Buy This, Not That! Meade Telescope Edition.

Do you have a favorite Meade telescope? Do you have an “unfavorite”? Let us know!

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[xxxxtripxxxxOSG]

A Meade 4500 was my 2nd telescope as a teen, after a horrible Meade 60mm department store refractor. The 4500 was SO much better. It was very sharp on the moon and planets. I have a journal I made for a couple of months where I went out every clear night with the telescope and sketched the details I could see on Jupiter. The mount was adequate, but not great. I did not have a motor drive for it, but some of my first astrophotography attempts were with it. I mounted an old 35mm film camera with a 50mm lens on top of the telescope and then manually and very delicately turned the RA knob while looking through the eyepiece keeping a star right on the edge of the field of view. I also have some shots of the moon, Jupiter, and saturn I took on film through it. One of my favorites was the moon during a total eclipse through that scope that turned out very well considering.

[georgehenry]

I love the buy this not that series! Please keep them coming!

[travellerXYZA]

I have Meade ETX90 ('classic' version from the late '90, excellent optics) that I recently deforked and mounted on SkyWatcher AZ GTi mount, this is great lightweight travel combo

[tuphdc]

I like to listen to Ed at bedtime. These are my bedtime stories

[GrnXnham]

I've had a 12.5 inch Meade Starfinder Dob for about 20 years now. I have made into a very enjoyable telescope by basically rebuilding it from the ground up. I still am using the sonotube and it has the same optics but nearly everything else has either been rebuilt or replaced. If you don't mind a project, you CAN make one of these scopes enjoyable to use with some upgrades. And I get lots of oohs and aaahs from the public when I am deep sky viewing with this thing.

[bobchan]

Hi Ed, I own a10 Inch Meade Starfinder with the Sonotube, I changed the focuser to a Parks one, added a Telrad and a 9X50 finderscope to it, This telescope has given me all kinds of pleasure over the past 20 plus years, it has great optics and I have seen over 1, 500 objects with it. Yes, i agree, the mounting straps suck. but other than that issue, I have no complaints about it. Bob, A very happy Starfinder Owner.

[Reeser]

I’m new to the hobby. I am happy to see my Meade 4500 is on the good side of your list! Found it for $60. I have been using the equatorial mount all wrong. Can’t wait to use it the correct way.

[maxtrixbass]

Another great video. I have enjoyed your postings even long before your videos!

I will add a small caveat to your Starfinder review. I agree 100% that pretty much every add on is junk: focuser, finder, and those awful straps for the GEM mount.. which is pretty poor itself. That said, my SF 8" is optically my benchmark. Maybe I just got lucky, but if I had to choose I'd keep the SF over my Edge 8".

Granted most people aren't going to buy a scope only to gut it, but for those DIYers who find one cheap it could make a very worthwhile project. I paid less than $150 for mine 15 years ago. It now rides on my Losmandy mount, has a new focuser, finder, and added coma corrector (same tube, although it has been "finished" both inside and out) and it consistently produces outstanding AP images (the scope part, not my processing!)

Also, and maybe this does not matter, but I have handwritten test results of the focal length (in inches) on the back of the primary. I don't know many optics that get attention by hand before heading out the door these days. The only other I have is a Star Instruments 6" rich field made in the late 70s, also a superb scope.

BTW, the coatings on both these scope are still excellent.

[peter]

I've got an even earlier Meade LX10 8", bought used a few months ago. While the mount is cosmetically challenged with some flaking paint from a lifetime in a homemade observatory, and the mechanics had to be nursed back into service, once cleaned and well collimated the optics are excellent.

[gregoryw]

Hmm, I have a Meade Adventure Scope 80 at f/5 that I use with a photo tripod, and I am satisfied with it. That is after chucking all the accessories that it came with (Diagonal, EPs, Tripod, Dovetail, but kept the backpack and red dot finder ). I would say it's about two steps up from a spotting scope, but as long as I don't push it too hard it gives some decent views in light polluted LA county, and is great for quick peeks at the moon, and some other brighter objects. Would I recommend it, maybe for the OTA only, and as something to travel with and not worry too much about it getting beat up. It really is only for beginner casual observing. My two cents.

[mayadoka]

Hi Ed! I've enjoyed your reviews for many years and now am so happy to see your YT videos. On the topic of Meade telescopes, I can add that years ago I bought a new 10" LX5 SCT, and for years it was my favourite for planetary views. Mars showed wonderful details especially, which I drew in my log book. Unfortunately the fork mount gave out and I sent it in to Meade for replacement. Then around 2003 I noticed that the corrector plate coatings were starting to form something like tiny bubbles in places. I ended up giving the telescope to a friend to use, as the views were still usable at that point, and I moved on to a C-11 after my observatory was built. :) I also have older SP C-8, new orange SE C-8 and C-6, plus a white C5+ and single fork mt.

