Post by K***@gmail.comIt seems that this would be very, very possible. Is it not only the
base that is different? Is there any way I can upgrade my orginal
LX200 to use GPS technology? I did find a company who makes it
possible to upgrade an autostar scope to GPS, but mine was before
autostar, it just has the goto abilities. Thanks!
No way.
The electronics on the old scope are totally different (and actually
better!). The motors optical encoder, and drives are different (the motors
slightly better on the newer scope, but the drives possibly slightly
worse). The mounts in the casting are different. The wiring different.
Panels different. Something over 3/4 of the 'expensive parts' (excluding
the optics), would need changing, and the replacement parts would need
redesigning to fit the different mounts, making them into custom, rather
than off the shelf replacements. Such an 'upgrade', would cost perhaps
three times, what the new scope would cost (by the time you vector in the
work involved, and the extra cost of limited production parts).
However, stop thinking about GPS being some great advantage. It isn't. The
'gain' in the newer scopes, come 90%, from the other parts (level and
compass). All that GPS provides, is location (how long does it take to
type this in?), and time. These can be provided by an external GPS (there
was an article in Everyday Practical Electronics some months ago, for an
interface box, that would connect a standard GPS to the Meade serial port,
and send this data into the scope). You will still need to manually find
'north', and 'level', since these sensors are not present in the older
scope, but a typical level will give better resolution than the sensor in
the scope, and a compass, combined with a table of magnetic deviation,
will beat the system in the GPS scopes 'hands down'.
Best Wishes