Seeing this video brings me back in time when I owned the lx200, 10 inch. I sold it, it was on wheels too. I wish I lived in an area where it could have been on a pier mount with the wedge. I saw some amazing objects. After some many years I am coming back to the hobby in a much smaller scale. I have get a portable mount for my small televue t85 refractor. Great review
Thank you. I know I will face the same issue as I get older and have to scale back but for now I'm enjoying the amazing views with Artemis as much as I can.
4:12 incredible Tsula how you can state, without notes, the full specs and resolution of the scope and then go on to recite names and separations of challenging multiple stars! You really know and love this science :-) It’s a wonderful SCT, shown in a superb landscape… I’m just imagining your enjoyment, exploring exciting Messier objects while sketching them through this large aperture, perhaps using your cool 24 mm Panoptic ocular!
Nice review and glad you had better luck with yours. I purchased the same model and had to return 3 scopes back to Meade due to the go to systems were bad from the factory and took 5 months to finally get a scope which works right. Meade"s customer service was excellent and covered all shipping costs from Ohio to California and back to Ohio 3 separate times. Optical quality is very good 👍 Clear Skies 👌
This is your hobby. You love astronomy. Thats why this review came out so well. So good. İt is my hobby too. 30 years ago İ saw neon glow around a crater on moon which lasted 1 minute or so.
Thank you. That's interesting. I saw a fast moving satellite the other night that suddenly brightened like a flash. I read the next day that Starlink does that but when it happened it was startling like the neon glow probably was.
I just tried yesterday the Orion binoviewers on the 12" LX200 CLASSIC....Jupiter looks 3D .... Orion Nebula has some depth...cannot wait to see the moon with binoviewers! You definitely gotta give the binoviewers a try , at least on planets and the moon. Do a little research on them , with a pair of 20mm-25mm eyepieces....will take you planetary observation at a new level. Great scope, great videos , great personality! Keep it up!!!
Love your review Tsula. Your joy and enthusiasm plus the fact you named her is epic. BTW, I do the same thing. I named my truck "BlackJack". Guess what color he is....Well, it ain't red...LOL. I was ready to get the LX90 but my bank account quickly informed me to hold off for the next 10 years! Thank you for your review.
Thanks. I cannot have a 133 pound telescope unless I had a butler or something who would set it up for me and tear it down and put it away at the end of the session.
That's a nice scope. My 27yo 10"LX50 is still going strong and shows great views. The Magellan II system is hit or miss. When it works it works great but other times I just have to rely on charts and my Telrad. Meade makes some fine optics. Does Meade make an equatorial wedge for this? I believe a wedge will eliminate field rotation during imaging. Clear skies Chris
I guess I have been lucky with my Auto Star II. It's never given me any problems so far. They make a wedge for my 12" yes, and that would eliminate the field rotation but they claimed you could take a five minute exposure without the wedge. I believe that is incorrect but I'm not sure.
9:54 Are there performance factors to consider when choosing between 2” mirror and 2” prism diagonals? For prisms, the light-path is via a solid glass block with two surfaces to traverse-a mirror seems a lot simpler but I’m just guessing here?
HELL yeah, Tsula! 🤣 Fantastic review of your favorite scope. If I had the money, I'd order one IMMEDIATELY! Hope you had some nice, clear skies lately to take Artemis out under the beautiful winter skies.
Hi Greg. Thanks! It's been very cloudy here. The clouds seem permanent and immovable even when Xasteria and weather dot com both say it's clear. I'm hoping and hoping it will clear up for the meteor shower tomorrow night.
@@gregerianne3880 Well, the clouds did part around 9:30 pm but by about 1:00am there was so much frost on everything, my telrad, my eyepieces, and yes even my corrector plate despite the dew shield, that I was forced to terminate early and just enjoy the meteor shower. The humidity was 83%. Ridiculous for this area.
@@tsulasbigadventures Wow, Tsula, I thought we had high humidity! That really was ridiculous, but I'm sure it's pretty rare for you there. I hope you enjoyed the meteor shower, though. It was supposed to be clear here after about 1 am, so I got up at 2:30 and had a whopping 30 min before clouds moved in again. 😡 Just can't win. I think I saw a grand total of about 6 or 7 meteors. Oh well, back to bed...
