Meade troubles?

[oymd]

Hi all..

Is it wise to stay away from a Maede telescope purchase, because of the on going financial issues they are having?

Or is it business as usual?

I keep reading on CN forums that Meade is in financial trouble, and was wondering if it would be wise to invest in a Meade SCT, especially that it might need service, parts etc in a few years?

Any thoughts?

[ronin]

At this time I would honestly avoid a new big Meade SCT's.

Meade had problems, and it looked like JoC were going to buy them, probably not a bad option for the brand, and many thought it a good take over option.

Then the UIS equivalent of Venture Capitalists seem to have jumped in saying they could get more per share for the share holders.

Think in the US there may be rules about getting the "best deal".

What seemed to happen then was JoC didn't offer more and it entered a bit of a limbo state. Cannot see any VC side running a scope business so JoC probably had the thought "If you can get more then do so, but where and from who?"

As JoC make Explore Scientific eyepieces and Bressier scopes the purchase of Meade would have given them a new field in the computerised scopes, and one that was established, and they seem to have worked with Meade in the past also.

I suspect that if Meade goes to the VC side then the brand will go, bits will be split and sold off.

The US legal system will probably make the most money from it all.

At this time I would not really consider a nice big Meade SCT, and I do have a couple of Meade goto's and like them.

[JB80]

Last I saw it was Sunny Optics are now the front runners for the takeover.

[Peter Drew]

Probably a good time to buy a SECONDHAND Meade SCT OTA, prices are pretty low at any time and there is very little to go wrong in the future that can't be fixed. Different case for the mounts and electronics.

[damnut]

Big fan of the larger Meade SCT's, personally could not buy new due to cost. Would always buy used and have some depreciation kicked out of them. Did not have any issues with my 10" lx200 electronics, probably because I bought a spare handset and never used it. There are plenty of resources for solving mount / electronics issues.

[ronin]

Never heard of Sunny Optics, off to play with google.

Still suspect that JoC were the better option, seem to have past workings with Meade and the Meade items would fit in and add to JoC. Unfortunately the shareholders will not be astronomers.

[oymd]

I am looking at Maede and Celestron SCTs in the 10-12" range...and there are pretty good deals on USED Maedes out there...but I am concerned about parts etc..

[Davey-T]

Meade Europe is a seperate company, may be owned by JOC , and Telescope House have repair facilities in the UK.

I have had LX2OO for a few years with no problem.

Dave

[ollypenrice]

What do you want to do with it? I've had a couple but with more experience I'd say they were lousy for DS imaging on nearly all counts and OK for visual if you accept the tunnel vision of F10, but I wouldn't want to accept that havng tried faster F ratios...

Not a fan?

No, not really.

Olly

[damnut]

Hi Olly,

Used to love my LX, put a wide angle 30mm, objects easy to locate and fast to swing on the forks in alt az, great viewing pos. One of the best compromises for me. Pete Shah had mine before I had it and seemed to do ok for imaging!.

Now scopeless but when able a decent size sct is on the shopping list.

[Chris Rowland]

Sunny - a Chinese optics company - has made a formal offer to take over Meade and the Share holders vote in about a month. If the take over happens it will be up to the new owners and we don't know what plans they have.

If the take over doesn't happen it looks as if Meade will have to go bankrupt. Once again we don't know what will happen.

Either way relying on something that might need specialised servicing seems risky. A straightforward OTA should be OK but personally I'd avoid anything that uses electricity.

A used Meade may be a better deal because there are people doing things to keep the old hardware going using salvaged parts.

Chris

[planet15]

This situation prevented me from buying anything made by Meade for the time being.

[oymd]

better to steer away then...!!

btw...why are the FORKED meade SCTs so overpriced compared to the Celestrons (CPCs etc..)?

especially that I see MUCH LESS complaints coming from the Celestron owners of those CPCs?

[ronin]

No idea on the cost difference. When I bought a Meade many years back there wasn't that great a difference.

Trouble is there is always a lot of talk over mounts, usually someone criticising the one they didn't get.

I bought a Meade as at the time it was small, and not being sure if I would contunue it was a sensible choice.

People said Meade burnt out, locked up, mangled gears. After 13 years I have the same small scope going fine. So far not a problem on any aspect.

Problem at present is Synta go for the cheapest components to build their scopes, I don't think Celestron used to - hence a similar cost back then, and Meade are likely to disappear or undergo major change. I have read too many posts of Synta items suddenly reporting errors for no apparent reason and that being the start of trouble for the owner. Neither therefore give me great confidence. If I wanted to buy myself a nice goto I have no idea what I would look at as none inspire me.

I think the recent Meade fork mounts use brass gears and the drive train is beefed up. If so the cost may come from the drive chain components. Will say I have no idea what Celestron use for their drive chain.

Immaterial of gossip Meade's seem the "bigger" scope that clubs have and use. Of 2 clubs I can get to both have 8/10/12/14 inch Meades. The University at Hatfield have several observatories and about 80% of them are Meade scopes. So there must be a reason for it.

Some problems may be of Meades making, years back I worked with a UK company that desribed the US and Japanese philosophy:

US: "Get something together, get it out there and let the public see it." Didn't matter if it was unfinished.

Japan: "Build it, test it and check it until it is 100% solid, doesn't matter if it is late,"

[Naemeth]

What do you want to do with it? I've had a couple but with more experience I'd say they were lousy for DS imaging on nearly all counts and OK for visual if you accept the tunnel vision of F10, but I wouldn't want to accept that havng tried faster F ratios...

Not a fan?

No, not really.

Olly

I'd have said SCTs and MAKs are specialized, best for planetary photography and visual planetary observation, rather than deep sky.

[JB80]

I'd have said SCTs and MAKs are specialized, best for planetary photography and visual planetary observation, rather than deep sky.

When I upgrade to a SCT that is the exact reasons I want it for, planetary use and the ability to visually seek out the fainter objects or events like supernova, comets, etc.. even to image them but more so for personal records than to have stunning images.

At this point I find it hard to go past a new C11 for this but I wouldn't rule out a 10 or 12" Meade from a secondhand site for minimal fee.

[oymd]

No idea on the cost difference. When I bought a Meade many years back there wasn't that great a difference.

Trouble is there is always a lot of talk over mounts, usually someone criticising the one they didn't get.

I bought a Meade as at the time it was small, and not being sure if I would contunue it was a sensible choice.

People said Meade burnt out, locked up, mangled gears. After 13 years I have the same small scope going fine. So far not a problem on any aspect.

Problem at present is Synta go for the cheapest components to build their scopes, I don't think Celestron used to - hence a similar cost back then, and Meade are likely to disappear or undergo major change. I have read too many posts of Synta items suddenly reporting errors for no apparent reason and that being the start of trouble for the owner. Neither therefore give me great confidence. If I wanted to buy myself a nice goto I have no idea what I would look at as none inspire me.

I think the recent Meade fork mounts use brass gears and the drive train is beefed up. If so the cost may come from the drive chain components. Will say I have no idea what Celestron use for their drive chain.

Immaterial of gossip Meade's seem the "bigger" scope that clubs have and use. Of 2 clubs I can get to both have 8/10/12/14 inch Meades. The University at Hatfield have several observatories and about 80% of them are Meade scopes. So there must be a reason for it.

Some problems may be of Meades making, years back I worked with a UK company that desribed the US and Japanese philosophy:

US: "Get something together, get it out there and let the public see it." Didn't matter if it was unfinished.

Japan: "Build it, test it and check it until it is 100% solid, doesn't matter if it is late,"

I'm not sure, but I was told that all newer forked celestrons etc have brass gears as well?