[chrisstrobel]

I remember going in to Meades little shop in Costa Mesa with my Mom in the mid 70’s and getting their 8x50 finder for my Criterion RV-6 Newtonian. They didn’t have much back then but boy that 8x50 finder was a dream come true in those days lol.

[deepspacehunter]

My favorite meade telescope is the ETX 125 observer. None of the issues i always hear people complaining about are present here. No wandering secondary baffle, no suspect goto accuracy, no crappy tracking... all is good here. Is there a lot of plastic? Well, there is less than there used to be and the scopes are so well made that the plastic that is there is fine and helps keep the weight down. I love the Audiostar and quality of the razer sharp high contrast images and that metal flaked lazer blue paint job is stunning. Also, the accesories that came with the scope are excellent, including two super plossl eyepieces and a handy compass/ bubble level.. It's a showpiece telescope undeserving of the ETX's notoriously bad reputation...

[KingLoopie]

The first reflector I built has a Meade Research grade 10" f6 mirror with an Antares diagonal and a JMI reverse crayford focuser. I still have it and drag it out of the garage when I'm not using one of my others (Meade LX200 emc 10, Celestron 130, Skywatcher 80mm x 500mm semi apo, or others). That homebuilt 10" Dob, as ugly as it is, gives fantastic, simple viewing and is still a favorite of mine! Keep up the good work, Ed! Clear skies! /Dave

[Trex]

I bought my Meade 8” model 2080 back in 1981 shortly after its release and the telescope is in perfect shape after 40 years. The mirrors and corrector lens never have needed anything but cleaning from time to time. The drive works perfectly. It is very well designed and has robust construction. It’s just a matter of treat it as the delicate, precise instrument it is.

[chrispeterson]

Thank you for the informative video!!
I just recently de-forked a 12” classic SCT.
It also has a heavy metal weight behind the mirror that I removed.

[ultrametric]

I bought a 4500 OTA from the outlet store for $50 about 15 years ago. I didn't expect much, but thought it would be a fun banger project - and it was. The image was astigmatic, but in an intriguing way - it was exactly the same in and out of focus, just 90 degrees rotated. This told me it had a good primary but a warped secondary. I replaced the secondary with an Antares. The transformation was mind-boggling. It made absolutely perfect images. That may be the most perfect mirror I've ever seen, and that includes my 10" Royce. I had a view of the Moon one night that was like being in orbit. I'm sure that scope could give a $4000 4" Tak a run for its money. I gave it away to a friend - something I often regret :) I sure got my $50 out of it!

[mattpickering]

I recently bought a Meade Polaris 130EQ 5" reflector. Unsure if it has a spherical mirror but based on the star tests I've done it looks like I got lucky with a parabolic mirror. This is my reentry into amateur astronomy after 15 years away. My last scope was a Meade ETX-90 which I kind of regret selling. While I've only had the scope a few weeks, I've upgraded the weak EQ2 mount to a Celestron CG4, added a complete set of Plossl eyepieces and had my first accidental collimation experience by finding the factory collimation was way off and spent 3 hours getting it into collimation. The following evening I found 4 Messier objects and split Polaris.

I don't know if this was a good choice but it is simple, portable and I always wanted a classic equatorial reflector. I'm old school and would love to own one of the older Meade reflectors. I remember those ads in the magazines and catalogs and thought it would be awesome to own one.

So my entire Meade experience is two scopes out of the three I ever owned. While I saw Andromeda for the first time with the ETX-90, I am liking the simple reflector so far. So as a sample of two, the Polaris is my favorite Meade scope because it is the only one I own and the ETX-90 I didn't have long enough to develop a proper opinion.

[MikeHammer]

Purchased (closer to stole) a Meade ETX125-AT brand new for $350 delivered about ten years ago. You may remember that these went for around $1000 back then. I have since modified the scope to have a "permanent equatorial wedge" that I designed, a remote focuser and wireless goto capability. The funny thing was that I wasn't looking to buy a telescope at the time, but there were only two left in stock and the price was irresistible. Everything still works fine on it, but the tracking mechanism isn't the most rugged, so someday I may need to attach a dovetail and mount it on a GEM. But the optics are quite good and it is very portable, so I will not be getting rid of it any time soon.

[ultrametric]

I don't think they are made now, but in the absolutely "Buy!" category is the HD60 series of eyepieces. I have a whole slew of $300 ultrawides from 40mm down to 4.7mm and they never get used any more. The comfort and sharpness of the HD60s is absolutely outstanding. They are light weight and nearly parfocal. They remind me of orthoscopics but with a 60 degree field of view. Most comfortable eyepieces ever! I've heard they are similar to the Televue Radians. OK enough Meade praise! Like you, I lusted over that 10" on the GEM and that is still my ideal!