@@gregerianne3880 Ouch! That is just plain unfair to get up that early only to have clouds descend in 30 minutes. Here it cleared up yesterday and was crystal clear all night long. I saw probably 100 meteors over two nights of viewing but it was so cold I had to go inside around 1:30 am. But what a treat. I am sending my requests in to Zeus to clear it up for you. Cheers.
This is an outstanding review. Consider me one of your camp followers. As soon as I move, I shall invest in a Meade 10 or 12 inch OTA on the appropriate equatorial mount. By the way, it looks like Colorado where you are. It reminds me of my New Mexico days.
@@tsulasbigadventures Very beautiful area, I have been following the American Prairie intiative in central Montana. Anyway, great video, it supports my view that Meade doesn't get an even break on its core products.
What a enthusiastic girl! Now I want to buy a Meade SCT too! Great review, but I would love to see some images with it (Yes, I understand you primarily are a visual astronomer) 🤗👍
Hi Tsula🙌 Thank U for an exellent review of the Meade 12 LX90❤ I have the ED 150 SW as you have on SW Nec 6 Pro and SCT 9.25 on Meade LXD 75 with Audiostar hancontrol. Both works well. Clear skys🔭
Hi Tsula! Great review and nice scope! I'd love too have one but I haven't got a outside spot too keep it in so I can't see me lugging it out the door and setting it up. My 10 inch dob is my limit getting it out the door. Well that's the biggest issue with big scopes WEIGHT. Clear Sky's forever!!!
Great review! I'm getting into my mid-60s and hefting my 40 lb 10" f/4.5 Newtonian up onto the dovetail cradle is getting to be annoying to my back and to my sense of catastrophe :) Let's hang in there Tsula!
Thank you. I know what you mean. I almost threw that Wheeley Bar away because one of the bolts was stuck and wouldn't budge but thank goodness I kept it as it has been a real life saver and back saver. My dear mother used to always say "gettin old ain't for sissies."
do you think the mount is good for this big telescope? I have the opportunity to buy a LX200 14’’ GPS 23 years old at the same price of the new Lx90 12’’ ACF. What is the better choice?
Aperture, 10000 times over, get the larger one. The tech on these hasn't really changed THAT much in that time frame. Provided it's not a massive strain or pain to muscle it around lol. It's gonna be like a 70 plus pound lift.
Hey Tsula - So good to see these type of frank unvarnished reviews of gear as there's so much marketing around these days. That thing sounds like a gem to look thru. Can you believe I'm still waiting for a clear night to test out my Esprit 120 for visual. Hope your weather is better than here. Oh and how on earth did you lift that whole thing on 😂 you must be a powerlifter! Cheers Ollie.
Thanks, Ollie. Well, it's like those people you read about who can suddenly lift a car after it runs over their dog or something like that. You can do it once and once only! Yes, I can believe you have been stuck with non-stop clouds. So have I. My sister says I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and I said no I am just sad that it won't clear up. Well, here is to some clarity for you and me! Cheers.
Thanks for the review. Do you think your review applies to the 8" as well, except for the obvious size difference and the corresponding diminished resolving power? I'm looking for a fairly portable set up and trying to decide between LX90 8" vs a 6" Mak-Cass, like the Orion one you have, to complement my 12" Dob
Yes, I do. I own a Meade LX85 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain which I have also reviewed: ruclips.net/video/xu7L_9loiTg/видео.html The optics on the LX85 are identical to the LX90 but the LX85 costs less and weighs less. Meade uses the same glass blanks and the same coatings on the LX85, LX90 and LX200. I love my LX85 8" SCT. It's much more portable and only weighs about 12 pounds. So it can go on just about any mount. My brother owns a LX90 8" and I have used his telescope and found it to perform identically to the LX85 and even to the 12" LX90 except of course, as you said the lower resolving power and lower light gathering capability.
@@tsulasbigadventures Thanks for the info, I checked out your LX85 review. I was set on getting a Maksutov for the sharper contrast even though the field of view is narrower, but you've convinced me to check out the 8" SC.
