Meade Series 5000 80mm f6 APO

[Moonshane]

I have wanted a short ED/APO frac for ages and always assumed it would be either 72mm Megrez or a Skywatcher 80mm ED.

However, a recent wanted ad prompted a contact from a fellow SGLer and we have agreed a sale on a 80mm Meade triplet. The scope will be on the way soon and I'll have it by the weekend hopefully. 

My thinking is that it will be good for white light (with Lunt wedge) and wide field views of darker skies when we go away in our camper van. Hopefully the (anticipated) lack of CA visually will also mean that planetary, lunar and double star views will also be OK to about 150x, about the limit with my 6-3mm Nagler zoom. Along with my 17.3 Delos and 32mm TV plossl I reckon I'll have kit that will all fit in the scope's case and be excellent for travel. Initially I'll be using a Giro III and CG5 tripod but may eventually get something smaller (Giro mini on my lighter Manfrotto photo tripod).

Looking forward to views of the Veil etc from dark sites with the 4+ degrees provided by the 32mm plossl.

Decent/recent reviews of this scope seem somewhat lacking and there's not a great deal of negative feedback from imagers which presumably means that they perform well enough to satisfy people for imaging. On this basis I think I am safe to assume the scope will perform more than adequately visually.

[Stu]

Very nice Shane, I'm sure you won't be disappointed! Just been trying my baby Tak out on the sun and it's still very nice, so the 80mm will be excellent.

I'm sure that the better figuring on apo scopes has an impact on the image quality and ability to take higher powers so I think it's worth using them still for solar narrow band with the continuum or for Ha/quark.

Widefield views under a dark sky are lovely too

[philj]

I cant speak for the 80 but my 127 5000 edt is a superb scope Shane. Figuring and colour handling are excellent. As for the lunt wedge ... bosting white light views through mine. The 80 is a scope Ive been considering, was toying with an ed80 sw but I may hang on for a 5000 triplet.

[Davey-T]

Think it's basically the same scope as some other brands, can't remember which ones, I was considering buying one once and there were reviews of the others to read.

Dave

[ronin]

I would half suspect that it is the ES 80mm f/6.

When Meade was swallowed by Sunny Meade and ES (JoC) seemed to be working together, and if you look at the ES site a lot of the items are Meade's.

I suspect that ES/JoC had the rights to produce or carry on several items. If I recall one of the ES scopes on their site points you to the Meade site to purchase.

On this assumption it seems to match the ES 80mm f/6 Alu Essential, and that scope has several good reviews.

Will admit to be curious on the items from ES that are/were Meade originally.

This in turn makes me wonder what it is exactly that Sunny/Meade intend to turn out.

[Uplooker]

Nice one Shane. I think you will be very happy with the scope. I have to admit to considering one of these myself. You are the proper little (not so little) refractor gatherer now, aren't you

[Moonshane]

LOL

cheers all.

Ian, I only have three and two of them are more or less solar scopes. Thankfully I still have three newts for sanity's sake.

[John]

Another refractor Shane ?

Who'd have thought it a year or two ago ?

Seriously though, sounds like a nice scope and I'll look forward to reading about your experiences with it

[Moonshane]

The maddest thing is that I sold a truss dob to fund this.

[Stu]

Six scopes Shane!!! You had a three scope rule didn't you, or did that only apply to the newts? [emoji12][emoji6]

We will meet in the middle soon, I'll be down to seven soon, bit of a relief!

Hope you enjoy the 80mm, the truss dob didn't last long, but I guess the frac is more compact and versatile.

[andrew63]

Meade 80mm Series 5000 ED APO - 80mm - 90mm Refractors - Articles - Articles - Cloudy Nights

I remember reading this article a few years ago when considering one myself Shane.  It seems to hold it own agains the WO fluorite which was a well regarded little scope.  Great grab and go i think.

andrew

[ollypenrice]

I think you'll enjoy it. Imagers find some blue bloat with the Meade triplets (I had the 127 for a couple of years) but I think it should sing for you. A scope giving 4 degrees (ish) is a must in my book. Veil, Stock II and the Double Cluster, Rosette, etc etc

Olly

[Moonshane]

These days I show some slight bloat too so it will feel right at home!  

[Moonshane]

Just worked out that using my 40mm TV widefield (almost as big as the scope!) I can get 12x magnification, 5.4 degree field and all with a 6.7mm exit pupil which will be very usable from darker places I reckon. Not bad for £200 and certainly cheaper than trying to buy a megawide eyepiece like an Ethos.

[ollypenrice]

Just worked out that using my 40mm TV widefield (almost as big as the scope!) I can get 12x magnification, 5.4 degree field and all with a 6.7mm exit pupil which will be very usable from darker places I reckon. Not bad for £200 and certainly cheaper than trying to buy a megawide eyepiece like an Ethos.

Ahem!

lly

[Moonshane]

LOL

I suppose Ethos are 'OK'.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I was seriously contemplating such a scope as grab and go. I think the Meade S5K 80mm F/6 is not the same as the newer ES 80mm F/6. I seem to recall it used different glass (FPL51 rather than FPL53). Of course, type of glass is not as important as how well it is figured. I think the ES may well be the same as my APM 80mm F/6 (also sold as TS, Altair, ...., and many other brands, no doubts).

[John]

For visual I'd have thought an ED doublet would cool quicker and provide at least as much CA control ?.

The Synta ED120 produces less CA than the 127mm Meade triplets from the reports I've read.

I believe the Meade's use the Hoya glass FCD1 for their ED element which is similar to Ohara FPL-51.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Never had a problem with cooling down time on the little APM 80mm. A 127mm would be a different beast, of course.

[Moonshane]

In all honesty I would have been quite happy with e.g. a Celestron ED but as this came up with a dual speed focuser, metal case and also is white (my colour of choice for telescopes), collapses to about 400mm long and at about the same price, I went for it.

If it gives decent colour-free(ish) visuals and wide fields, I am quite happy!

[spaceboy]

For visual I'd have thought an ED doublet would cool quicker and provide at least as much CA control ?.

The Synta ED120 produces less CA than the 127mm Meade triplets from the reports I've read.

I believe the Meade's use the Hoya glass FCD1 for their ED element which is similar to Ohara FPL-51.

Apparently the ES 127 triplets which are basically the same as the Meade are said to have better correction vs the synta alternatives. It's also said they show slightly more CA than the Evostar but then I guess that is to be expected with a larger lens while remaining at same "relatively fast" f/7.5 focal length as the 120ED. If my memory serves me the thread was on CN as I'd been looking to get the ES127ED CF that came up on buy & sell several months back. If it was not that I was faced with the choice between having either the ED or LS60 I would have probably had it.

Congrats on the new scope Shane. I will be interested to hear how it copes as being a grab and go given it is a triplet but then I'm guessing cool down shouldn't be all that long on 80mm ??? Either way you should be in store for some wide field treats

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

An 80mm F/6 triplet is really ideal as a grab and go plus wide-field scope. I love the views I get with the 31T5 Nagler at 15.5x and 5.3° FOV. As I said before, I have never noticed any cool-down issues, but then my scopes are stored in an unheated garage.