Finally someone got it right

Post by **Lee** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 8:41 am

Complete Specs here.
http://www.meade.com/lightbridge/

Tachyon · Post by **Tachyon** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 12:25 pm

Missing info: what is the weight of the scope? And how is the balance? I have no fondness for Dobs, but at this price, I might just dip my toes in...

rlow · Post by **rlow** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 1:19 pm

Apart from weight, it would also be good to know the dimensions, esp when disassembled. I think the cooling fan is quite important, and it would be good if they can incorporate the light shroud and dew heater ports/switches for secondary mirror etc.

jermng · Post by **jermng** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 1:29 pm

I guess we'll all have to wait for a review to come out on CloudyNights or Astromart ... Don't think they tell us how good (or bad) their balance is on their website ... and most of the time, manufacturer specs like weight and loading capacity seem to vary when compared to real life usage .... so again, better to wait for a review and see whether this will be a new breakthrough in the truss dob market. =)
I think the lightbridge series is obviously targetted towards the mass low cost market .. so more features = higher price ... if the sales of these things are good, I'm sure there;ll be lots of 3rd party accesories that'll enhance it .. just like the ETX .. =)

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 2:35 pm

I'm sure there;ll be lots of 3rd party accesories that'll enhance it .. just like the ETX .. =)

What do you mean 3rd party accesories? this is a dob, there's already an abundant of accesories for it. The beauty of a dob is you can do whatever you like with it (change the focuser, change the mount, even change the mirrors :-))

Arief

Canopus Lim · Post by **Canopus Lim** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 4:52 pm

From the pic it looks really good and cheap. If you want to balance the scope, just place some 3M velcro and fishing weights (of different weights for more accurate balancing) at rear end of the dob, that is what I do for my XT8 dob. Usually, it won't need that much balancing especially for objects that are quite high above the horizon, unless the EP is those grenade ones.

Post by **VinSnr** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 6:01 pm

Canopus Lim wrote:From the pic it looks really good and cheap. If you want to balance the scope, just place some 3M velcro and fishing weights (of different weights for more accurate balancing) at rear end of the dob, that is what I do for my XT8 dob. Usually, it won't need that much balancing especially for objects that are quite high above the horizon, unless the EP is those grenade ones.

my concern is the size of the alt bearings for the 12". Look a bit small to me....

ariefm71 · Post by **ariefm71** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 7:03 pm

rule of thumb (from kriege's book), diameter of alt bearings should be at least 1.3x the diameter of the mirror. look at my picture on the left.

Post by **VinSnr** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:00 am

wow...they have a 16" listed here!!

http://www.bintel.com.au/MeadeLightbridge.html

I bet the 16" require at least a stool.

kayheem · Post by **kayheem** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 8:22 am

Hmmm...looks like Bintel pulled it off their site already.

Maybe because it is still vapourware.