Hi! Can you please specify, which baader BBHS diagonal you use because I am not sure if 2 inch nosepiece diagonal can fit to lx90 1.25 inch?or you use also some adapter? Thank you so much for this lovely video
Thank you! I bought the BBHS from Agena Astro and it does have a two inch nosepiece. The reason it fits my LX90 is that I had previously bought a Televue SCT adapter. Sorry. I should have mentioned it but I completely forgot about the adapter.
Comparing chinese dobs to aplanatic scts is not a fair comparison. Compare a premium 12" dob with a curved spider and a paracorr and you might change your tune. The premium dob can go to just as high power, can have a smaller secondary obstruction, but it can do what an sct can't, it has twice or more field of view, which is where even the Chinese 12" dobs, with a paracorr, can give as good an image with twice the field of view (since low power doesn't need as precise optics). But again, an obsession, or even a discovery dob will have optics far superior to mass produced chinese dobs, and can beat an SCT for optical quality any day of the week. Comparing an excellent meade sct to a mass produced chinese dob, does not speak for reflectors and dobsonians as a whole, only the lowest common denominator of that scope type.
My 2 cents worth - I had a 12inch ACF OTA for many years. Very very nice optics, but as I got older I found it a PITA to mount on my EQ mount, so I ended up 'downgrading' to a C11 which is a bit more manageable.
The handles are not in the best spot when compared to the CPC1100, which has high on one side, and low on the other, which makes it much easier to lift onto the tripod, which is also better designed than the meade field tripod, easier to mount as well as being easier to lift. You lose an inch, but it is also much more stable than the 10 and 12" lx90s. I do like the concept of the lx90, and the price, but you have to admit they can be a little shakey in the larger sizes.
I had this scope, decent optics cheapo electrics. I wouldn't buy the mount, defork the ota and get a good equatorial mount as its useless for deep sky imaging.
@@tsulasbigadventures I had numerous issues with the electronics failing I had enough and bought a EQ mount. Now that Meade have gone bust I would strongly prepare yourself for an alternative backup plan when they do. A shame as the optics on my sample were great. I recommend the Celestron C925 Edge and Starizonas Hyperstar as thats what Im using these days.
I still don’t understand why do you like this Meade system. if you like visual astronomy, then most logical choice for your location is 20-25” high quality Dob.
Great enthusiastic review of this wonderful scope! I’ve only recently invested in a 10” LX200 OTA but have yet to setup with it. Your previous videos encouraged me to go for a Meade mirror. 😊 Just wondering if you managed to get your observatory usable and functional in the end? Looks a bit forlorn down the road in the snow - almost like an igloo.🥶🫢
You will not be sorry once you set up your 10". That dang igloo observatory. It still needs work. It lost power and after that I found out the contractor had failed to install emergency power on the outside. He finally put that in and restored the power but then the cable came off again! Can you believe it? He is coming out again this week to make more adjustments recommended by Jerry. Cross your fingers.
Seeing this video brings me back in time when I owned the lx200, 10 inch. I sold it, it was on wheels too. I wish I lived in an area where it could have been on a pier mount with the wedge. I saw some amazing objects. After some many years I am coming back to the hobby in a much smaller scale. I have get a portable mount for my small televue t85 refractor. Great review
Thank you. I know I will face the same issue as I get older and have to scale back but for now I'm enjoying the amazing views with Artemis as much as I can.
4:12 incredible Tsula how you can state, without notes, the full specs and resolution of the scope and then go on to recite names and separations of challenging multiple stars! You really know and love this science :-) It’s a wonderful SCT, shown in a superb landscape… I’m just imagining your enjoyment, exploring exciting Messier objects while sketching them through this large aperture, perhaps using your cool 24 mm Panoptic ocular!
Best telescope review ever.
Thank you so much!
Nice review and glad you had better luck with yours. I purchased the same model and had to return 3 scopes back to Meade due to the go to systems were bad from the factory and took 5 months to finally get a scope which works right. Meade"s customer service was excellent and covered all shipping costs from Ohio to California and back to Ohio 3 separate times. Optical quality is very good 👍 Clear Skies 👌
Thank you. I'm glad you finally got your scope working right. You are very patient; five months is a long time to wait.
Thanks for your video. When I start my next four jobs maybe I can afford one. I appreciate your videos
Wow, now I am definitely going to buy one.
