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Fish
sage
Reged: 10/13/07
Posts: 469
Loc: Norridgewock, ME
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Good afternoon,
The new ETX-LS not withstanding, I believe it would be in Meade's best interests to revisit the original concept of the ETX line: "Everyone's Telescope", great optics, reasonable mount and OK controls at a competitive price. Yes, it had its quirks and some of the "features" of the day could be upgraded. Keep it basic, intuitive and affordable.
The ETX-LS - and Meade's other higher-end offerings - are fine for those that desire all the bells and whistles but to capture the beginner or second-scope buyer I believe something to the original ETX would be a good path for Meade.
OK, change the focuser. And the finder. Maybe the RA drive could be quicker on the uptake as well. And . . .
But KISS nevertheless!!
Regards, Marc
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Goseck Observatory
Kunming 152 f/5.9 & Baader Wedge
Orion ED80 & LS75FHa2/B1200
Meade 102ED & LS18CaKMDd2
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sang33ta
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 07/08/08
Posts: 767
Loc: UK
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I'd redesign it a bit, it's got great optics but I'd put it on a single dovetail arm and higher up from the base. I'd also get rid of the awful mirror flop by putting a rack and pinion focuser on it. Oh and it needs hex bolts on the back for user collimation instead of sending back to Meade!
Meade CEOs should use their scopes then they would know all this stuff needs fixing!
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Hioptic 152mm f12.5 Maksutov, CG5-AGT, Meade Super Plossl Set, Casio QV-2900UX
Edited by sang33ta (04/12/09 10:05 PM)
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brianb11213
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/25/09
Posts: 2076
Loc: 55.215N 6.554W
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Quote:
I'd also get rid of the awful mirror flop by putting a rack and pinion focuser on it.
And lose the flexibility given by the huge backfocus adjustment? Do you want to be able to image with SLRs, use binoviewers etc?
As for "awful mirror flop", my ETX 125 had none at all, neither does my 8" LX90, and my Celestron CPC1100 has about half the dismeter of Saturn's globe. I can live with that.
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wfj
sage
Reged: 01/10/08
Posts: 258
Loc: California, Santa Cruz County
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Likely they are dropping LNT because of cost - if you want to *pay* for auto alignment, then you'll go for the ETX LS, which is the evolution in this technology.
As to scrimping, a low end red dot can't be beat for cheap finder. It's hard to see what else they can drop and still have the sharp optics, GOTO alt/az functionality - the plastic is already as thin as you can make it (perhaps an all-plastic OTA?). I suppose a Autostar 494 might increase margin by $1.23 - $2.89. Or perhaps you use the NGC line "push to" approach and save another $3.53 on motors and worms, and thin down the plastic fork and base more.
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