Jump to content

Celestron or Meade

vlebo

By vlebo
in The Astro Lounge

Recommended Posts

vlebo

vlebo

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone and merry xmas

In the new year I plan on getting a portable setup to take out and about with me . As a committee member of the greek school my kids go to I have managed to rustle up some interest in astronomy with the older students and I am arranging some trips to dark sites for the coming year.

I have sort of narrowed it down to the Meade LS or LT 8" or the Celestron Nexstar 8 se. The celestron 8se and the Meade LT both need a little longer setting up where the LS is a lot easier therefore giving more time at the eyepiece. The LS is a bit more expensive but the other two are roughly the same price. Given that some of you have the Celestron 8 SE I was hopeing for some feedback as to which is better and why , for you , the Meades are a no no.

Thanks

Vlebo

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Demonperformer

Demonperformer

Posted
Posted

I've got the 8SE's baby brother (6SE) and I'm not sure where you get the idea it takes long to set up. Particularly if you are imaging from the same site, your lat/long is already there. As long as the tripod is level, a simple one-star alignment works well. Many find the 3-star skyalign is easy, but I have never managed to get on with it. From the time I switch the scope on, it is usually less than a minute before I am aligned and ready to observe.

HTH

Link to comment
Share on other sites
smudgeball

smudgeball

Posted
Posted

Hi

As Mr DP has said the nexstar is a very straight forward system to use.

Yeah it takes a little time to get used to (but that's the same with any new kit).

I'm getting very accurate alignment using skyalign, but also use two star auto.

This is my personal oppinion, but when I got my scope I was looking at Meade as well. I was swayed by a few reports of people having so / so customer service from them. So I went with Celestron.

But I don't think there is that much in it.

I've seen videos of Meade's LightSwitch in use and it really does seem to take all the alignment work away from the user. So if that's what you want as far as maximum time at the eyepiece, then perhaps the extra expense would be worth it ?

No one on this forum will tell you that you've bought a bad scope.

In my view a scope that is used is the best scope for that person.

................the scope collecting dust in a cupboard ????? (a different story)

Good luck with your choice.

Regards

Neil

Link to comment
Share on other sites
valleyman

valleyman

Posted
Posted

I had a LS witht he GPS and auto star align, the one thing I found most aannoying was that if the alignment star was obscured for some reason, Cloud Tree house etc it would go searching for another alignment star ad if that was obscured would keep repeating the operation.

Having had both a meade LS and the Celestron for ease of set up the Celestron gets my vote. But the optics on the meade are slightly better

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Capricorn

Capricorn

Posted
Posted

Wouldn't bother with the LS, aligning a scope is part of being in astronomy, something to be learnt.

Neither Meade nor Celectron setup is overly difficult, having done both prefer the MEade myself, but I am used to it.

Whether Meade or Celestron I would opt for the Meade. Read too many posts about Celestron/SW electronics going wrong recently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vlebo

vlebo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all , I have heard that the Meade optics are slightly better than the Celstron's but was also wondering in light of that why most observers here still end up with Celestrons. I am beginning to get the feeling that Meades after sales and reliability issues may have not yet been resolved. Thanks for the feedback.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Meade have better optics than Celestron? Where did this bit of witchcraft come from? It all depends on the country hosting the forum if you ask me. In France Meade have a small presence. In the UK Telescope House did a good marketing job for Meade. In my view the optics of mass produced SCTs are ordinary. Quite good, sometimes very good, but ordinary and not excellent. I have a 10 inch Meade SCT. As John Dobson said, Cassegrain Schmassegrain. It's OK but not as good as a 10 inch Newt because it can't offer the same FOV with its long focal length. It's compact, yes. But it's ordinary. Like many beginners back then I rushed into an SCT.

Meade have been particularly obstructive over warranty claims, having made the convenient discovery that, if they ask you to return the whole large package when a fiddling little thing is wrong, you won't bother and it will cost them nothing. Not nice, say I.

You wouldn't get that with FLO.

Olly

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Peter Drew

Peter Drew

Posted
Posted

If you are planning a portable setup then the 8SE is hard to beat as it's probably the lightest 8" available. I'm also surprised that Meade optics are now considered better than Celestron, it's not been my experience, there is certainly little difference between the best examples of both makes. The fragile electronics of the Meade and their unjustified returns policy would make the purchase of a new one a no no for me. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
John

John

Posted
Posted

I got to know an astro journalist quite well a while back who confided in me that, having tested many scopes, he would prefer Celestron over Meade optically. This was a couple of years back and both companies have had new models since but that advice has always stuck in my mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

When i started out on the telescope road.......Celestron was deemed by most to be the lowest of low (and only for astro newbies).

Now i am older and wiser (i hope), that simply is not the case.

I have no experience with Meade products apart from the Bresser 10x50 bins sold in Lidl (Bresser is the european branch of Meade).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
swamp thing

swamp thing

Posted
Posted
Meade have better optics than Celestron? Where did this bit of witchcraft come from? It all depends on the country hosting the forum if you ask me. In France Meade have a small presence. In the UK Telescope House did a good marketing job for Meade. In my view the optics of mass produced SCTs are ordinary. Quite good, sometimes very good, but ordinary and not excellent. I have a 10 inch Meade SCT. As John Dobson said, Cassegrain Schmassegrain. It's OK but not as good as a 10 inch Newt because it can't offer the same FOV with its long focal length. It's compact, yes. But it's ordinary. Like many beginners back then I rushed into an SCT.

Meade have been particularly obstructive over warranty claims, having made the convenient discovery that, if they ask you to return the whole large package when a fiddling little thing is wrong, you won't bother and it will cost them nothing. Not nice, say I.

You wouldn't get that with FLO.

Olly

Gotta agree with you Olly

Many beginners are made to believe, these expensive scopes are far better than a traditional Newt only to be disappointed when they observe with a simple Dob a quarter of the price that give the same performance.

Regards Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vlebo

vlebo

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the replies everyone , food for thought definately . I have a Flextube 300p and agree with you that a Dob has the best bang for buck but I want something a little more portable with a decent aperture to transport in the car as well as three or four students.

As far as warranties are concerned is it not the case that if something goes wrong you take it back to the dealer who then deals with the manufacturer directly on your behalf ? please correct me if I am wrong. In light of your comments and if there is no difference in the optics then maybe I should steer away from the Meade and take a closer look at the Celestron . Thanks again

Vlebo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.