VERY pricie tho
This is your hobby. You love astronomy. Thats why this review came out so well. So good. İt is my hobby too. 30 years ago İ saw neon glow around a crater on moon which lasted 1 minute or so.
Thank you. That's interesting. I saw a fast moving satellite the other night that suddenly brightened like a flash. I read the next day that Starlink does that but when it happened it was startling like the neon glow probably was.
I just tried yesterday the Orion binoviewers on the 12" LX200 CLASSIC....Jupiter looks 3D .... Orion Nebula has some depth...cannot wait to see the moon with binoviewers!
You definitely gotta give the binoviewers a try , at least on planets and the moon. Do a little research on them , with a pair of 20mm-25mm eyepieces....will take you planetary observation at a new level.
Great scope, great videos , great personality! Keep it up!!!
Thank you! I think I have tried every attachment imaginable on this telescope except the binoviewers. I will have to look into it.
@@tsulasbigadventuresI'm sure you will enjoy them. Cannot wait for you video where you'll review them!
Love your review Tsula. Your joy and enthusiasm plus the fact you named her is epic. BTW, I do the same thing. I named my truck "BlackJack". Guess what color he is....Well, it ain't red...LOL. I was ready to get the LX90 but my bank account quickly informed me to hold off for the next 10 years! Thank you for your review.
Thank you. That's funny.
Hey Tsula, What a great upbeat review. I actually saw the LX200 12”, and it’s a beast. 😊
Thanks. I cannot have a 133 pound telescope unless I had a butler or something who would set it up for me and tear it down and put it away at the end of the session.
That's a nice scope. My 27yo 10"LX50 is still going strong and shows great views. The Magellan II system is hit or miss. When it works it works great but other times I just have to rely on charts and my Telrad. Meade makes some fine optics. Does Meade make an equatorial wedge for this? I believe a wedge will eliminate field rotation during imaging.
Clear skies
Chris
I guess I have been lucky with my Auto Star II. It's never given me any problems so far. They make a wedge for my 12" yes, and that would eliminate the field rotation but they claimed you could take a five minute exposure without the wedge. I believe that is incorrect but I'm not sure.
9:54 Are there performance factors to consider when choosing between 2” mirror and 2” prism diagonals? For prisms, the light-path is via a solid glass block with two surfaces to traverse-a mirror seems a lot simpler but I’m just guessing here?
HELL yeah, Tsula! 🤣 Fantastic review of your favorite scope. If I had the money, I'd order one IMMEDIATELY! Hope you had some nice, clear skies lately to take Artemis out under the beautiful winter skies.
Hi Greg. Thanks! It's been very cloudy here. The clouds seem permanent and immovable even when Xasteria and weather dot com both say it's clear. I'm hoping and hoping it will clear up for the meteor shower tomorrow night.
@@tsulasbigadventures Same here in VT, Tsula. The clouds have been (are) relentless. My scopes are getting dusty... 😪
@@gregerianne3880 Well, the clouds did part around 9:30 pm but by about 1:00am there was so much frost on everything, my telrad, my eyepieces, and yes even my corrector plate despite the dew shield, that I was forced to terminate early and just enjoy the meteor shower. The humidity was 83%. Ridiculous for this area.
@@tsulasbigadventures Wow, Tsula, I thought we had high humidity! That really was ridiculous, but I'm sure it's pretty rare for you there. I hope you enjoyed the meteor shower, though. It was supposed to be clear here after about 1 am, so I got up at 2:30 and had a whopping 30 min before clouds moved in again. 😡 Just can't win. I think I saw a grand total of about 6 or 7 meteors. Oh well, back to bed...
@@gregerianne3880 Ouch! That is just plain unfair to get up that early only to have clouds descend in 30 minutes. Here it cleared up yesterday and was crystal clear all night long. I saw probably 100 meteors over two nights of viewing but it was so cold I had to go inside around 1:30 am. But what a treat. I am sending my requests in to Zeus to clear it up for you. Cheers.
This is an outstanding review. Consider me one of your camp followers. As soon as I move, I shall invest in a Meade 10 or 12 inch OTA on the appropriate equatorial mount. By the way, it looks like Colorado where you are. It reminds me of my New Mexico days.
Thank you! That is my home in Montana.
