Since alignment problems seem to be in vogue these days, I'll throw mine out
also. My 8" LX200 is on a pier, on a Mettler wedge - all solid, immobile,
level. When performing the Meade standard PA, I follow all directions (11 mm
illuminated reticule, etc)- the second star is usually about 1.5 fields away
from center. Once centered and synched (per instructions), things seem to be
pretty good. I can slew across half the sky, plug in the CCD and get good
tracking for about 90 seconds - that's about what I expect since I'm not being
too particular at this stage.

The first problem is evident at this point - if I go back to Polaris (Star 19),
the alignment is usually 1.5 to 3 fields off in a 20 mm EP. No matter if I slew
around a while or go right back to Polaris right away, it's off. It would seem
to me that this indicates a poor initial alignment on the pole star, but it
happens all the time, no matter how careful I am. Is this a symptom of the OTA
not being aligned properly to the fork arms? Because of this I have to polar
align each time I turn the scope on - meaning it requires adjustment of the
wedge - and the scope is kept permanently on the pier. The other thing I notice
is that the wedge adustment is about the same for each start up, but in the
direction opposite to the previous startup.

Lastly, once "aligned" (again loosely because I haven't figured this problem
out yet), I can work for an hour or so, taking and stacking multiple short
exposure photos with the CCD. After about an hour the scope will begin losing
whatever RA sync it had fairly quickly. I will see longer trails and need
shorter exposures to keep the stars from egging out - in just a few moments I
can go from no star trails in a 45 second exposure to .5 inch (on my monitor)
trails in a 10 second exposure! The only way to cure it is to polar align
again.

It's certainly possible that my scope is inhabited by "gremlins and boggles",
of course. But, if any of you have a suggestion for diagnosing this (these?)
problem, I'd really appreciate hearing it.

Chuck


--
39 deg 30' 59" N Lat
76 deg 52' 27" W Lon

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