Lightbridge

I've just read the review of both a 10inch and 12kinh in S&T, I am wondering
if anyone here has gotten one and what they think of them?


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html

"Starlord" wrote in message
. ..
I've just read the review of both a 10inch and 12kinh in S&T, I am
wondering if anyone here has gotten one and what they think of them?


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html


I have a 12" Deluxe LightBridge, and like it a lot...

Great value, very good optics, 45 pounds lighter than my 13". Nice Crayford
focuser and decent 1 power finder. Very little needs to be done to make it
an excellent scope... Bob's knobs, or reasonable facsimile, for both the
secondary and primary cells, and new, stronger primary collimation springs
(but to be clear, you can get along just fine without ANY of this stuff -
they just make it a bit more user-friendly). And a bit of ultra-flat-black
paint in a few areas around the inside of the tube, where some white paint
shows...

Quite usable, though, right out of the box...

The S&T Review is pretty much right on the money...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.6
Longitude: -112.3
http://community.webshots.com/user/janowen21

Jan Owen wrote:

"Starlord" wrote in message
. ..
I've just read the review of both a 10inch and 12kinh in S&T, I am
wondering if anyone here has gotten one and what they think of them?


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html


I have a 12" Deluxe LightBridge, and like it a lot...

Great value, very good optics, 45 pounds lighter than my 13". Nice
Crayford
focuser and decent 1 power finder. Very little needs to be done to make
it
an excellent scope... Bob's knobs, or reasonable facsimile, for both the
secondary and primary cells, and new, stronger primary collimation springs
(but to be clear, you can get along just fine without ANY of this stuff -
they just make it a bit more user-friendly). And a bit of
ultra-flat-black paint in a few areas around the inside of the tube, where
some white paint shows...

Quite usable, though, right out of the box...

The S&T Review is pretty much right on the money...


When will the 16 inch be available, anyone know?
http://meade.com/media/product_image...dynamic_lo.jpg

"Klaatu" wrote in message
...
Jan Owen wrote:

"Starlord" wrote in message
. ..
I've just read the review of both a 10inch and 12kinh in S&T, I am
wondering if anyone here has gotten one and what they think of them?


--
The Lone Sidewalk Astronomer of Rosamond

Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Sidewalk Astronomy
www.sidewalkastronomy.info
The Church of Eternity
http://home.inreach.com/starlord/church/Eternity.html


I have a 12" Deluxe LightBridge, and like it a lot...

Great value, very good optics, 45 pounds lighter than my 13". Nice
Crayford
focuser and decent 1 power finder. Very little needs to be done to make
it
an excellent scope... Bob's knobs, or reasonable facsimile, for both the
secondary and primary cells, and new, stronger primary collimation
springs
(but to be clear, you can get along just fine without ANY of this stuff -
they just make it a bit more user-friendly). And a bit of
ultra-flat-black paint in a few areas around the inside of the tube,
where
some white paint shows...

Quite usable, though, right out of the box...

The S&T Review is pretty much right on the money...


When will the 16 inch be available, anyone know?
http://meade.com/media/product_image...dynamic_lo.jpg

Stuff I've been hearing makes it sound like Australia may get them first.

But I don't think anyone knows exactly when... If they do, they're being
pretty close-lipped about it...

Meade actually got the original (8, 10, and 12") versions out pretty quickly
after announcing them, versus their new triplet APO's which continue to be
vaporware... I've had one of THOSE preordered for many months now...

--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.6
Longitude: -112.3
http://community.webshots.com/user/janowen21

When will the 16 inch be available, anyone know?
http://meade.com/media/product_image...dynamic_lo.jpg

Stuff I've been hearing makes it sound like Australia may get them first.

But I don't think anyone knows exactly when... If they do, they're being
pretty close-lipped about it...

Meade actually got the original (8, 10, and 12") versions out pretty
quickly after announcing them, versus their new triplet APO's which
continue to be
vaporware... I've had one of THOSE preordered for many months now...


"16" Lightbridge soon to be"

"It looks pretty nice. Price would be around 2500 euros in Germany so that
would be 3100~3200 dollars for this 16" F/4.5 instrument. Release would be
around Christmas."

Some comments negative about the base and spider (watch wrap).

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea.../o/all/fpart/1

"Klaatu" wrote in message
...


When will the 16 inch be available, anyone know?
http://meade.com/media/product_image...dynamic_lo.jpg

Stuff I've been hearing makes it sound like Australia may get them first.

But I don't think anyone knows exactly when... If they do, they're being
pretty close-lipped about it...

Meade actually got the original (8, 10, and 12") versions out pretty
quickly after announcing them, versus their new triplet APO's which
continue to be
vaporware... I've had one of THOSE preordered for many months now...


"16" Lightbridge soon to be"

"It looks pretty nice. Price would be around 2500 euros in Germany so that
would be 3100~3200 dollars for this 16" F/4.5 instrument. Release would be
around Christmas."

