Meade etx125ec

[Timg147]

Hi All,

Absolute newbie here, been interested in Astronomy for a bit and bought a couple of books to read. Anyway, I have just received a Meade EXT125EC that i picked up extremely cheap (was described as for parts / for repair). I bought it as a gamble thinking that if nothing else I might learn something. I have powered it up and it seems to move ok. So what else do I need for this. I have attached a photo so you can see what I have. 

I am also picking up locally a Celestron telescope that comes with a box of lenses and filters (just mentioning this in case I just need lenses/ eyepieces).

I have also bought a meade tabletop stand for it.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

[Davey-T]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Nice little scope.

Manual here if you haven't got one

Dave

https://www.meade.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ETX_80-90-125_OBSERVER_Manual-lo.pdf

Edited May 21, 2020 by Davey-T

[Trikeflyer]

I think the finder will be almost useless. I have this scope and the optics are pretty decent but the field of view is narrow due to the long f ratio. It’s a brilliant lunar and planetary scope with globular clusters, open clusters and double stars looking good as well. Forget any faint fuzzy deep sky stuff with this scope. I got frustrated looking for deep sky stuff through the eyepiece and not finding it due to the narrow field of view. I suggest some kind of red dot finder like a telrad or the smaller rigel. That will get you in the ball park part of the sky before reverting to the optical finder. A 15-25mm eyepiece works fairly well. If you go too short focal length eyepieces the views are dark due to the small exit pupil. You will need a dew shield and I find the mirror shift when moving the focuser can be a bit annoying. I had this as my first scope and it’s not bad. I ditched the go to mount as mine was rubbish - yours might be ok as it looks like it’s just motorised alt az Mount. I now mount it on a skywatcher star discovery mount. For the money you paid it’ll punch above its weight on lunar and planets. 
Look up Mike Weasner etx on google - there are a wealth of resources for this scope.

if you need any more help let me know. I’d start by looking at the moon - you will be amazed. 

Steve 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Timg147 and welcom to SGL. 

Below is an image of my 're-modded' ETX105 alongside my Celestron C6/XLT-SCT...

I no longer have the Vixen GP tripod and mount. It was at maximum capacity, and a pain in the backside to balance.
I now use an AOK-AYO and Tele-Optic Giro mkll alt-az mounts...