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Meade 6.7/8.8 UWA 5000


Sunshine

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Hello fellow stargazers,  as some of you may remember I am hunting down some quality eyepieces on the used market that will best make use of the 10” f6 Zambuto in my Starmaster while not obliterating my bank account lol. I have come across 2 which I understand are great eyepiece. Now I understand that eyepieces are subjective for many reasons like ER, FOV etc, so I understand that ultimately finding the ones I’ll like most will be a matter of time and trials.

As for these two, the Meade UWA 5000 6.7 and 8.8, priced very attractively, has anyone used these in Newtonian of F6 or faster, reason I say faster is if it performs well,in faster than F6 scopes then, I need not worry. I can pick these two up for less than half the price of a Delos.

Thanks folks!

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I had both and they performed very well in my 190mm M/N from Sky-Watcher, I did replace them with 7mm and 9mm Nagler eyepiece, these were slightly better but the differences were only as I said slight. Fine eyepieces in my books. If by chance you hunt down the 8.8mm and 14mm then make sure it of the first series of Meade 5000 UWA's, not the series that included  5.5mm 8.8mm 14mm and 20mm, these were not as good in my view.

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4 hours ago, alan potts said:

first series of Meade 5000 UWA's, not the series that included  5.5mm 8.8mm 14mm and 20mm, these were not as good in my view.

Ooh now that sounds challenging, if I understand you correctly there are more than one series within the same series “5000”?. I do know there are 4000,5000 and, previous series but, I didn’t know there were different “batches” for lack of a better word with one particular series. If I’m correct in my understanding then how would I identify which ones these two belong to, the seller may have no clue unless maybe he bought them as a set to start.

thanks.

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The 5000 series eyepieces are made in China and have quite fat rubber coverings.

The 4000 series were originally made in Japan (perhaps the best of them) but later production moved to Taiwan I think. They are more traditional looking eyepieces perhaps ?

Here is the Japan made Meade 4000 8.8mm UWA alonside the more recent 5000 8.8mm UWA for comparison. As you can see they look very different:

meades.jpg.c34aea36c3f89b11eb672497cd4fa092.jpg

There were plossl, SWA and UWA ranges within each of these generations.

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1 hour ago, John said:

meades.jpg.c34aea36c3f89b11eb672497cd4fa092.jpg

There were plossl, SWA and UWA ranges within each of these generations.

Alright then, the eyepieces I was asking about are the ones with the blue trim and fat cups, the inferior ones, having said that, why does everyone rave about the 5.5 from that line, was it the only gem in the rough?.

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The first Meade 5k UWAs from after Meade moved to their new manufacturer (Kunming United Optics , before they used JOC) weren't exactly up to par, but the problems were straightened out and quality improved again. At least, that's whet I picked up from the discussion on Cloudy Nights. People there indeed seem to like the new 5.5 mm best.

Have you also considered the Morpheus 6.5 and 9 mm? They get a better press still. (I'm really happy with my M6.5.)

 

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2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Alright then, the eyepieces I was asking about are the ones with the blue trim and fat cups, the inferior ones, having said that, why does everyone rave about the 5.5 from that line, was it the only gem in the rough?.

I've never been really happy with Meade products old or new and I've owned quite a few over the years. I don't know why but they just seem to have niggles of one sort or another and I usually end up moving them on and purchasing something else :dontknow:

I do know folks who get on fine with the brand though, so it's probably me ! :rolleyes2:

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19 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Ooh now that sounds challenging, if I understand you correctly there are more than one series within the same series “5000”?. I do know there are 4000,5000 and, previous series but, I didn’t know there were different “batches” for lack of a better word with one particular series. If I’m correct in my understanding then how would I identify which ones these two belong to, the seller may have no clue unless maybe he bought them as a set to start.

thanks.

I understand what happened was Meade hit the rocks and had money problems and the company they used was JOC, here they had the 5000 series manufactured to their specs. There was UWA SWA and Super Plosse collections all turned out in Blue Green and deep red trim, they may have had others made there too and all eyepieces were fairly expensive sitting about 30% lower than TeleVues eyepiece ranges.    In the UWA range sat 4.7mm, 6.7mm, 8.8mm, 14mm, 18mm, 24mm and 30mm, The only one I didn't have was the 18mm. All fo these seemed very good and many a time I had TeleVue of similar F/L to compare to, goes without saying the latter were always that bit better but close to the black and green wallet emptiers.

When money failed they (JOC) were left holding a number of Meade unpaid order for various F/L's and ranges, these were later sold off as MaxVision by ExSc, also a JOC customer, and were a bargain. I don't actually know how or where Meade had the 5.5mm-20mm range made but everything I have read, and some of that was between the lines, suggests that the second range was not as good, I had the 5.5mm and the 8.8mm which was loaned to me by the local dealer and for me they were not as good, still very in real terms but not what they were, the 5.5mm was an odd one out and I compared that to a 5mm Nagler which I had.

hope that helps.

alan 

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I Have the 8.8mm/14mm/24mm. They fabulous ep's. The 14mm is the star though. I've had such fantastic views of Jupiter (barlowed in an ED Barlow). The color it shows in planetary obs is so natural. The 8.8 in my little ED70 is a super combo.

