Telescope Reviews: Meade 310 80mm F11

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Equipment Discussions >> Classic Telescopes

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Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: mak17]
#5372636 - 08/17/12 06:52 AM

Quote:

Picked up my model 310 today. Drove a little farther then I prob wanted to, paid a little more then I prob wanted to as well but its in pretty great condition. Objective mayhaps can use some cleaning but I wont touch it for now. Mount is much nicer then I imagined. Thanks for all the information/motivation to go pick this one up.

Congratulations on your new Meade 310. They are definitely very nice scopes and yes, the mounts are very nice. About the only thing nicer in this class of scopes is the 320 GEM, particularly if you have one with the Polar finder, those are wonderful mounts.

Here are my two 310's, currently they are on loan to my workplace for use in imaging shockwaves.

Jon

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mak17
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/08/11

Loc: Florida

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5373088 - 08/17/12 12:17 PM

I cleaned the objective with some water and dish detergent and it looks crystal clear. Scope looks basically brand new. Very smooth slow motion controls, very smooth focuser and a pretty good wooden tripod. Everything about it seems to ooze quality. All it needs is a new diagonal and maybe a way to use 2" accessories, which may not have to be a new focuser as I have a friend who can machine an adapter I'm sure. All in all I drove 2 hours round trip and paid 160 for it. Views in the daytime are very sharp even w/ provided prism diagonals only saw the slightest trace of color on really bright objects under high power. I'll try to get pictures up soon. Jon looks like youre putting your 310s to serious work. Imaging shockwaves?

Edited by mak17 (08/17/12 12:19 PM)

Post Extras:

Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: mak17]
#5373150 - 08/17/12 12:56 PM

Quote:

I cleaned the objective with some water and dish detergent and it looks crystal clear. Scope looks basically brand new. Very smooth slow motion controls, very smooth focuser and a pretty good wooden tripod. Everything about it seems to ooze quality. All it needs is a new diagonal and maybe a way to use 2" accessories, which may not have to be a new focuser as I have a friend who can machine an adapter I'm sure. All in all I drove 2 hours round trip and paid 160 for it. Views in the daytime are very sharp even w/ provided prism diagonals only saw the slightest trace of color on really bright objects under high power. I'll try to get pictures up soon. Jon looks like youre putting your 310s to serious work. Imaging shockwaves?

Mak:

$160, it sounds like you got a very good scope at a very reasonable price. I believe these scopes are from the 1980's and were around $500 back then. Look around for a 80mm F/11 refractor, you might find something new for $160 but it would not be of comparable quality. Your Meade 310 is a top notch telescope on a very good mount.

By the way, the focuser attaches to the OTA in a rather interesting way, it allows for some adjustment, it's not simple. I can't quite remember how it works but there are multiple pieces up there. Whatever you do, make sure you can put it back to stock...

Shockwaves + Meade 310... That thing on the left, that's an Imacon 200 Highspeed Framing camera, it was close to $400,000 new. It only takes 16 frames, pretty short video, but it can take one frame every 5 nano-seconds. If you want to image an event that is about 75 nanoseconds long, it's your tool. We use it around 1 microsecond / frame so the entire events last about 1/70,000th of a second.

Jon

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mak17
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/08/11

Loc: Florida

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5373226 - 08/17/12 01:48 PM

The scope came with the manuels and warranties and everything is dated 1985. No catalog though so couldnt say what they went for in 85' but for 160 bucks you cant buy an OTA of the same quality let alone a full observing setup so Im def. happy. I will make sure to have the scope stock in the end regardless of any upgrades. Anyway to post some pictures of these shockwaves taken with the 310?

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Geo.
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/01/08

Loc: Upstate NY

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: mak17]
#5378053 - 08/20/12 05:30 PM

Meade bought refractors from both Towa (Meade's founder, John Diebel, married Towa's daughter) and Hino, which used the Mizar brand. Hino had previously merged with Kenko and dropped their refractor models to sell those from Kenko.

The 323 is a Towa. Not sure where these EQ-1/2 like mounts came from, but I suspect Hino Metal Specialites may have been a major OEM for lens cells, focusers and other cast parts. When Meade went looking for an up market refractor they were pointed to Hino. The Hinos that became part of Meade's line were sold as "Premium Refractors" while the Towas were standard quality. The Hinos sold on Hino made mounts, which were built to higher capacities than those under the Towas. Meade also used Hino mounts under some of its Newts (8800 & 6600 come to mind). The original LXD500 and 300s were from Hino also.

The f/11 Hino/Kenko is superior to the Towa model and IMO sharper than the C80. I wouldn't take less than $175 for my optical tube.

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mak17
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/08/11

Loc: Florida

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Geo.]
#5378123 - 08/20/12 06:13 PM

Geo, thanks for weighing in and sharing some great information. I went out today and got the scope all the way up to 300x with no image breakdown. Star tests over the weekend were perfect to my eye - though I'll admit I'm no expert on the matter. I read all these objectives were made by one optician, whether or not thats true it still seems like great care went into making this one.

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Jon Isaacs
Postmaster

Reged: 06/16/04

Loc: San Diego and Boulevard, CA

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Geo.]
#5378179 - 08/20/12 07:01 PM

George:

Thanks for that wonderful information. The 310/320s certainly are nice scopes all the way around.

I currently I have a 310 on an GEM, a 310 on a ALt-AZ and a 312 on a GEM.... I call them my Meade Triplet.

Jon

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greju
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/13/05

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Jon Isaacs]
#5378367 - 08/20/12 09:02 PM Attachment (14 downloads)

I wouldn't believe most of what is stated above concerning Hino Mizar Kenko etc. I have asked for any kind of confirmation of what was said and have yet to see it. My limited research, which is documented in these threads, tells a different story. I do not think Hino manufactured any telescopes. Mizar did.

Thanking someone for what could very well be faulty information is a disservice to our members IMHO. Unfortunately we see it far to often. The rose-colored glasses, shangri- la everything is just great thing I guess.

Yes, I am probably to cynical but statements made without any links and do not seem to jive with anything said previously either in this forum or anywhere else that I have seen make me want to question the source.

My Meade-Mizar- Nihon Seiko-AP is a joy to look thru and I bet the OP will be happy with theirs.

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mak17
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/08/11

Loc: Florida

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: greju]
#5378497 - 08/20/12 10:24 PM

"the op will be happy with theirs" Whats that mean?

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mak17
professor emeritus

Reged: 02/08/11

Loc: Florida

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: mak17]
#5378504 - 08/20/12 10:28 PM

Oh and Geo - I take back my thanks until you provide at least 10 years of tax returns and proof of your claims.

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Martin
sage

Reged: 09/09/05

Loc: South Dakota

Re: Meade 310 80mm F11 new

[Re: Geo.]
#5378508 - 08/20/12 10:32 PM

Hi,
Actually, I don't think the meade lxd300's or 500 mounts were made by Hino or Mizar, which would be made in Japan. If I'm not mistaken they were made in Tawain. A friend of mine had the lxd500 and I am fairly sure it said made in Tawain. Maybe someone who owns one could look on the label and tell us for sure.

Martin

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