Should I buy a Meade ETX 80 Observatory Edition Telescope

[Matt2011]

I have a Skywatcher 127 MAK on a Celestron CG-5 GT mount and looking in to buying a light portable telescope for my travels and when I travel so basically a grab and go scope with good optics which will give me good views of the moon and planets and how does the Meade ETX 80 perform and anyone got one of these and I have seen the ETX 90 but that is a lot more expensive but its within my price range. Is the Meade ETX 80 perfect for when I wanna go travelling and will it be portable to carry and what are the views like of the planets and moon with one of these. Many Thanks

[TheThing]

I've just picked up a 2nd hand one for grab and go. Not been able to use it for much except a quick lunar squint though.

Light is not the word for it! It weighs practically nothing. I can lift the whole thing in and out with one hand, with no stress or strain at all.

Seems solidly built and the lunar views were great. I couldn't get mine to align at first. It said 'Slewing' on the handset, but didn't move. I've flashed it to the latest software though(very quick and easy) and that seems to have cured the problem.

TheThing

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[Magnum]

Hi Hugh, im glad you are pleased with it so far, there is a chrome locking lever that operates the azimuth clutch in the middle of the base that needs to be locked before it will slew.

Also they are sensitive to low power so if you experience trouble aligning or random gotos it means you need new batteries.

Also I forgot to mention that it has a built in barlow lens in the eypiece holder that slides into place via one of the chrome nobs, make sure its retracted when looking for objects as it adds a lot of magnification.

Lee

[Matt2011]

@The Thing, I have seen a Meade ETX 90 for sale also and with your ETX 80 which powertank have you got and how may eyepieces and which ones would you recommend and have you seen the planets. Thanks

[JimStan]

I built a power pack for my ETX-90 that consists of a set of rechargable "D" cells. These are recharged with one of those "intelligent" chargers that are made for the R/C hobby. That power pack can run the ETX-90 for several nights at a time before the batteries need to be recharged.

As for the scope itself, it is a Maksutov-Cassegrain scope, so it is a very high magnification tool for its size. It is specified as being an F/13.8, 90mm scope, making its focal length 1534mm. This means that it does a better job on the moon and planets than it does on larger-dimmer DSOs.

The ETX-80 OTOH, is an F/5 scope with a FL of 400mm, which makes it much more suitable for lower magnification views. However, you will not see breathtakingly bright views of such dim objects as nebula and galaxies. Be more satisfied with views of open star clusters, etc.

Hope this helps.

Jim S.

[Matt2011]

I actually have a Skywatcher 127 5" Maksutov on a Celestron CG-5 GT mount but as its not so portable I am looking to buy a good grab and go scope for when I travel and would there be a lot of difference between a Meade ETX 90 and an ETX 80mm as far as detail and contrast on the moon and planets and is the ETX 90 really light and portable and how heavy is it and is it easy to set up the GOTO and handset. Thanks

[ollypenrice]

If I'm not mistaken this is a fast F5 achromatic (not apochromatic) refractor so it will not be likely to give great planetary views and won't compare, at this, with the longer FL 90 Maksutov. Fast achromats inevitably give lots of false colour.

Since it has a focal length of just 400mm the field of view will be very wide and therefore the GoTo might be seen as overkill. It should be easy to find things manually.

So for me, buying new, I'd say, 'too much electronics and not enough optics,' to be honest. I'd far rather just have a short rich field scope on a manual alt-az. You might pick up a used TeleVue Pronto or small WO for a similar price to this and there would be no comparison at all in the quality.

Olly

[TheThing]

I just bought the ETX80 as a quick grab and go for weekends away. It is a fast achromatic, but doesn't show a lot if false colour. I'm more after portability and GOTO on this scope for speed and ease.

EPs? I've had and tried loads. Lots of myths about EPs and fast scopes. I normally have f5 or thereabouts scopes. The OMC in my sig is a break from tradition. I find orthos, plossls and BSTs very good.

I have managed to connect my scope up to a Maplins 12v power tank to ensure no power problems, although it runs at 9v so a convertor is needed. I think fresh batteries will be ok for a night or two.

I'm not expecting stunning from this scope, but for unfamiliar surrounding, portability and speed of setting up, I think this will fit the bill nicely FTB.

TheThing

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[JimStan]

As you are finding out, the two scopes are entirely different in construction and application. You really should decide which kind of astronomy you are intending to do with your scope, and go from there. AFA portability is concerned, I am a bit advanced in years, but I can take the ETX-90 and tripod in one piece, and carry it out to the yard, easily. If I want to go to a slightly darker site ( the local country club ) it is a simple matter to un-bolt two bolts holding the scope to the tripod, and throw the two units into the back seat of the car ( a bit too long to fit in one piece ) . Both scopes are extremely portable. It would just be a case of deciding whether you wanted to do more planetary/moon work, or such targets as open star clusters.

Jim S.

[Matt2011]

Basically I am a moon and planetary person and also like to view the brightest deep sky like the Orion Nebula and The Pleiades etc also but looking at the planets like Jupiter, Saturn and Mars what kid of images and what kis of detail would I expect to see with either a ETX 80 or a ETX 90 and is there a lot of false colour on thesee objects. Would a Skywatcher Startravel 80mm Refractor or the 120 version of this scope be better on a alt az mount with flexi cables. Thanks

[JimStan]

Some of the sharpest planetary views I have ever seen have come from my ETX-90. The optics are really excellent and I have used a 4mm eyepiece on it on more than one occasion!

Your Mileage May Vary

Jim S.

[Capricorn]

The ETX-80 will have the advantage of wider views and so pretty easy to set up. Possibly important for travelling and portability.

It is an 80mm f/5 and is an achromat, if you stick to 80x-100x it will be fine the vast majority of the time.

If you want 100x you will need a 4mm eyepiece and I would suggest the TMB II's or clones, they go down to this size and smaller if you fancy trying for more magnification. How well the scope and eyepieces perform together I cannot say, but the combination should perform reasonably.

You can get an adaptor for a car and power it from there. Put the assorted accessories on the rear seat.

[TheThing]

Wow! What a night. Just been out for 1 & quarter hours before the clouds rolled in. Not done real visual observing for a while and always hampered by the light pollution from London to the North and East.

Scope was really easy to align. It found Capella and then Vega on the Easy align straight off. I know them both, but it is true what the manual says about them being the brightest objects in the FOV if you're unsure. Slight tweak to get them centred and alignment done.

Took in Jupiter first as it wasabi easy find and it slewed straight to it. Again, minor tweak required. Then M45 and it was bang on. For a 3" scope, it gives a lovely wide view.

Feeling a little more adventurous, I tried for M31. This has always been my nemesis object as light pollution makes it very difficult to find. Straight to it! Not much detail, but I wasn't expecting much.

Now more confident, I set out looking for objects that would really test my skies M34, M36, M37 and; M38, all clusters which I normally struggle with (and I've never been much of a DSO observer). All found and centred in my Tal 40mm plossl straight away.

I have used the old trick of centring in the EP using minor tweaks and holding the Enter key for a couple of seconds, releasing and pressing again to sync. Helps the scope to be more accurate.

My first successful evening with a GOTO scope. Very pleased.

Now I can hopefully use it to pin things down and then train the motor driven OMC onto them for imaging with the DSi II.

Power from the power tank worked brilliantly too!

TheThing

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