Meade series 4000

[Freef1nker]

Hey guys,

I have just bought myself a SW 200p dobsonian telescope. After reading the forums, it seems clear that the standard Eps are not great.

I am looking to replace the EPs and have come across some Meade series 4000 EPs on eBay.

I'm looking at a10mm, 26mm and a x2barlow.

Can anyone tell me if this is a good value for money upgrade (I think they are going for around £20 each, second hand).I would also appreciate if anyone has any better recommendations.

Thanks in advance

[John]

They will be an improvement over the eyepieces that come with the scope. They are nothing special but for £20 apiece you can't really go wrong with them.

The Vixen NPL plossls sell for similar prices used and are probably a bit better but don't come up so often. There must be millions of Meade 4000's out there !.

There were several generations of Meade 4000 plossls. The later ones are made in China and OK but the earlier Japanese made ones were pretty good - they command higher prices of course.

The next step up again would be eyepieces in the £30-£50 range when you can have things like the BST Explorers which have wider fields of view and are more comfortable to view through.

As well as E.Bay you might like to keep an eye on the UK Astro Buy & Sell website which is a great place to buy & sell used astro equipment:

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/

[Freef1nker]

John,

thank you for your response, very helpful. I just took a look at the BSTs and think I will take the plunge and purchase a couple.

They do not appear to have a 32mm or anything higher than 25mm actually. Could you recommend a decent 32mm EP for around the same price and quality as the BSTs?

thanks again.

Mark

[cantab]

For a ~30 mm focal length anything with a wider view than a Plossl must be a 2 inch fitting, so it might be hard to find a decent economically-priced one.

[John]

I'm currently testing the Vixen NPL 30mm plossl and the Baader 32mm Classic plossls. They cost £45 and £49 respectively from First Light Optics and are pretty good and evenly matched in performance. Either would be a good choice although I reckon the Vixen has a similar build to the BST Explorers so would go quite nicely with them.

3/4 eyepieces with a spread of magnification from, 40x (30mm eyepieces) to around 200x (6mm eyepiece) would serve you well with your scope.

2" eyepieces are great for wide fields of view but decent ones would at least double the budget so you may feel you would prefer to stay with 1.25" for now.

[Freef1nker]

Thank you.

So glad I posted the question before rushing into the second hand meades.

Yes the 2" are a little out of my range at the moment, but the vixen sounds interesting, I will take a look at that.

Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated

[twotter]

I've used Meade 4000s in my 200P dob and they were perfectly good plossls, though I did prefer GSO Revelations, particularly the 32mm.

[SpaceWatcher]

I've got several 4000 series and a barlow and have been very happy with them

[John]

I've used Meade 4000s in my 200P dob and they were perfectly good plossls, though I did prefer GSO Revelations, particularly the 32mm.

Yes - I wasn't knocking the Meades at all - for £20 each they are a good buy