2 replies to this topic

[Koinonos]

Hello everyone, getting ready to purchase the Meade 8 LS and after reading the online manual for it, it doesn't talk much about what you can and cannot do with the onboard Elint CCD. 

 

I intend to use the LS to do some video astronomy and light astrophotography, and I assume a Barlow will be needed to get 200-250x magnification to get a good image of Jupiter.  Where this is a little confusing for me is that the Elint CCD on the LS appears to be built into the bottom of the scope itself. 

 

So my questions are:

- Can Barlow or other lenses be used with the onboard Elint CCD? (I assume the answer is No but it never hurts to ask)

 

- If I want to use achieve 250x magnification for VA or AP, does that mean I need to bypass the Elint CCD completely and use something like a Mallincam Junior Pro since it would seem from the pictures you have to screw those into the 1.25" eyepiece holder of the telescope?  Kind of a shame to bypass a nice unit like the Elint CCD, but it would seem no magnification eyepieces will work with the Elint?

 

All informed comments and questions welcome.

 

Kind Regards,

Koinonos

Richland, WA

[MistrBadgr]

Hello Koinonos,

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

The little on board camera is basically what the scope uses when it does its allignment routine.  You can, however, take some pictures with it.  I have thought it would be nice to has some slip on magnifiers of some sort to take higher magnification pictures.  However, no such devices exist that I know about.  For imaging, you need equipment that can fit into the regular eyepiece holder/diagonal on the scope, or something that screws onto the back of the scope where the diagonal normally screws on.  A 2 inch diagonal with the appropriate fitting can also be use on the scope.

 

The LS 8 is a nice scope intended mostly for family visual enjoyment with none of the users needed to really know much about where things are in the night sky.  It is a highly intellegent scope that can be used for a lot of other things, however.  The basic setup is light, compared to other scopes, to allow easy transport from inside a home to outside.  Even though the LS can be used for imaging, an LX 90 might serve you better.  The tripod and mount are stronger and will have less wiggle in it for the kind of activity you are interested in.  You might want to consider it, unless you have already purchased an LS.

 

I have an LS 8 myself and really enjoy it.  I am a visual astronomer and do not do any imaging at this time, though I have purchased the equipment for the activity and plan on starting soon.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Bill Steen

[Mark Sibole]

agree with Bill.If you are going to use it for just planetary you will be fine.If you plan on using it dor DSO long exposure you need to go with at least the LX90 that can be mounted on a wedge to get rid of field rotation.THe LS8 is a great scope for visual and imaging the moon and planets but it is limited on DSO due to the fact you cant mount it on a wedge.