@@tsulasbigadventures Very beautiful area, I have been following the American Prairie intiative in central Montana. Anyway, great video, it supports my view that Meade doesn't get an even break on its core products.
Tsoula, you’re awesome! ☺️ Been dreaming of owning this scope since I was a kid. After watching this I now know for sure this is the one 😁
Thanks for sharing Tsula. I have one of those 12" Skywatcher Go-To Dobs and it is heavy. If I could afford it, I would definitely look at the LX90.
Thanks. Sorry I chose your telescope to compare mine to. Nothing wrong with that Dob.
@@tsulasbigadventures No worries. Cheers.
What a enthusiastic girl! Now I want to buy a Meade SCT too! Great review, but I would love to see some images with it (Yes, I understand you primarily are a visual astronomer) 🤗👍
Thank you. I only have some planetary images with this telescope.
Hi Tsula🙌 Thank U for an exellent review of the Meade 12 LX90❤ I have the ED 150 SW as you have on SW Nec 6 Pro and SCT 9.25 on Meade LXD 75 with Audiostar hancontrol. Both works well. Clear skys🔭
Thank you. You have two very nice set ups.
Hi Tsula! Great review and nice scope! I'd love too have one but I haven't got a outside spot too keep it in so I can't see me lugging it out the door and setting it up. My 10 inch dob is my limit getting it out the door. Well that's the biggest issue with big scopes WEIGHT. Clear Sky's forever!!!
Thanks, Eric. Yep, the weight is the limiting factor. I keep my 10" Dob on a dolly.
Great review! I'm getting into my mid-60s and hefting my 40 lb 10" f/4.5 Newtonian up onto the dovetail cradle is getting to be annoying to my back and to my sense of catastrophe :) Let's hang in there Tsula!
Thank you. I know what you mean. I almost threw that Wheeley Bar away because one of the bolts was stuck and wouldn't budge but thank goodness I kept it as it has been a real life saver and back saver. My dear mother used to always say "gettin old ain't for sissies."
Tsula, that is an amazing telescope!
Thank you. I love it.
do you think the mount is good for this big telescope?
I have the opportunity to buy a LX200 14’’ GPS 23 years old at the same price of the new Lx90 12’’ ACF. What is the better choice?
Aperture, 10000 times over, get the larger one. The tech on these hasn't really changed THAT much in that time frame. Provided it's not a massive strain or pain to muscle it around lol. It's gonna be like a 70 plus pound lift.
Hey Tsula - So good to see these type of frank unvarnished reviews of gear as there's so much marketing around these days. That thing sounds like a gem to look thru. Can you believe I'm still waiting for a clear night to test out my Esprit 120 for visual. Hope your weather is better than here. Oh and how on earth did you lift that whole thing on 😂 you must be a powerlifter!
Cheers Ollie.
Thanks, Ollie. Well, it's like those people you read about who can suddenly lift a car after it runs over their dog or something like that. You can do it once and once only! Yes, I can believe you have been stuck with non-stop clouds. So have I. My sister says I have SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and I said no I am just sad that it won't clear up. Well, here is to some clarity for you and me! Cheers.
Should i get this or a CPC edge hd 11 inch celestron ?????
Thanks for the review. Do you think your review applies to the 8" as well, except for the obvious size difference and the corresponding diminished resolving power? I'm looking for a fairly portable set up and trying to decide between LX90 8" vs a 6" Mak-Cass, like the Orion one you have, to complement my 12" Dob
Yes, I do. I own a Meade LX85 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain which I have also reviewed:
ruclips.net/video/xu7L_9loiTg/видео.html
The optics on the LX85 are identical to the LX90 but the LX85 costs less and weighs less. Meade uses the same glass blanks and the same coatings on the LX85, LX90 and LX200. I love my LX85 8" SCT. It's much more portable and only weighs about 12 pounds. So it can go on just about any mount. My brother owns a LX90 8" and I have used his telescope and found it to perform identically to the LX85 and even to the 12" LX90 except of course, as you said the lower resolving power and lower light gathering capability.
@@tsulasbigadventures Thanks for the info, I checked out your LX85 review. I was set on getting a Maksutov for the sharper contrast even though the field of view is narrower, but you've convinced me to check out the 8" SC.
