Limerick Astronomy Club

We're all amateurs here Rachael, what is you want to ask ?

No worries, Ask away!
That's what this forum is for.

Congrats on getting the LXD75.
I got one a few years ago and the motors blew,
but as for optics, mount and drive - it's an excellent first scope,
if a little daunting to set up.
Once you get the hang of it though it's 2nd nature.


The 26mm will come in handy,
it's a good all rounder.
Mars is always a bit disappointing unless through a very big scope.
Remember, it's a tiny planet not much bigger than our Moon and a hell
of a lot further away.

The LXD is also a great scope for astro photography!

Plossl eyepieces, are they any good? Down the line I'll get a new eyepiece, will need recommendations though. Saw 4 meteors inbetween 8-9pm too.

Ya,
I use them.
They are grand for the price but a bad eyepiece on an excellent scope
makes for bad observing.
You should think of the scope in terms of 'from the ground up'.
Firstly the mount has to be good, otherwise you are wasting your time.
If it has tracking or go to then this has to be work well, a badly
aligned scope or gears that are cheap are a nightmare.

Next the OTA.
and then the eyepieces / barlows etc.

If you are serious about this and you sound like you are then
I'd recommend thinking about getting a good 'set':
http://www.telescopes.com/telescope-acc ... format.cfm

A set like this these days is cheap and will always be of use to you.
The carry case is dead handy also.

One other thing.
I'd highly recommend...
actually no,
I'd say it's an absolute must
that you need to buy a good rechargeable power pack for your scope.
Halfords do a good value power pack like this one


The Meade autostar is VERY sensitive to not only charge of battery
but any dips in power.
Not to scare you but a dip or drop in power if you are using the
pack they provide with the scope and those fat duracell type batterys,
can have the Autostar going
a bit bonkers and makeing the scope slew off in all directions often
causing the weight bar to jam against the tripod and fry the motors.

Be warned!

(Don't let the Power pack run down totally either...
and ALWAYS recharge it fully straight after every use no matter how
short a time because if you don't the pack will die.
This happend to a few of use in the club as well so keep an eye on that)

One last thing thats another well known issue,
When you are out on a long nights observing,
keep the autostar in a large sock or some kind of glove
when not in use,
The dew gets into the cuirtuits and causes corrosion which leads
you to pressing down harder and harder on the buttons over time
until it just wont work.

Thats all (!?) I can think of for now!

Great information there, very useful & helpful, thank you. How do I go about joining the club? I'm very interested in it.

Your welcome.
Just come along to the next meeting
To join up.

All great advice there Frank,
Next meeting is the SECOND Wednesday in January, all other months its the first Wednesday, just to point it out.!