LX200 observations

Pros and cons, I suppose.

Seems to be solid construction over all. Handsome forks.

I like the battery compartments everywhere. Wonder how long they last.

I like a number of the Meade handbox or hand controller features. In particular, I like the "reverse" effect. The LCD display (while still a tiny stupid two line panel) shows with light characters on a dark background. It is surprising how satisfying that is. The keys, as well, are in the same style. Black, with only the code or number lit.

The GPS routine is maddening. Asterisks slowly build across the display giving the impression of progress. But no. It clears at the end... And repeats. Tick, tick, tick, reset, tick, tick... So now the user has no sense of how long this goofy thing is going to take. I hate that. Don't recycle it. Or show actual messages, like "Acquiring satellite 2... Acquiring satellite 3..."

The keys or buttons however are... awkward. The tactile response is not positive. The keys wobble a bit. But, more importantly, the contact is poor. Some keys require very high pressure; others a light touch. It is disconcerting. It does not respond at times. Other times one gets a double entry.

So. As usual, it looks great, but doesn't work well. Hate that. Form over function.

Took me a while to figure out that MODE is the key to back up. It is constantly intriguing why the telescope companies build interfaces in such strange ways, given the proliferation of computers and software. Why not mimic computer commands or keys so that people will instantly know what to do. Enter and Escape. Celestron has Enter and Undo.

And, like Celestron, this handbox has two sets of Up and Down arrows. The top ones are for slewing, that's pretty obvious; the lower ones are for "scrolling." Through menus. Why not say that then. Scrl Up and Scrl Dn. I suppose that gets into language issues. But in a broader sense, why don't they consistently use the slew buttons to navigate the menus, ditch the scroll buttons, and then there's easily space for two more useful keys?

The panning SPEED control is interesting. One choice is 2X. Two times what? Others are more technical: 3°/SEC. And then MAX. I think I favour the Celestron: 1 is slow; 9 is fast. A minor nit.

Oh my goodness! A long cord! Wow! Who'da thunk it? Putting a very long coiled cord on the handbox. What a joy...

The alignment routine is very interesting. The LX200 GPS does many things on its own to ensure a good setup. I like how it checks for level several times. Thierry said it averages the values after a few samples. I was very impressed to see it turn 90° and take the level, and then another 90°, and do it all again. Very good. Doing things on behalf of the user. It does however take time.

The stock eyepiece, no surprise here, is terrible. Really poor eye relief. Almost unusable with eyeglasses.