The Meade ETX telescopes.

[Betelgeuse]

I'm a first time telescope buyer and I've come across an exciting telescope range - the Meade ETX.

I'm not quite sure which telescope to go for - as I've explained I am a first time buyer, so I'm not looking for an expnesive model!

Thea Meade EXT70 seems to be good and comes with the star finder thing, but the EXT90 seems better, however it doesn't come with the starfinder thing.

Could anyone give me some advice on whcih telescope to go for - I would appreciate any advice or comments - please help!

[slotdrag]

hey welcome im pretty new to. i found in my research that meade makes a good product, but there customer relations is poor. this is my finding maybe somebody else will agree or disagree. i hope some other members will jump in here and help. i bought a celestron scope. ive also heard good things about orion scopes. so come on guys give your opinions please. im not much help here. and im not trying to put anybodys product down. this is from my research from when i was buying. because i was looking at meade products at the time.

[blueshift]

I have an ETX90EC and it is a good starter scope...You should attend a star party
and get a broader perspective of what's available and what you want to do with it.
I use a green laser pointer that I mounted with a bracket. That helps to locate things easier. It can be difficult without it...

If you want something for looking at the moon through all of its phases and you don't want to keep adjusting your scope because of Earth rotation, then the ETX90
is for you. It picks up Saturn and Jupiter, Mars, and Venus and you can get pretty decent viewing. You can do astrophotography with it. It does come with GOTO if you desire. Just order it that way.

Get the electronic focus..The manual one causes too much shaking..Get the 884
tripod..The 883 isn't as sturdy...The scope has a clock drive. So you can go in the house and get a sandwich while the scope tracks what you are looking at..

If you want bigger aperture to get a good look at the globular clusters and see
galaxies on edge, you might consider a Dob...Thay don't have clock drives..
You get the biggest aperture per dollar with a Dob..There's trade offs with everything..

You might even consider some big binoculars. We have a 20 x 80mm set from
Oberwerk along with a tripod..Great viewing for open clusters like the
Pleiades...

Be careful..This hobby can get expensive. And it's very tempting..One guy in my astronomy club has spent over $30,000 on his scope...Before I die, I'll match him.
Boy, you should see the stuff his scope brings in..

blueshift

[SpockJim]

I am also looking at a Meade ETX series telescope for my first scope purchase. I just keep spending money on other things and it keeps me from buying a scope. garrrrrrr.

[Betelgeuse]

Thank you everyone for youre help and views especially "blushift" - thank you for your time.

Basically I think I've come to a conclusion that buying a telescope can be pricy because of all the other accesories required!

Thanks to "blushift" I think the Meade ETX90 sound pretty good and a therefore a good buy for me. It's interesting to here a buyers point of view on the actual product.


Before I rush in to buying one could anyone specify another brand and model of telescope worth checking out or researching into?

Has anyone got anything at all to say about the Meade ETX70?

I'd like to thank every one for their help!

[blueshift]

Yopu might check out NeXtar from Celestron..They have a scope that competes with the ETX90....70mm might be a little low..

Also, check out www.astromart.com

They have swaps and sales there...You are bound to run into some rich kid who
just wants to sell off something he used just once..That happens a lot..A Celestron 8 scope was just sold in the Chicago area for $900...still in the box and never used. Eyepieces, GOTO and all...

blueshift

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks "blushift" - I'll do some research on the Celestron model and be sure to visit astromart.com - sound like a good website.

"Slotdrag" has brought up an interesting point - they revealed to that Meade have poor customer relations. Has anyone got anything to say about this? Has "blushift" come accross poor customer realtions from Meade?

Thanks for your help everyone!

[seeker372011]

Before you finally decide it may be well worth having a look at Mike Weasner's ETX site...http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html to find a wealth of information specific to the ETX range

what may be particularly of interest may be the section where Mike has pictures of planets taken through various ETX models.

A lot of people seem to think that Meade produces great optics but is sloppy when it comes to mechanics and customer relations.

I myself have an ETX 70. The clips on the tripod broke the first day I took it out. After a couple of weeks I was provided replacement clips and the dealer installed these for me. This time the clip broke on the second day.

However I still like the ETX, but be warned that star alignment and so on is not as simple as Meade make it out to be. And on the ETX 70 the focus knob was invented by the designer from hell

[blueshift]

My impression of Meade is this..

When they come out with a new product you need to be careful..They are very experimental people and will be first to try all kinds of new technologies.
They realize they are going to make errors and do respond with modifications to their products..

As far as I know...I could be wrong about this...their ETX line was the first affordable Cassegrain for beginners on the market...

Their electronic eyepiece seemed to be first also..It has real problems...

Their tripods and the bases to their Dobs have been questionable...

The finder scope on the ETX is difficult to work with..That's why I use the laser..

But, they fit me well because I get to modify their imperfect equipment...I love tinkering...I can't stand guided tours of the Cosmos..Some people are very impatient and want everything to jump right out of the box and work perfectly the first time they set it up....They want GOTO and all of the latest software..

It depends upon the user..I'm not into astrophotography..I like navigational skills
more and , as a result, favor star hopping..My charts have template circles all over them and I love conversing with other astronomers and going back and forth between maps and each other's scopes to see if what the other has in their scope's
field of view is the same...Then we take another bite of pizza..Being stuck and lost
can create more conversation and readjustment...and another bite of pizza..

The Weasner site also has someone who knows how to tear the entire scope apart
and do collimation and gear alignment...

As far as customer relations, that goes like the weather with any company..
Some people get a job building telescopes because they are hungry..Others just love the hobby and are more enthusiastic with customers..I called JimBadura at Rainbow Optics concerning a star spectroscope and we couldn't stop talking for an hour...

