LX90 Problems

[Dave Saunders]

Hi all,

have'nt posted for a few week's now, a few health problems to sort out!!.
Anyway thought i'd cheer myself up with a bit of retail therapy a couple of week's ago and bought a 1209 microfocuser for my LX90.
I't arrived next day, and yes it did the trick It worked great for about 1/2 hour then slewed scope to next object and everthing stopped and the handbox went blank. Checked if cables had snagged etc. but no the scope was stone dead

The bad news was it's got to be repaired by the UK dealers ( 140 miles away), the very bad news, there on holiday until the end of August and the *!*@+X#* bad news it's going to cost £98 to return it + cost of repair ( about £145 ) somethink to do with "reverse pole" This is NOT a hobby for the financially challenged!!
Also to add insult the UK repairer is the company i bought the focuser from.
Anyway it's going to be cheaper to take it down in the car, hopefully the car wont break down.

Life sometimes seem to be one step forward and two steps back!!
Better stop now as it getting difficult to see the keys through all these tears, will keep you posted.
Dave.

PS. just thought what will i find to do now!!

[dmill1220]

Hi Dave,

Sorry to hear about your bad luck with your scope, that S####!
You mentioned that you checked your cables, did you use a multimeter to confirm the continuity of all your cables?
How did you confirm that it was not a cable or poor power connection or your Computer?
Also, Did you try another Power Supply and, if you are controlling the scope via a laptop did you try to power up your scope without connecting it to your computer?

I might just be able to save you the trip and the Money.
You mentioned Reverse Pole? I am assuming that the Repair people think that you reversed the polarity of your Power supply. Normally this usually blows a fuse and your system wouldn't fire up at all, and, if you were operating under Power and it then it went dead, I can't see How you could reverse the polarity of any circuit without a bad Cable. unless you connected someting wrong, Or some kind of internal short circuit.

Dennis

[Dave Saunders]

Hi Dennis,

Thank's for your reply, yes i did do a check on all cables. It was not conected to the computer as it was just being used for viewing and trying out the new 1209 focuser.The power was getting to the scope computer control panel and LED was showing red (on mains supply or batteries) but power was not getting to the handbox, this was totaly blank!! I kept going back to it and trying again hoping the gremlings had gone but no luck.

Anyway I took it over to Meade service centre in Kent yesterday as it was so depressing just seeing it there dead as a door nail
After seeing it they now say it could be the handbox or electrical fault on the scope curcuit board, won't know for about 10 day's now!! It's very dissapointing as the scope is only 15 months old and has been well looked after in it's own fully carpeted observatory.

I'l let you know the outcome when i get it back, soon i hope.

Regards Dave.

[Dave Saunders]

Yippeeeee it's back,

Yes the scope is back at last, the problem seemed to have been with the handbox, on the invoice it just say's "handbox repaired" anyway i'm just pleased to get it back. (god how sad my life is getting, falling in love with a scope)!!!

As well as the repair it say's it was given a general sevice and collimation check, this was £85 inc the return carrage, bad but not as bad as the first estimate.

Cant wait to give it a test run, as soon as these dam clouds clear!!!

A happy Dave.

[Darryl]

Hi Dave,

It's good to hear you got your scope back. I know how you feel about a 15 month old Meade telescope going back for repair. There is something just not right about that, and the forums I have visited in the past all to frequently have a story of an individual having to send their telescope back to Meade for repair even for a minor issue. I had to fight tooth and nail to get a replacement part from Meade which involved my focuser on the telescope which I new I could repair. They new what the problem was and I knew what the problem was but they were VERY reluctant to send the part to me and I had to fight tooth and nail before someone relaxed thier policy and sent me the part.

I would say you got off pretty cheap considering it had to go to a service center for repair. The only choice I have is to send mine directly to Meade with the shipping alone costing a couple of hundred dollars plus Meade's standard repair fee which is also in the hundreds. I can't remember what it is off the top of my head at the moment but I want to say $300.00. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Go and have some fun with your tuned up and repaired telescope.

Regards,

[dpab]

There is a fellow that is very good with Optics , he is a member of the Edmonton RASC and makes a living in the optical business.
I personally do not know know him, but I do Celestron sales here at work, and refer people to him for service on scopes.
I believe its Arnold Optics in Sherwood Park Alberta.
He makes a excellant dobsonian, a fellow was at SSSP 2008 with a 20 inch that was ground for him by Barry