Re: 40mm Meade vs. TeleVu 35mm Panoptic
| Subject: | Re: 40mm Meade vs. TeleVu 35mm Panoptic |
| From: | Tom Mote |
| Date: | Sun Apr 07 19:10:03 1996 |
On Apr 07, 1996 17:41:24, Bill Arnett <billa@znet.com> wrote:
>At 4:15 PM 4/7/96, Tom Mote wrote:
>>... some kind of counter-weight system will be desirable [when using
heavy
>>eyepieces]
>
>My 12" LX200 seems to operate just fine with light or heavy eyepieces and
>with or without the heavy Meade dewshield. A nicely counterbalanced
system
>seems aesthetically nicer but is there any practical reason to worry
about?
>Two things come to mind: the tube might unexpectedly swing and hit some
>accessory on ....
Bill and T.J.,
That is exactly what did happen to me shortly after I purchased
the 35mm Panoptic. It was my fault. I, for some reason that now
escapes me, released the dec brake and watched in horror as the
new eyepiece, in the two inch diagonal, flew toward destruction
against the cross bar of the forks. Very luckily for me, the crumby
Meade finder took the blow. The next day my little 8" LX200 got
a jerry rigged counterbalance system. Like you, I had not noticed
any problems with the dec drive. I already had a Losmondy weight
counter balance system for my 12" but had not yet purchased the
dove tail plates for the eight inch.
Tom
>At 4:15 PM 4/7/96, Tom Mote wrote:
>>... some kind of counter-weight system will be desirable [when using
heavy
>>eyepieces]
>
>My 12" LX200 seems to operate just fine with light or heavy eyepieces and
>with or without the heavy Meade dewshield. A nicely counterbalanced
system
>seems aesthetically nicer but is there any practical reason to worry
about?
>Two things come to mind: the tube might unexpectedly swing and hit some
>accessory on ....
Bill and T.J.,
That is exactly what did happen to me shortly after I purchased
the 35mm Panoptic. It was my fault. I, for some reason that now
escapes me, released the dec brake and watched in horror as the
new eyepiece, in the two inch diagonal, flew toward destruction
against the cross bar of the forks. Very luckily for me, the crumby
Meade finder took the blow. The next day my little 8" LX200 got
a jerry rigged counterbalance system. Like you, I had not noticed
any problems with the dec drive. I already had a Losmondy weight
counter balance system for my 12" but had not yet purchased the
dove tail plates for the eight inch.
Tom
