I actually use two bungee cords with my 12" and leave all of the
locks...uhhh...unlocked. The way I use the bungee cords is obvious to
me...clamp one to the left fork's handle...wrap around the OTA...and
reattach to the handle on the opposite side of the left fork. I then repeat
with another cord on the right handles. This works in stabilizing the OTA
from swinging everywhere. I am currently working on a wheeled base with a
flat surface that will tilt to 45 degrees to allow for easy insertion and
extraction from the foam. The two cords work great for the 12" despite the
weight of it still causing it so move a little bit, but not enough to worry
about banging into a kitchen counter...hallway walls...etc.

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2001 8:34 AM
To: 'MAPUG'
Subject: [M]: New 12" LX200


Just a few thoughts about my new scope.

First impression >> Amazing scope. Can't wait to get it out and give it a
good workout :)

Meade did an outstanding job with packing and shipping. Everything seems to
be in order. The real test will be seeing how the collimation held up
during shipment. That will be the first test I perform on it once I get it
out to my clubs dark site.

Manual doesn't seem so bad. Maybe they have revamped it as of late as I
have not found many ambiguous references which I certainly have read about
in the past couple months. Set up of the electronics went quite smoothly(I
think). Will know for sure once I align it and give it some goto commands.

Also learned my first very important lesson last night. Do not under any
circumstances try to lower the scope back into the original packing
container with the dec lock in the locked position. I found this out the
hard way as the scope didn't want to fit back in, and as I was lowering it
into the foam, the OTA beagn to rest it's weight on the outside of the foam
and the dec gears began to go click ....click .....click. I'm sure you
can all imagine what I felt at that exact instant in time, but luckily
enough, I set it back up and everything seemed to be in working order. The
only reason I had the dec lock in the locked postion was to keep the OTA
from tipping due to the rear cell being so heavy with the 2" diagonal. I
think in future I will leave it unlocked and use a bungee cord attached to
the fork handle first, then through the rear cell OTA handle and then out to
the other fork handle just to keep it from tipping as I set it down. This
hould cure the tipping problem enough to gently lower it into the carrying
case.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice and I look forward to posting
more as I become more familiar with my new scope.


Chris Sauer
Salomon Smith Barney
Global Database Management Group
Phone: 201-231-1221
Group Phone: 201-231-3320

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