BTW the 5000 uwa series work perfectly in the 200PDS.

Rob

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2 hours ago, Rob said:

I Have the 8.8mm/14mm/24mm. They fabulous ep's. The 14mm is the star though. I've had such fantastic views of Jupiter (barlowed in an ED Barlow). The color it shows in planetary obs is so natural. The 8.8 in my little ED70 is a super combo.

BTW the 5000 uwa series work perfectly in the 200PDS.

Rob

I am glad to see that the 8.8mm works in another small aperture refractor, (ED70).

When I received my s/h one a few weeks ago from another SGL’er, the first thing I did was to try it in my TeleVue Ranger on terrestrial target. It was very good indeed.

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As tempting as those two eyepieces are I am not going to chance them because I have no way of knowing if they are  the good or bad batch. Short of asking the guy which I just may, hopefully he knows as much as you all do and is honest about it considering his sale hangs on it.. bottom line is, if they say made in China then steer clear?.

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1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

.... bottom line is, if they say made in China then steer clear?.

Not at all. China is making some superb stuff these days :icon_biggrin:

What matters more is the level quality control that the comissioning brand apply or insist that the manufacturer applies.

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1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

if they say made in China then steer clear

That would be an insult to the Chinese. I am impressed by my Chinese optics. Excellent value.

Don't believe me, ask your dealer.

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46 minutes ago, Ruud said:

That would be an insult to the Chinese. I am impressed by my Chinese optics. Excellent value.

Don't believe me, ask your dealer

That’s fine I agree, I have optics made in China that are great, there are bad apples in the bunch though.

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On 23/12/2018 at 06:07, Sunshine said:

Newtonian of F6 or faster, reason I say faster is if it performs well,in faster than F6 scopes then, I need not worry. I can pick these two up for less than half the price of a Delos.

 

Cheaper, but will they be any better than the Delos? You won't know until you try!

After my trial  I preferred my Starguiders over the Delos 6, 8, & 10.

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2 hours ago, Sunshine said:

Hmm Starguiders huh, i have never heard of them, i will search them out and have a looksee.

Also known on your side of the Atlantic as Astro Tech Paradigms.

Personally I prefer the Delos / Pentax XW's over the Paradigm's / Starguider's but the latter are very good eyepieces for what they cost.

 

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18 hours ago, Sunshine said:

As tempting as those two eyepieces are I am not going to chance them because I have no way of knowing if they are  the good or bad batch. Short of asking the guy which I just may, hopefully he knows as much as you all do and is honest about it considering his sale hangs on it.. bottom line is, if they say made in China then steer clear?.

The made in China is fine.. 2 of mine are China stamped (as is high percentage of all astro gear). My China made 5000's are awesome

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On 24/12/2018 at 10:18, Philip R said:

I am glad to see that the 8.8mm works in another small aperture refractor, (ED70).

When I received my s/h one a few weeks ago from another SGL’er, the first thing I did was to try it in my TeleVue Ranger on terrestrial target. It was very good indeed.

Just noticed the title says '...UWA 5000' ...mine is a 'UWA 4000' ...classic e/p though!

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I own the 20mm and 24mm and even though they're yet to see extensive use, my initial impression they're excellent. I prefer the 20mm. I used them mostly in an f10 SCT, so can't tell if they perform similarly on a faster scope. According to the reviews, though, they do perform well in faster scopes. 

 

20181225_165742.thumb.jpg.7e228222dd9c9e4f9c80f1026c6fcde0.jpg

 

 

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On 24/12/2018 at 14:36, Sunshine said:

Hmm Starguiders huh, i have never heard of them, i will search them out and have a looksee.

Also check out the Meade 5000 HD-60 6.5mm and 9mm eyepieces.  They are the standouts of that line.  At f/6, I found them to be basically flat of field and completely corrected to the edge.  I also detected no blackout issues with the exit pupil.  They're more expensive than the Starguiders/Paradigms, but they also have a bit more eye relief, a similar twist up-down eye relief adjustment, and a traditional flip up-down rubber eye cup.  They also look really sharp.  The 9mm is the second from the right below.

The 9mm Morpheus to its left is also excellent, has a 16 degree wider apparent field of view (AFOV), slightly longer eye relief, and also completely corrected to the edge.  It is significantly larger, heavier, and more costly than the Meade, though.

If you want an excellent budget option, the original Vixen LV line (9mm on the far right below) can be had used for the price of the Paradigms new.  The AFOV is 50 degrees for the 9mm and above focal lengths and 45 degrees for the 7mm and below focal lengths.  The level of polish and coatings on the LV line is generally more in line with the Morpheus/Delos/XW range than the HD-60/Paradigm range leading to less scatter.  They do tend to view a bit dim, but all the same stars are there.  It probably has something to due with the Lanthanum lens(es) used in it.

418422651_9mm10mmEyepieces1.thumb.jpg.77065ff5762ea9ef93b00e663e8539a9.jpg

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