 Capturing an Image Section 4.5 Using CCDSoft in Simulation Mode Section 4.6 Using CCDSoft Online Section 4.7 Image Processing 101 |
Repairing the LX200 Dec/RA driveThere have been lots and lots of discussions on the problems faced when your LX200 Dec or RA drive doesn't work correctly. The most common of these is 'runaway', or a 'buzzing' of the motor, and the second-most common being a drive that is completely dead. |
Tips On Observing The UniverseA selection of popular how to articles from the Sky & Telescope's Backyard Astronomy series along with an assortment of other useful tips. |
How to Clean Lenses & Mirrors"The cleaning of optical surfaces, especially those of first-surface mirrors, is the most delicate and exacting task which the astronomer is called upon to perform. At the time of cleaning, a lens is most vulnerable to damage; damage which cannot be repaired. Yet if a telescope is to perform at its greatest potential, cleaning must be done time to time." |
A Basic Primer On AstrophotographyAn excellent page including topics such as: |
Common "Screw Ups" Made by Astrophotographers
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Guiding Tips With an Autoguider on a Schmidt-Cassegrain
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Which Telescope Should I Buy?
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Build a homemade Dew ZapperThis is an efficient dew preventer specifically designed for a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope such as the Meade LX series. The heat is generated by many small resistors placed near the corrector plate. This design uses 4 separate heaters each independently switched; this provides 24 (more commonly known as "16") combinations of power settings from 2 to 30 watts which should be adequate for a wide variety of circumstances while using only the minimum necessary amount of power. And, most important, it all tucks away neatly so that there aren't a bazillion wires running all over the place and can be left permanently attached to the scope. |
Home Made Adjustable Dew HeaterThe Kendrick and Orion systems looked attractive, but expensive. Most of the home-brew systems involved gluing the resistive elements to the corrector of the scope, a route I did not want to take.! decided to design a system that would give me the best of both worlds: a neat, finished-looking end-product similar to the commercial ones, yet inexpensive to build and easy to use. My goal was to produce a unit that would not have a tacky homemade look but would complement the appearance of my scope (we all know how important that is!). |
Meade Standard Wedge ModificationsWhile the LX200 does a great job of locating and centering objects automatically, I discovered early on that to do any reasonable imaging required polar alignment and an equatorial wedge. I thought that the standard wedge (at about 1/3 the price of the heavy duty 'Super Wedge') would be fine, but difficulty in adjusting it combined with varied forms of instability led me down a long path of trying to improve upon the basic design. |
ASTRO IMAGING HINTS PAGEAn excellent page including topics such as: |
LX200 Polar Alignment ProcedureAn excellent page including topics such as: |
Articles Related to AstrophotographyAn excellent page including topics such as: |
Adventures in Astrophotography With A Small TelescopeAn excellent page including topics such as: |
The Art of Astroimaging An excellent page including topics such as: |
Doc G's Info SiteA very comprehensive page including topics such as: |
Getting Started with the SBIG ST4 AutoguiderThe ST4 is simple to use, but it can be a challenge to find the settings that work for your scope and mount, and therefore at first it can be rather frustrating. The following is a set of instructions for getting started with the ST4, including how to set it up and how to acquire guide stars with it. |
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