firstbase
member
Reged: 07/05/08
Posts: 34
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Is it just me or does anyone else notice an almost complete lack of "first light" reports and reviews of the ETX-LS from actual owners? I thought that there would be plenty hitting the web by now....
Edited by firstbase (08/02/09 10:03 PM)
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rob cos.
professor emeritus
Reged: 03/11/04
Posts: 693
Loc: Plymouth,Ma
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I've been curious about this also....ominous if not strange... 
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Rob
Antares 10"f/4.9 Dob w/ DBA Birch Base and Sky Commander
ETX125PE
SV102/LXD75
Eyepieces:
University Optics Konigs
Harry Siebert Ultras/Observatory
TMB Planetary's
Edmund RKE's
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Peter9
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 10/30/08
Posts: 806
Loc: Yorkshire - Born & Bred
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I mentioned the lack of reports some 3 weeks ago. It had been very quite then for about 2 weeks. Don't know who the ETX-LS is aimed at. Here in the U.K they are asking £1.399. ($2368). That's a lot of money for a 6" scope.
Lets hear from you if you have one.
Peter.
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Some of the pleasure I get from life I owe to Astronomy.
Astronomy does not owe me a thing.
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Nexstar 8se
150mm Helios Newton Reflector EQ 3 G.E.M.
6.3mm 10mm Plossls. Celestron 25mm & 40mm E.Ps. 8mm x 24mm Baader Hyperion Zoom. 2x Barlow. 9x50 R.A.C.I Finderscope. G.L.P and Bracket. Dew Shield. Home made Solar filter. Home made H.C Holder.(Great Asset). Maplin's 12V 17ah Auto Start Unit.
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Michael Cox
member
Reged: 12/24/08
Posts: 49
Loc: Barstow, CA
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I am also looking for feedback for the ETX-LS. Will this scope support a binoviewer without straining the gears? Will it track to allow for longer astrophotography? Seems like reports for this scope are hard to find, hope this does not mean it is not selling well or has some operational issues.
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Michael Cox
Member High Desert Astronomical Society
Nexstar 8SE (For At Home Viewing)
NexStar 6SE (Grab & Go)
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rob288
member
Reged: 05/13/08
Posts: 60
Loc: New Zealand
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Down here in New Zealand its not yet available, or anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere, apparently there is a software issue when it comes to Southern Hemisphere that Meade have to address.
Is it available in Europe yet.
The fact its only in the US at present may have something to do with it, either that or the users are so happy they don't have time to let us all know how its going.
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Meade LX90 8 Inch SCT UHTC LNT, Meade 884 field tripod,
Super Plossl 9mm, Super Plossl 15mm Ultra wide, Super Plossl 26mm, 2x Barlow,
Bak4 Binoviewer, 6.3 Focal Reducer, Nikon D200 astro camera,
20x80 Astro Binos, Starry Night Pro Plus 6.23
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nytecam
Postmaster
Reged: 08/20/05
Posts: 5750
Loc: London UK
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Quote:
I am also looking for feedback for the ETX-LS. Will this scope support a binoviewer without straining the gears? Will it track to allow for longer astrophotography? Seems like reports for this scope are hard to find, hope this does not mean it is not selling well or has some operational issues.
Apart from novice postings on their newly acquired ETX-LX that I've not found helpful - I too await a review having closely examined the scope static at European Astrofest London last Feb. The Altaz mount [with its field rotation] is not best for astro imaging although some software can post correct this.  Astrofest video clip here
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Nytecam 51N 0.1W
Meade 30cm LX200+ETX-70+e-finder+C8+Ha+CaK PSTs SBIG SGS+homebuilt spectrographs
Starlight SXVF_M9+Lodestar CCDs/Canon 300D DSLR/Fuji E550
My observatory build-ETX-70 imaging-my videos
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Hector
newbie
Reged: 07/02/07
Posts: 4
Loc: Melbourne, Australia
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Hi
I bought an ETX-LS from the US 2 weeks ago. I am in Melbourne Australia and so far I have had no problems with the software in the Southern Hemisphere.
The scope works as advertised, it takes about 6-8 minutes to go through the full auto align, using the CCD imager. Everything so far has been good. In fact I have just come in off the front drive and am extremely happy.
Dave
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DeWittJ
newbie
Reged: 06/25/09
Posts: 3
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I have had my ETX LS ACF for two months and can't get enough of using it. The clouds here in South Carolina have been a pain lately, but when it is clear I am out. No trouble with auto alingment using the GBS. Tracking is great. Few weeks ago I put in on Jupiter and the view was great. I let it track for about 45 minutes and when I came back out, Jupiter was still dead center. I haven't taken any pics with the built in CCD, but if weather is good will try this weekend. I just wonder how good this scope will be with a CCD imager/software package added?
r/
Jim
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Phantastes
newbie
Reged: 07/16/09
Posts: 1
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I recently purchased the ETX-LS and so far I love it. I'm fairly new to the hobby and polar alignment has always been my nemesis. This is not an issue with this scope although I have not yet been able to get the full auto align to work. I use the two star alignment and it works great. I'm hoping that it's because it hasn't been dark enough because of the full moon during setup. Anybody else have problems with the auto-align using the built in ccd?
