Meade Vs Celestron

[BackyardAstro]

Hi All,

Im fairly new to this field (interest less than a year).  I am mostly a backyard stargazer but want to upgrade from my 4” Achro.

I am currently looking into a new SCT OTA (I prefer the ergonomics and comfort viewing over a Dob).  
 

I have a Stellarvue M2 mount (imported from USA) and an Innorel carbon fibre tripod.  I will liberate a starsense explorer mount for the upcoming SCT.
 

I am currently torn between the Meade LX65 8” SCT OTA with ACF Vs Celestron Edge HD 8”.

Im a purely visual type of person.

Considering the recent Celestron price hikes, there is a more substantial £600 difference between the two with the Edge now being much more dearer.

Some of the general consensus online seems to indicate the Edge being the better scope.  
 

Is the Edge that much better for visual?  Is it worth the extra £600?

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

[Space Hopper]

Not sure Meade scopes are readily available any more....?

[Cosmic Geoff]

The general opinion seems to be that Celestron and Meade SCTs are both good (meaning the OTA) but the Meade mounts do not have a good reputation for reliability.  Meade also had some kind of financial problem recently which you should look into before buying.  You should also look into what sort of reputation they have/had for technical support as I don't want to type anything prejudicial without checking.

You should also note that large SCT outfits are often a whole lot cheaper on the second-hand market.  Like half the price of a new outfit.  For instance, a forum member is selling a C9.25 OTA for what looks like a give-away price.

" I will liberate a starsense explorer mount for the upcoming SCT."  The SCT probably deserves a better mount than that. If it's for visual, you could buy the Nexstar Evolution C8 bundle.

It is questionable whether you need the ACF or Edge options unless you are going to image deep-sky objects with your SCT, in which case you need a serious equatorial GoTo mount.
 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Cosmic Geoff
Mount

[johninderby]

Opticstar are the new UK importers.

https://www.meadeuk.com

[johninderby]

There is the StellaLyra Classical Cassegrain as well that is rapidly gaining a strong following.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/stellalyra-telescopes/stellalyra-8-f12-m-lrs-classical-cassegrain-telescope-ota.h

[BackyardAstro]

Thank you for your responses.  By “starsense Explorer mount” I meant the phone holding cradle.  The mount to hold the OTA will be a Stellarvue m2.  I’m trying to steer away from 

John is right, I was indicating a purchase from Opticstar.  Should I be worried about purchasing a Meade then?  Anyone had experiences with them?

 

[BackyardAstro]

Steer away from battery powered tracking mounts*.  I like the simplicity of manual mounts and the starsense explorer technology*

[BackyardAstro]

Thanks for the link John.  My mount will take around 10/11kg and that Stellalyra will probably push me over the edge.  Particularly if I add binoviewers in the future.  Thank you for the suggestion though!

[johninderby]

If you remove the Losmandy plate that will save about 1kg in weight. You can then move the vixen dovetail bar to the bottom.

I have both tje 6” and 8” Classical Cassegrains. 8”” CC and 125 APO on an Az100 mount.

[Cosmic Geoff]

39 minutes ago, BackyardAstro said:

Stellarvue m2

Just my opinion, but I do not think a manual alt-azimuth mount is a good match for a scope with a 2 metre focal length, even with the addition of a Starsense.

[catburglar]

I’ve used Meade and Celestron SCT’s and Maks over a number of years (although never done a side by side test). I don’t think there’s much to choose between the optics…The electronics of the Celestron mount seem to be more favoured, although I’ve not had any problems with my Meade kit either…but I note you intend to use a manual -push to- mount, so the electronics are not a factor…