Recommendation

[Milzy]

Looking to up grade my standard beginners telescope. Been searching the web and like the look of the meade ext125, anybody on here have this scope?  Or any advise on pros n cons of this scope, many thanks Mike

[Ricochet]

Which scope do you already have and what are you looking to achieve/gain with the upgraded scope compared to what you have? The ETX125 is an f15 Maksutov so is mostly a lunar/planetary scope, if that is your thing.

[johninderby]

The ETX125 is an older scope now and one that you don’t hear a lot about nowadays. OTA isn’t removable.

Much more popular are the Celestron and Skywatcher scopes. The Celestron Nexstar 5SE which is an SCT is quite popular or the Skywatcher 127 mak which can be had on manual or GOTO  mounts. Both the Celestron and Skywatcher scopes have removeable OTAs so can be used on another mount if you wish.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/se-series/celestron-nexstar-5se.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az-gti.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az5-deluxe/sky-watcher-skymax-127-az5-deluxe.html

Or more expensive but a very popular scope.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/telescopes-in-stock/celestron-nexstar-6se.html

Edited December 12, 2020 by johninderby

[Milzy]

At the moment its the sky watcher 130 eq2  so pretty standard, decent planetary images and also some dso would be nice. The reviews for this scope seem to say perfect for planetary and SOME dso but I'm fairly new to this so all the help is appreciated.  Also its pretty compact unlike a big Dobsonian.  Looking to spend upto a £1000.

[johninderby]

The EQ2 is a pretty lightweight mount and you would be better off going for a better more solid mount. I mean it is usable but.......

This version has an improved OTA with a good mount.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-130p-ds-eq3-pro-goto.html

Or

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/skywatcher-explorer-150p-ds-eq-5-pro-goto.html

Or lighter.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-az-gti-wifi/sky-watcher-explorer-130ps-az-gti.html

Edited December 12, 2020 by johninderby

[Milzy]

Yeah looking for complete new setup mount and scope, not keeping the old lot.  Is 5se not older than the meade? 

[Cosmic Geoff]

27 minutes ago, Milzy said:

At the moment its the sky watcher 130 eq2  so pretty standard, decent planetary images and also some dso would be nice. The reviews for this scope seem to say perfect for planetary and SOME dso but I'm fairly new to this so all the help is appreciated.  Also its pretty compact unlike a big Dobsonian.  Looking to spend upto a £1000.

The ETX 125 is not an upgrade in terms of aperture.  Also Meade do not have a great reputation for customer service, it seems, going by previous posts here.

If you want a GoTo Maksutov or SCT there are some options from Celestron, or pairing Skywatcher OTAs and mounts, or you could buy one of the new  6" aperture "Classic Cassegrain" and pair it with your choice of GoTo mount, all for under £1000.

I'd call the 5 SE a 'mature' design.   Some people are still using 40 year old examples of the larger C8 optical tube assembly.

For planetary imaging the prime requirement is a large aperture, coupled with a well-behaved tracking mount and a large range of focus.

Unless your Sky-watcher 130 is particularly awful, you could keep it and place it on a better mount of your choice.  But unless the 130 is modified you may have difficulty getting cameras to focus with it.

DSOs, particulary galaxies, are best seen from a dark skies site, and a large aperture is  also a distinct advantage.

[johninderby]

The 5SE has been updated a lot from the original 5i and is up to date.Same basic OTA but now removable. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by johninderby

[johninderby]

Meade filled for chapter 11 bankruptcy about a year ago and it looks likely that the assets will be bought by another company, probably Chinese. Hopefully whoever buys Meade will  relaunch it and not just stick the Meade badge on cheap gear.

Edited December 12, 2020 by johninderby

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @Milzy/Mike and welcome to SGL. 

I have the ETX105. Optically they are super... mechanically* they are rubbish... customer/after sales support... awful.

Below are some images of my ‘re-modded’ ETX105.

 

*the gears in the drives are nylon or other plastic. 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Philip R

[Louis D]

54 minutes ago, johninderby said:

Meade filled for chapter 11 bankruptcy about a year ago and it looks likely that the assets will be bought by another company, probably Chinese. Hopefully whoever buys Meade will  relaunch it and not just stick the Meade badge on cheap gear.

I think what they're really hoping for is for the antitrust court ordered settlement to be discharged as a debt and then they can emerge from bankruptcy without having to pay it.  My hope is that the bankruptcy court will strip them of the Meade brand and award it to Orion as partial compensation since Meade illegally transferred all their liquid assets out of the US prior to filing for bankruptcy.  If not, it will completely gut the US's antitrust laws.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Louis D

[johninderby]

Latest on the bankruptcy court case.

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/31260476/Meade_Instruments_Corp