It's an illness......

General astronomy-related discussion (publicly viewable)
Dan Chieppa
Posts: 524
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 10:18 pm

It's an illness......

Unread post by Dan Chieppa »

Greetings,
Does anyone else have an illness, as I do, that causes you to buy telescopes even when you don't need them? I have a Meade 125 ETX AT system coming. Not sure where I'll put this one. :lol:
I'll be looking for some help from anyone out there that already owns one of these scopes. I expect the setup/alignment procedure to differ from my Meade refractors on their LXD mounts.
I'll post again when the telescope arrives.
Clear skies,
Dan
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Paul D
Equipment Manager
Posts: 2108
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 2:13 pm

Unread post by Paul D »

Geeeez Dan,

You only have two eyes and two hands but plenty of telescopes... :lol:
I wish you loads of luck with your new scope when it comes in... Now your only problem will be, "Which one do I grab to observe with?"

Paul D...
Dan Chieppa
Posts: 524
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 10:18 pm

Unread post by Dan Chieppa »

Paul,
Good point, only two hands so which scope to set up? I'll decide based on what I plan to observe and where.
I will have to stop buying equipment or sell some of what I have. The scope count is now six, the spotting scope count is two, the binocular count is seven and I've stopped counting the eyepieces and filters. Hey, it's only money! :-)
Clear skies,
Dan
Bruce D
Life Member
Posts: 5624
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 6:10 am

Unread post by Bruce D »

HAHAHA Dan too funny! I wish I had known you didn't need an ETX 125 I could have sold you mine!
Bruce D
Dan Chieppa
Posts: 524
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 10:18 pm

Unread post by Dan Chieppa »

Hi Bruce,
I learn something new every day. Today I learned the ETX line of telescopes don't have power supplies, they run on batteries in the base. :roll: I had no clue. Guess I'll be buying more batteries. :oops:
Clear skies,
Dan
Bruce D
Life Member
Posts: 5624
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2003 6:10 am

Unread post by Bruce D »

There is a jack for 12 VDC input, I run mine off of a 12 volt auto jump-start battery
Bruce D
Dan Chieppa
Posts: 524
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 10:18 pm

Unread post by Dan Chieppa »

Hi Bruce,
I'm expecting the new telescope today! :) Glad to hear there is a 12-volt plug for external power. I expect I'll be able to use my Meade 12-volt cord and a battery pack. It's the same cord I use with the Meade LXD75 mount. I'm excited about this new toy. Weather prediction is for clearing skies tonight so I might be able to take it for a test drive as early as tonight! :)
Clear skies,
Dan
Dan Chieppa
Posts: 524
Joined: Thu May 26, 2005 10:18 pm

Unread post by Dan Chieppa »

Greetings,
Here's a quick update on the Meade ETX 125. It arrived on Monday and was nicely packed for the trip from the west coast. The instruction booklet that came with the 497 hand control is not very helpful. Same goes for the instruction booklet for the telescope itself. I can see how people new to telescopes would be frustrated with setting this type of scope up. I'll get my turn the next clear night we get.
I'll do some daylight testing on Tuesday. I know how sharp the image is in my 5-inch ED refractor so I'm interested in seeing the image the ETX produces. I'll also train the motors and make sure the finder scope is properly aligned. That will do it until a dark sky permits some deep sky observing.
This scope is light and easy to move around so that's a plus.
Clear skies,
Dan
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