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Subject: LX200 Drive -End of Story?
From: Doug Snyder
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Thu Jan 26 01:19:02 1995

To put a timely end to my first, and hopefully last, serious problem with my 10" LX200, I must happily announce that it's up and running, and will be back in action, weather permitting, tonight.

The folks at Meade had my service kit sent UPS and it was delivered Wednesday afternoon - the problem was solved soon after dinner and I had cleared the kitchen table, all set for an evening of tinkering.

Heck, an hour later, every connector and cover had been put back in place and with lots of time to kill, I cleaned the correcting plate and the tripod, using WD-40 on one and diluted alcohol on the other; UH-OH, I think the WD-40 was supposed to go on the tripod; damn! :)

Well, it turns out that my problem was the RA motor up inside the base - one of the components on the small circuit board must have had a stroke as there were no outward signs of anything wrong with the assembly. Replacement was a snap and good instructions were included with the kit, which came with new RA and Dec motors and a Main Circuit Board. The new motors came lubricated with the lithium grease (my original ones also have this type), so one doesn't have to go out and buy a ton of this stuff, although a little would be handy to touch the gears up after awhile.

My thanks to Meade Customer Service for the fast and correct actions - just three business days total from reporting the problem to getting it taken care of. And thanks to all in this group who gave their advice and suggestions- it is a pretty neat little SIG. .

Now I can start working on that 1.5 degree image shift problem (just kidding!)

Clear Skies!

Doug Snyder NGCIA SJAA IOTA