I do have plans on getting a 20 in. Obsession Dob in the future but I plan on keeping the ETX and my big binoculars as well..

blueshift

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks again "blushift"! I appreciate your help.

Thanks to you too "seeker372011" - I'll check out the web adress you gave me!

I've been to the celestron website, however, I'm not sur which model I'm supposed to be looking for - anyone got any suggestions?

I appreciate everyone's help - thank you!

[DisinterestedThirdParty]

I have an ETX 70, and purchased it when they first came out. The good part of that is I got a pretty good scope. The bad part was I was pretty much on my own on how to figure it out. That's changed, and there's lots of information on the web about them.

This is a good STARTER scope. You get a reasonable image and are spared the sometimes frustrating job of finding things to look at. The downside is that you'll need a much larger scope to see the most interesting items in the sky.

It's all up to you...the firm rule with optical equipment is that you get what you pay for. (For the most part, ;) )

My experience with Meade (and talking with other folks that own them) is they cut corners. The optics are good, but they'll cut corners on things like the focuser, tripod, mount, etc. I went through several tripod legs, as did a previous poster.

Most, if not anything you buy from Orion is worth it. (www.telescope.com) They stand behind the product, have knowledgeable people, and are most helpful. I tell people you aren't really an astronomer until you buy something from Orion. But again, you will get what you pay for. Don't expect to see the canals of Mars with a $90 scope, no matter who it is from.

And without a clear, dark sky, a $30,000 telescope is useless.

Hope this helps....

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks for your help there - it's nice to hear from someone else who actually owns an ETX70.

I'm getting closer to deciding which scope to buy, so thank you everyone for your help!

[viperbob]

Hello from New Jersey. I belong to the web site here in New Jersey called:
New Jersey Night Sky. www.njnightsky.com.
There are at least two members who own the ETX-70 and there is a forum just on that scope. Check it out and enjoy the site. Tell em viperbob sent ya. I'm the welcome wagon there.
I own two scopes. The LX-90 a 8 inch SCT and love her. Three years now and i've learned the night sky with her go-to system. The other scope is a Stellervue AT-1010 a 80mm refractor for qucik views and easy carry outside.
I've heard in the grapevine that Meade is discontinuing the 70mm scope like they did with the 60mm a couple of years back. I dunno but its what i've heard. That is why the price is low. The ETC-90 is a bigger apture scope and you can see more with her. But either way go for it. The other posters are correct. Meade is a real pain to deal with. Bypas them and use a reliable dealer.
The go-to system on the ETX70/90 is great for learning the night sky. You can't go wrong with either one. But check out our site and brouze around. Nice bunch of people there.

my $.02
viperbob

[slotdrag]

hey rigel its slotdrag again, i bought a smaller scope than you are looking at but it has the nexstar goto system on it. man i love it and its not hard to use. i have found it to be accurate. good luck on finding a scope.

[macsen2]

I have owned and used many meades from 8 to 14.....never any problems...recently purchased a celestron nexstar 4 inch for easy carrying on travelling.. good at goto but shocking at tracking......nightmare !!!!! choose carefully !!!!!!!!! regards mac

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks for your help again.

I'm starting to think that the meade range isn't as good as it firstly appears to be and maybe that I should forget about buying one and research into another brand's product.

[BobbyD]

:D I can't say enough about Mike Weasner's etx website!!You have awesome photos taken by just about anyone who owns a Meade ETX and wants to submit one(or 2,or 3!). There are also classifieds for buyers and sellers alike!!Mike does an excellent job keeping up the extremely high quality....I've learned alot from Mike and his website!!! www.weasner.com/etx

[viperbob]

BobbyD, thanks for the web address, i'll check it out. A friend of mine has a ETX-70 as a guide scope on his LX-200 10incher. Nice little scope :)

[earleeiii]

Hi folks,
I know it isn't GoTo fancy,but I really like my ETX90 MANUAL CONTROL scope.I bought it for a song-$170.00 and it's a great grab and go 'scope with optics and performance that will please a newcomer.I'm prejudiced,I admit,to finding one's own way to objects because it's just so darned rewarding and practical.
I just don't think you can beat the price-it is the same OTA as the pricey go to model and gets one into the experience of observing with a quality instrument.Do yourself a big favor and buy an aiming device like Orion's starfinder because Meade supplies a completely worthless finder 'scope even on the go to model.
I think these 'scopes are still available even tho Meade has dropped the manual model.Try one of the big distributors or ebay.
Thanks for letting me add my 2 cents worth.

Earleeiii

[CygX1]

For information about the Meade ETX scopes you should visit Mike Weasner's web site at http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html.
And for Meade products http://www.mapug.com

Both sites are full of information, images and experiences form other Meade telescope users.

Enjoy !!

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks again. I'll check out this website.

Which Celestron model corresponds to the Meade ETX70 and ETX90? Could anyone tell me so that I could check the models out?

Thanks!

Rigel

[seeker372011]

Here's something to throw into the pot:
meade have announced an upgrade for the etx series-a Premium edition

http://www.meade.com/authdealers/etxPremie.../ETX_lowRes.pdf (http://www.meade.com/authdealers/etxPremier/pdfs/ETX_lowRes.pdf)

This should mean
a an additional option to consider
b some price reduction and clear outs on the existing models...

[Betelgeuse]

Thanks for that information!

Snappy desgn on those scopes!

I've read the information, but there doesn't seem to be any about when these scopes will be out in th shops so I can compare prices. Anyone got an idea?

If anyone else has had a look at the mead ETX range, I would recomend that you check out the site seeker372011 pointed out. Also, check out Celestron nexstar 4i.

Rigel