Meade ETX-TC Telsescopic Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was looking for the best starter telescope that I can also use to photograph the moon, and after much due diligence, I decided on Meade ETX-80 as the best value overall, and am very happy with the purchase.However, the fundamental shortcomings of a cheap telescope (which is pretty much any telescope under $2000 or so) become immediately apparent, and you'll likely be plotting an upgrade to a model that's more powerful, solid, and flexible, e.g. Meade LX200GPS.

PROS:
- The package is fully featured, and out of the box, you can get set up and get going quickly.The assembled telescope (with the tripod) is light and portable, but built with high quality, and no problem after a month of heavy use.
- The planetarium software that comes with the package is useful and fun.If you buy the Meade LPI camera, you can hook it up to your PC/laptop and use it as a webcam and record videos during day or night.
- The two lenses that come with the package are high-quality and useful for most casual observations.The built-in Barlow is definitely useful for an instant-zoom as well.
- The package comes with its own tripod, cables, software, and controller.Don't forget to order batteries, but I'd recommend getting the AC adapter (order the ETX-70 compatible AC adapter from telescope.com).
- You can use ETX-80 for both day- and night-time viewing and photography.You can also order lunar and solar filters to observe/photograph the moon and the sun respectively.
- Photography with ETX-80 is easy, especially with the flip mirror that allows easy transition between viewing thru the lens and photographying with an attached camera.If you buy the right T-mount ("Meade 64ST" on Amazon) and T-ring for your camera, then attaching/detaching the camera to/from the telescope is very easy.You'll have a lot of fun photographing the moon at various exposure, cropping/zooming, color-correcting, and printing/displaying.
- Unusually excellent and complete documentation and FAQ on Meade website, which even includes video instructions on setting up the tripod.Meade deserves much kudos for a truly outstanding effort in the documentation front.

CONS:
- The focusing knob is poorly designed in terms of its location and feedback.Even a light touch on the knob shakes the telescope and does not allow fine control, making it easy to overshoot the focus range - one will be spending a LOT of time fiddling with the knob and cursing under the breath.
I ordered the ScopeTronix Flexi-Focus (from telescope.com) that's compatible for ETX-70, but had to return it after finding that it's NOT compatible with ETX-80.(If anyone found a better focusing accessory for ETX-80, please post here, provided that it's not the exorbitant electronic focusing mechanism.)
- Accessories for ETX-80 are limited at best, and many vendors themselves are confused as to which ETX-70 accessories are compatible with ETX-80 and which are not, so be sure to find out before you order accessories.
- Manual adjustment of the telescope is another source of major frustrations, especially if you want to adjust the telescope just slightly up/down/right/left, due to the still resistance of the turning mechanisms.
- At the same time, if you hook up a camera to the telescope (using Meade 64ST T-adapter and Canon T-ring that you can order from Amazon), weight of the camera overcomes the resistance of the telescope's vertical lock, thus tilting the telescope upward.
- Be sure to read the manuals before extending the legs of the tripod for the first time, or you may end up damaging the legs.
- The LED display on the controller is virtually invisible in daylight, so trying to test it for the first time in daylight is difficult - you'll have to wait until night time.

BTW, the Meade LPI digital camera offers superior imaging of the moon and planets over camera (in my case Canon Digital Rebel Xt).The housing of the LPI camera is rather poorly designed, so it'd rotate under the weight of USB cable and thereby rotating the image while you're trying to focus and capture the image on your PC/laptop.

Overall, it's a great starter package for a very attractive price that allows you to have fun and gain experience in observing/photographing, so that by the time you saved enough money to buy a REAL telescope, you'll be a much more knowledgeable and experienced amateur astronomer/astrophotographer.

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Product Description:
Aperture: 80mm(3.1-Inch). Focal Length: 400mm. Focal Ratio: f/5. Internal Flip-in Barlow lens, #494 AutoStar handbox with over 1400 object library, Field Tripod, AutoStar Suite Astronomer Edition Software and Instructional DVD, Series 4000 Super Plössl Eyepieces (9.7mm, 26mm).Meade's 80mm diameter ETX delivers excellent light gathering for increased image brightness and greater detail. Moon craters by the hundreds; cloud belts on Jupiter, and Saturn's rings are just the beginning of what can be seen with this telescope. Meade's brainy AutoStar® computer solves the stargazer's two biggest challenges in navigating the heavens with a computer telescope: aligning the telescope with the night sky and finding celestial phenomenon in the vast starry firmament. Right out of the box with a simple initialization, AutoStar makes finding the sky's elusive jewels virtually as easy as pushing a few buttons. Observe land targets or over 1400 sky objects in stunning high resolution, and learn about the sky with AutoStar's extensive descriptions of astronomical objects displayed on its screen. FEATURES AutoStar Computer Controller Automatically guides your telescope to over 1400 objects in the night sky, all at the push of a button. Large 80mm Objective Lens Delivers crisp, bright images and greater detail. Internal Time Chip Set-up is now quicker and easier. Time and date are now precisely calibrated at our factory.

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