44
MAINTENANCE
LX200GPS
telescopes are precision optical instruments designed to yield a lifetime of
rewarding applications. Given the care and respect due any precision instrument, your
LX200GPS
will rarely, if ever, require factory servicing. Maintenance guidelines include:
a. Avoid cleaning the telescope’s optics: A little dust on the front surface of the tele-
scope’s correcting lens causes virtually no degradation of image quality and
should not be considered reason to clean the lens.
b. When absolutely necessary, dust on the front lens should be removed with gen-
tle strokes of a camel hair brush or blown off with an ear syringe (available at any
pharmacy). DO NOT use a commercial photographic lens cleaner.
c. Organic materials (e.g., fingerprints) on the front lens may be removed with a
solution of 3 parts distilled water to 1 part isopropyl alcohol. You may also add 1
drop of biodegradable dishwashing soap per pint of solution. Use soft, white facial
tissues and make short, gentle strokes. Change tissues often.
Caution: Do not use scented or lotioned tissues or damage could result
to the optics.
d. Do not, for any reason, remove the correcting plate from its machined housing for
cleaning or other purposes. You will almost certainly not be able to replace the
corrector in its proper rotational orientation and serious degradation of optical per-
formance will result. Meade Instruments assumes no liability for damage incurred
to the telescope in this way.
e. If
the
LX200GPS
is used outdoors on a humid night, water condensation on the
telescope surfaces will probably result. While such condensation does not nor-
mally cause any damage to the telescope, it is recommended that the entire tel-
escope be wiped down with a dry cloth before the telescope is packed away. Do
not, however, wipe any of the optical surfaces. Rather, simply allow the telescope
to sit for some time in the warm indoor air, so that the wet optical surfaces can
dry unattended.
f. If
your
LX200GPS
is not to be used for an extended period, perhaps for one month
or more, it is advisable to remove the batteries from the telescope. Batteries left
in the telescope for prolonged periods may leak, causing damage to the tele-
scope’s electronic circuitry.
g. Do not leave your
LX200GPS
inside a sealed car on a warm summer day; exces-
sive ambient temperatures can damage the telescope’s internal lubrication and
electronic circuitry.
h.
The microfocuser is carefully adjusted at the factory. If it becomes necessary to
adjust the microfocuser ball bearings (see Fig. 30), it must be performed by fac-
tory trained technicians. If the microfocuser is improperly adjusted, performance
will degrade and damage will result. Damage due to improper adjustments not
authorized by the factory will not be covered under warranty.
Collimation
The optical collimation (alignment) of any astronomical telescope used for serious
purposes is important, but in the case of the Schmidt-Cassegrain design of the 8", 10",
and 12"
LX200GPS
models, such collimation is absolutely essential for good perform-
ance. (Note: The 7" model, a Maksutov-Cassegrain, does not need to be collimated.)
Take special care to read and understand this section well so that your
LX200GPS
will
give you the best optical performance.
As part of final optical testing, every Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain is precisely collimat-
ed at the Meade factory before shipment. However, vibrations in shipping can cause
the optical system to become misaligned. Re-aligning the optics is, however, a
straightforward process.
To check the collimation of your
LX200GPS
, center a bright star that is overhead, or
use a “hot spot” of reflected Sunlight from a chrome car bumper, with the supplied
26mm eyepiece. Allow the telescope to adjust to the temperature of your observation
site before proceeding; temperature differences between the optics and the outside
air can cause distortion in the images.
Fig. 30: Microfocuser ball bearings.