@@peacocksquirrel9665 Glad you found it helpful. Both are great choices.
love my lx90. But you make it sound so simple. It took me a while to learn astrophotography with it. I brought it used after a guy only used it twice.
I can;t believe someone would let their LX90 go after using it only twice but lucky you.
@tsulasbigadventures Sadly he passed away.
Hi! Can you please specify, which baader BBHS diagonal you use because I am not sure if 2 inch nosepiece diagonal can fit to lx90 1.25 inch?or you use also some adapter? Thank you so much for this lovely video
Thank you! I bought the BBHS from Agena Astro and it does have a two inch nosepiece. The reason it fits my LX90 is that I had previously bought a Televue SCT adapter. Sorry. I should have mentioned it but I completely forgot about the adapter.
Comparing chinese dobs to aplanatic scts is not a fair comparison. Compare a premium 12" dob with a curved spider and a paracorr and you might change your tune. The premium dob can go to just as high power, can have a smaller secondary obstruction, but it can do what an sct can't, it has twice or more field of view, which is where even the Chinese 12" dobs, with a paracorr, can give as good an image with twice the field of view (since low power doesn't need as precise optics).
But again, an obsession, or even a discovery dob will have optics far superior to mass produced chinese dobs, and can beat an SCT for optical quality any day of the week.
Comparing an excellent meade sct to a mass produced chinese dob, does not speak for reflectors and dobsonians as a whole, only the lowest common denominator of that scope type.
My 2 cents worth - I had a 12inch ACF OTA for many years. Very very nice optics, but as I got older I found it a PITA to mount on my EQ mount, so I ended up 'downgrading' to a C11 which is a bit more manageable.
I worry about the day I cannot lift my telescope but thank goodness for the Wheeley Bar.
My dream telescope 🔭 i only have the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 9.25" 👌 greetings from the UK 🇬🇧 😊
Yes, she's like a dream but a 9.25" is nothing to sneeze at either.
You are a blessed soul mate . 😊😊😊😊
Aw. Thank you so much.
Great telescope
Very informative
Thanks.
The handles are not in the best spot when compared to the CPC1100, which has high on one side, and low on the other, which makes it much easier to lift onto the tripod, which is also better designed than the meade field tripod, easier to mount as well as being easier to lift.
You lose an inch, but it is also much more stable than the 10 and 12" lx90s.
I do like the concept of the lx90, and the price, but you have to admit they can be a little shakey in the larger sizes.
What Am I doing here? Im supposed to be searching for pre owned condominiums, and I don't have money. And Im also currently at work.
You're dreaming of owning a 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain I guess.
I had this scope, decent optics cheapo electrics. I wouldn't buy the mount, defork the ota and get a good equatorial mount as its useless for deep sky imaging.
@@desbarry8414 I love this telescope. It’s very accurate. I will only defork it if the electronics fail. So far they work great.
@@tsulasbigadventures I had numerous issues with the electronics failing I had enough and bought a EQ mount. Now that Meade have gone bust I would strongly prepare yourself for an alternative backup plan when they do. A shame as the optics on my sample were great. I recommend the Celestron C925 Edge and Starizonas Hyperstar as thats what Im using these days.
I still don’t understand why do you like this Meade system.
if you like visual astronomy, then most logical choice for your location is 20-25” high quality Dob.
Thanks what camera would you suggest?
It depends on what you want to capture. Do you want to use an astro dedicated camera or DSLR?
@@tsulasbigadventures Astro dedicated
@@stevewhite3753 I use a ZWO ASI 224 for the moon and I also have an ASI585 that works well for planetary and deep sky.
@@tsulasbigadventures thank you.
Great enthusiastic review of this wonderful scope! I’ve only recently invested in a 10” LX200 OTA but have yet to setup with it. Your previous videos encouraged me to go for a Meade mirror. 😊
Just wondering if you managed to get your observatory usable and functional in the end? Looks a bit forlorn down the road in the snow - almost like an igloo.🥶🫢
You will not be sorry once you set up your 10". That dang igloo observatory. It still needs work. It lost power and after that I found out the contractor had failed to install emergency power on the outside. He finally put that in and restored the power but then the cable came off again! Can you believe it? He is coming out again this week to make more adjustments recommended by Jerry. Cross your fingers.