Some comments negative about the base and spider (watch wrap).

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea.../o/all/fpart/1


And I'm sure those who're complaining about the spider or the rocker box
construction will be more than happy to pay double, triple, or quadruple the
price for a scope that DOES have these items and meets their discriminating
requirements... Of course, they won't be able to tell much difference at
the eyepiece...

The LightBridge scopes are not *premium* scopes. They are VERY cost
effective scopes in their respective apertures, though... And the
cost/quality ratio is pretty amazing... No more whining about Meade
focusers... You can still buy a premium focuser if that suits your personal
needs, but it certainly isn't a necessity...

The upper tube assembly on the 12" can be easily rotated to put the focuser
on the right side... I did that with mine... I'd have no reason to believe
you can't do it equally as easily with all the others. Takes about two
minutes... Of course, you will have to recollimate, but that's no big deal
(I have focusing knobs on the primary and secondary on mine, so it's simple
and fast...)...

I put a shroud on mine, but since most of the time I don't need it, I
removed it... But I kept it for sessions where I may be set up somewhere
where I may NEED it to shield from unwanted lights in the area...

I added stronger springs to my primary cell, too... But tightening the
three collimation screws ones a turn or two all the way around and
recollimating will allow you to do just fine with the standard ones if you
don't want to bother with stronger springs... Not the best solution, but
workable... I also added a Scope Tote to the lower tube assembly, to make
it easy to haul the OTA around, when not using my hand truck... And I
fabricated plastic covers for the bottom of the upper tube assembly, and the
top of the lower tube assembly, which fit snugly to keep unwanted dust
out... The other two openings have soft covers for them from Scope Stuff...
I keep the scope assembled, and these items keep dust from collecting inside
the OTA...

My LightBridge and other scopes are in my Webshots Albums, and can be viewed
by clicking on the link in my signature block below... Sorry, but I haven't
added a shot of the LightBridge since the addition of the Scope Tote, but
you CAN see shots before and after I rotated the focuser to the right
side...
--
Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
Latitude: 33.6
Longitude: -112.3
http://community.webshots.com/user/janowen21

Jan Owen wrote:

"Klaatu" wrote in message
...


When will the 16 inch be available, anyone know?
http://meade.com/media/product_image...dynamic_lo.jpg

Stuff I've been hearing makes it sound like Australia may get them
first.

But I don't think anyone knows exactly when... If they do, they're
being pretty close-lipped about it...

Meade actually got the original (8, 10, and 12") versions out pretty
quickly after announcing them, versus their new triplet APO's which
continue to be
vaporware... I've had one of THOSE preordered for many months now...


"16" Lightbridge soon to be"

"It looks pretty nice. Price would be around 2500 euros in Germany so
that would be 3100~3200 dollars for this 16" F/4.5 instrument. Release
would be around Christmas."

Some comments negative about the base and spider (watch wrap).


http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthrea.../o/all/fpart/1


And I'm sure those who're complaining about the spider or the rocker box
construction will be more than happy to pay double, triple, or quadruple
the price for a scope that DOES have these items and meets their
discriminating
requirements... Of course, they won't be able to tell much difference at
the eyepiece...

The LightBridge scopes are not *premium* scopes. They are VERY cost
effective scopes in their respective apertures, though... And the
cost/quality ratio is pretty amazing... No more whining about Meade
focusers... You can still buy a premium focuser if that suits your
personal needs, but it certainly isn't a necessity...

The upper tube assembly on the 12" can be easily rotated to put the
focuser
on the right side... I did that with mine... I'd have no reason to
believe
you can't do it equally as easily with all the others. Takes about two
minutes... Of course, you will have to recollimate, but that's no big
deal (I have focusing knobs on the primary and secondary on mine, so it's
simple and fast...)...

I put a shroud on mine, but since most of the time I don't need it, I
removed it... But I kept it for sessions where I may be set up somewhere
where I may NEED it to shield from unwanted lights in the area...

I added stronger springs to my primary cell, too... But tightening the
three collimation screws ones a turn or two all the way around and
recollimating will allow you to do just fine with the standard ones if you
don't want to bother with stronger springs... Not the best solution, but
workable... I also added a Scope Tote to the lower tube assembly, to make
it easy to haul the OTA around, when not using my hand truck... And I
fabricated plastic covers for the bottom of the upper tube assembly, and
the top of the lower tube assembly, which fit snugly to keep unwanted dust
out... The other two openings have soft covers for them from Scope
Stuff... I keep the scope assembled, and these items keep dust from
collecting inside the OTA...

My LightBridge and other scopes are in my Webshots Albums, and can be
viewed
by clicking on the link in my signature block below... Sorry, but I
haven't added a shot of the LightBridge since the addition of the Scope
Tote, but you CAN see shots before and after I rotated the focuser to the
right side...

Good ideas if I end up buying the 16 inch.