Meade LX200GPS Alignment Question

I currently have the ETX 125 and am thinking of upgrading to the
LX200GPS 8". I've read the manual on the LX200, but have a question on
alignment.

My view of the sky is somewhat limited and with the ETX125, I find that
doing a two star alignment and choosing the stars I can see is the
easiest method to use. I understand the automatic alignment sequence of
the LX200--after doing all the GPS stuff, leveling, etc, it goes into
the automatic star selection mode. I also know that you can hit the
scroll button if the star automatically selected can't be seen and the
200 will go to the next star in it's sequence, but I don't want keep on
pressing the scroll button who knows how many times until the scope goes
to an alignment star I can see. What I want to do is have the 200 go
through it's automatic set up (GPS, leveling, etc) but then let me
directly choose the two stars I want to use for alignment. The manual
seems to imply that if I want to use the two star method, I must
manually set the home position (level and pointing north). Is this true,
or can it all be automatic (levelling, etc) until the alignment star
choice and then let me choose the two stars?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

Jerry

Jerry wrote in message ...

I understand the automatic alignment sequence of
the LX200--after doing all the GPS stuff, leveling, etc, it goes into
the automatic star selection mode. I also know that you can hit the
scroll button if the star automatically selected can't be seen and the
200 will go to the next star in it's sequence, but I don't want keep on
pressing the scroll button who knows how many times until the scope goes
to an alignment star I can see. What I want to do is have the 200 go
through it's automatic set up (GPS, leveling, etc) but then let me
directly choose the two stars I want to use for alignment.

Hi Jerry:

Yes, I'm afraid that's the case. If you do the Auto (GPS) Align,
you'll either have to settle for the stars it chooses or scroll down.
With the 2 star, you'll have to set home position, etc., yourself.

Peace,
Rod

In article ,
(Rod Mollise) wrote:

Jerry wrote in message
...

I understand the automatic alignment sequence of
the LX200--after doing all the GPS stuff, leveling, etc, it goes into
the automatic star selection mode. I also know that you can hit the
scroll button if the star automatically selected can't be seen and the
200 will go to the next star in it's sequence, but I don't want keep on
pressing the scroll button who knows how many times until the scope goes
to an alignment star I can see. What I want to do is have the 200 go
through it's automatic set up (GPS, leveling, etc) but then let me
directly choose the two stars I want to use for alignment.

Hi Jerry:

Yes, I'm afraid that's the case. If you do the Auto (GPS) Align,
you'll either have to settle for the stars it chooses or scroll down.
With the 2 star, you'll have to set home position, etc., yourself.

Peace,
Rod

Hi Rod,

Thanks very much for the confirmation of what the manual says. That
makes my decision to wait for the new LX90 rather than get the 200 now
an easy one. I think my aging back will also appreciate the 31 pound
LX90 over the 45 pound LX200 8".

It seems like bad programming on Meade's part to not give the user the
option to auto pick the stars vs one star vs two star alignment after
the initialization is completed.

Jerry

Jerry wrote:
In article ,
(Rod Mollise) wrote:


Jerry wrote in message
...

I understand the automatic alignment sequence of

the LX200--after doing all the GPS stuff, leveling, etc, it goes into
the automatic star selection mode. I also know that you can hit the
scroll button if the star automatically selected can't be seen and the
200 will go to the next star in it's sequence, but I don't want keep on
pressing the scroll button who knows how many times until the scope goes
to an alignment star I can see. What I want to do is have the 200 go
through it's automatic set up (GPS, leveling, etc) but then let me
directly choose the two stars I want to use for alignment.

Hi Jerry:

Yes, I'm afraid that's the case. If you do the Auto (GPS) Align,
you'll either have to settle for the stars it chooses or scroll down.
With the 2 star, you'll have to set home position, etc., yourself.

Peace,
Rod


Hi Rod,

Thanks very much for the confirmation of what the manual says. That
makes my decision to wait for the new LX90 rather than get the 200 now
an easy one. I think my aging back will also appreciate the 31 pound
LX90 over the 45 pound LX200 8".

It seems like bad programming on Meade's part to not give the user the
option to auto pick the stars vs one star vs two star alignment after
the initialization is completed.

Jerry

Jerry,

The problem is not "Bad Programming". It is a user interface "feature" or
in you case a lack of it. The program is working correctly.

But, while we are on this subject. How would you implement the user interface,
given that you only have a scroll button and a single line display. I understand
what you want, but I for one don't know how. Do you want some user programmed
list, of user selected stars and have the LX-200 store these lists. Then the
user would select a list entry that has a "set of" alignment stars.

Steve

In article ,
Steve Sherman wrote:

Jerry wrote:
In article ,
(Rod Mollise) wrote:


Jerry wrote in message
...

I understand the automatic alignment sequence of

the LX200--after doing all the GPS stuff, leveling, etc, it goes into
the automatic star selection mode. I also know that you can hit the
scroll button if the star automatically selected can't be seen and the
200 will go to the next star in it's sequence, but I don't want keep on
pressing the scroll button who knows how many times until the scope goes
to an alignment star I can see. What I want to do is have the 200 go
through it's automatic set up (GPS, leveling, etc) but then let me
directly choose the two stars I want to use for alignment.

Hi Jerry:

Yes, I'm afraid that's the case. If you do the Auto (GPS) Align,
you'll either have to settle for the stars it chooses or scroll down.
With the 2 star, you'll have to set home position, etc., yourself.

Peace,
Rod


Hi Rod,

Thanks very much for the confirmation of what the manual says. That
makes my decision to wait for the new LX90 rather than get the 200 now
an easy one. I think my aging back will also appreciate the 31 pound
LX90 over the 45 pound LX200 8".

It seems like bad programming on Meade's part to not give the user the
option to auto pick the stars vs one star vs two star alignment after
the initialization is completed.

Jerry

Jerry,

The problem is not "Bad Programming". It is a user interface "feature" or
in you case a lack of it. The program is working correctly.

But, while we are on this subject. How would you implement the user
interface,
given that you only have a scroll button and a single line display. I
understand
what you want, but I for one don't know how. Do you want some user programmed
list, of user selected stars and have the LX-200 store these lists. Then the
user would select a list entry that has a "set of" alignment stars.

Steve

I'm not sure a list of user desired stars are needed. But what I would
like to see is similar to what I see with the ETX. With the ETX, after
the initialization, Easy Align comes up. I can then scroll to the
options of one star or two star alignment. With the 200, after it
initializes, before automatically pointing to a star of the Autostar's
choice, there could be a pause where easy align would appear or the user
could scroll to one star or two star alignment.

I guess, some users who have full view of the sky would argue that they
don't want the extra step and just want the 200 to not need human
intervention until the 200 points to the first alignment star. I
certainly can understand this. But it's only one extra press of a
button. The way I see it, Meade created the options of a one or two star
alignment (with the user selecting the stars) in addition to the
automatic choosing of the stars. So why not give the user full
flexibility and allow the 200 to do it's initialization and then let the
user decide how the alignment stars should be chosen--automatically or
directly by the user.

Jerry