The glory of the 'heavens' above us are real, their starry splendour is visible to those who look up; but the glory of 'Heaven' is a sad delusion of human minds. This is the personal blog site of an atheist astronomer.
Wise words
"I can find in my undergraduate classes, bright students who do not know that the stars rise and set at night, or even that the Sun is a star."
It was easier than I thought - once I knew what to do!
I've had my Meade LX-90 since 2008. It was my second telescope and it served me very well for eyepiece observing. It also helped me to get into astro-imaging using a DSLR camera, although imaging is not a strong point for any alt-az mounted telescope. It's been magnificent and was still fully functional right up to the time I decided to de-fork it.
In 2017 I decided that to go any further with astro-imaging I would need to acquire a telescope with an an equatorial mount. I purchased a Skywatcher Esprit 120 telescope with an EQ6R-Pro mount and the fork-mounted LX-90 with its own integral mount was then only used occasionally for general observing. Over a period of four years I also purchased a ZWO ASI071 astro-camera and upgraded the systems to ASCOM and EQMOD, giving me full laptop control.
The LX-90 languished in its box; and for a year I have contemplated mounting it on my EQ6. When I finally took the plunge, I de-forked it in less than an hour using the amazingly simple instructions I found on the Cloudy Nights Forum, without which I would have taken much longer and probably would have damaged the telescope in the process.
In no time at all I had it mounted it on my EQ6 and it is now waiting for a test run.
The Esprit, at 840mm focal length, gives me images of 1.5° x 1.0° using the ZWO ASI071. The LX-90 at 2000 mm will give me images of an estimated 38' x 25' using the same camera. Hopefully it will give me some improved images of planets, planetary nebulae and small galaxies.
This is what it looked like when I first added it to the EQ6:
This is what it looked like with everything wired up:
Now I am left with the remaining parts - the fork, the mount, the handbox etc., which are all worth something to someone in need of a replacement fork or spare parts.
I cannot be contacted through this blog site but I am contactable via twitter @ggreybeard or through the contact page of my other blog site: Cosmic Focus