S&T Test Report by Rod Mollise
AL
L^ PHOTOS^ BY^ THEAUTHORpMeade’s new LX85 mid-weight German equatorial Go To mount is offered with a variety of opti-
cal tube assemblies. We tested the mount paired with the 8-inch Advanced Coma-Free Schmidt-
Cassegrain telescope seen above.Meade’s
LX85 ACF
This new SCT package offers
performance and portability at
an attractive price.AMONG THE MOST POPULAR tele-
scope mounts today is the medium-
capacity, computerized German equato-
rial mount (GEM). There are several
reasons why, including their reasonable
cost, good payload capacity, and general
versatility — a solid equatorial mount is
useful for a wide variety of optical tube
assemblies. In the past Meade has pro-
duced several GEMs in this range, but
the LX85 is the fi rst new one in years, so
I was interested to test its performance
when paired with Meade’s latest 8-inch
Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) Schmidt-
Cassegrain telescope.
The LX85 arrived in two large boxes.
One contained the equatorial head, a
12-pound counterweight, a tripod with
2-inch diameter steel legs, the AudioStar
hand controller, a compass, a CD with
Meade’s AutoStar Suite software, and
a printed manual. The other box held
the 8-inch ACF tube assembly and 8 ×
50-mm fi nderscope, as well as the visual
back, a 1¼-inch mirror star diagonal,
and 25- and 9.7-mm Plössl eyepieces.What We Like
Good pointing accuracy
Excellent opticsWhat We Don’t Like
No power cable included
Insuffi cient user manualAssembling the LX85 mount and tri-
pod is a simple task. The telescope con-
nects to the mount with a Vixen-style
dovetail bar and is secured with two
bolts. It was never diffi cult to mount
or dismount the relatively light 8-inch
telescope, even in the dark.
The mount and telescope combo
were, I had to admit, striking in appear-
ance. However, looks aren’t everything,
and the only true test of a telescope sys-
tem is under the stars, and that’s where
I ran into a little snag.
Meade didn’t include a power cableLX85 Series
Telescope – 8-inch ACF
U.S. Price: $799 (mount)
$1,799 (with 8-inch ACF OTA)
meade.com70 JANUARY 2020 • SKY & TELESCOPE
with the mount. While I’ve accumu-
lated several Meade AC power adapters
over the years, the connector on this
mount is slightly different. None of the
cables I had worked. Meade was quick to
send me a new power supply. Purchasers
should be aware that the optional cable
or power supply is a must-have item.In the Field
One of the most desirable features of
a medium-duty mount is its portabil-
ity. Despite its stated 33-pound payload
capacity, the LX85 mount weighs just