Capital Campaign UPDATE:

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Click here to view an Ongoing Article titled "Using Meade's 14" LX200GPS, Lessons Learned, and Concerns," this article includes pictures of the problem encountered using the 14" LX200 with the Meade AC Adapter.

On May 31, 2003 the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg, PA., Inc. (ASH) picked up its new 14" Telescope which will be placed in a new observatory at the Edward L. Naylor Astronomical Center. The telescope will primarily be used for CCD Imaging and State of the Art Video Imaging.

According to the Meade Rep our scope was the 2nd of its kind to hit the East Coast, and was one of the first 10 scopes Meade produced in the line.

Hands On Optics, out of Damascus, Maryland, helped broker this purchase and obtained this scope for us from Meade. Hands on Optics is a true friend of the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg, and a friend to the amateur community in general. Thanks go out to Sherry and Gary Hand of Hands on Optics for their generosity, help, and assistance with this all.

When Gary arrived and opened up the store, we walked in to find our prized 14" LX200GPS looking at its happy new owners!

Then we all star going over the scope to make sure everything is in working order and in good shape, everything turns out EXCELLENT!

Well then decided it was time to do an optical test to make sure everything worked, we looked through the door window at a nearby sign but things looked awful and wouldn't come to a focus. Aww shucks, what's wrong with the thing, collimation? Well we opened the door and everything turned crystal clear, rejoice! It's amazing how how bad things look when looking through glass!

Next we'd power it on to make sure everything worked and sounded fine, again we were not let down!

Click here to see a VIDEO of the scope during its first power up, doing the Auto-Level. The video is 5.5 Megs, and is 16 seconds long.

However next came the fun part, taking the thing down and lifting it over to the box, and then to the car. This thing is a BEAST, and Rob and I are two capable people, and this thing was HEAVY! I personally own a 12" LX200GPS and can lift the thing on my own and move it around and set it up, I wouldn't even consider trying this on my own, I felt the weight of this brute piece of a telescope, and it was astronomical, so I won't attempt a lift on my own!

Click here to continue to Page 2, the pictures of us packing up the scope.