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drprovi57
super member
Reged: 06/13/06
Posts: 121
Loc: Virgina USA
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I have owned my ETX-LS since June - I have had it out about a dozen times and all worked well with fine optical views. See my first light report,
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3173389/page/1/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1
I have recently did some fine tuning of the calibration (via the Meade instructions) and it helped improve the goto with auto-alignment. I have been hoping to get a clear night aligned with my busy schedule to get some DSLR astro images - will post when this happens.
Jason
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Jason
Lovettsville, VA US
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/jprovi57/Jason_Astro_Images/[/url]
RC 14.5"
TMB 130SS
TMB 92SS L
Meade 6" ETX-LS ACF
iOptron Tower
Paramount ME
SBIG STL11000
10' Homedome
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DNTash
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 09/02/07
Posts: 762
Loc: India
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Nice first-light review Jason. Thanks.
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AT 72
TMB 92
Orion 120ST
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R Mckenzie
member
Reged: 06/01/08
Posts: 14
Loc: New Zealand
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Quote:
I mentioned the lack of reports some 3 weeks ago. It had been very quite then for about 2 weeks. Don't know who the ETX-LS is aimed at. Here in the U.K they are asking £1.399. ($2368). That's a lot of money for a 6" scope.
Lets hear from you if you have one.
Peter.
If you think thats expensive for a 6 inch scope take a look at what we are paying from these guys
http://www.langwoodsphotography.com/eshop/product.php?productid=16&cat=3&page=1 
Theyre too scared to even list a price for the new ETX-LS
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"I can see clearly now the rain has gone"...turn that @#!&** light off!!!!
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TONGKW
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/16/07
Posts: 571
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The UK price is not too bad. Here in Hong Kong the Meade ETX-LX is selling at HK$9900 (approx. ￡792) for the SC model and HK$11000 (approx. ￡880) for the ACF model.
http://www.grandeye.com.hk/pc_etx_LS.htm
I am surprised a set of Meade LXD75 AR6 would be selling at NZ$4100 in New Zealand but the same set is selling at HK$9300 (approx. NZ$1860) here in Hong Kong.
http://www.grandeye.com.hk/PriceList01.htm
K W TONG
C8+CG-5GT, TSA102+HEQ5 PRO, MK67+Voyager, NexStar 6SE, C5+Mizar K, WO ZS80FD+Kenko NES, Megrez 72FD+Kenko KDS, Mini Borg 50, PST
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phxbird
super member
Reged: 12/24/07
Posts: 116
Loc: New Mexico, USA
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Doesn't the ETX-LS have a built in CCD? Why would you need to add a CCD to it? Just curious!
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Celestron 6" Refractor
Celestron AS-GT Mount
"The Bargain Bucket" 8" Dob
Meade ETX 90 EC
Orion ST 80mm
SAC-7b Imager
SBIG ST-7E Imager
Temple Research Observatory
AAVSO Member
Society of Astronomical Sciences Member
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mclewis1
Thread Killer
Reged: 02/25/06
Posts: 3946
Loc: New Brunswick, Canada
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Quote:
Doesn't the ETX-LS have a built in CCD? Why would you need to add a CCD to it? Just curious!
The CCD is not imaging through the main scope. It's primary purpose is to aid in aligning the scope and therefore is setup as a wide field imager. You could probably get some shots of smaller constellation or asterisms with it.
If you want to do DSO imaging with the ETX-LS you will need a better CCD imager ... just like any other scope.
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Mark
C11, C6, APM/TMB115, and AT80ED - Tandem mount CGE and CG-5A, WO EZ-Touch and AT Voyager
25x100s and 8x56s, T-Mount Light, Mark 1 eyeballs - Modded 350D, DSI-P, SPC900, Mallincam
Just because you can doesn't necessarily mean that you should
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phxbird
super member
Reged: 12/24/07
Posts: 116
Loc: New Mexico, USA
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Thanks! I did not know that. From the ads it seems to hint that you can get great images on the built in ccd with this scope. I am very happy with my 6" refractor and ST-7 CCD so this is just curiosity!
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Celestron 6" Refractor
Celestron AS-GT Mount
"The Bargain Bucket" 8" Dob
Meade ETX 90 EC
Orion ST 80mm
SAC-7b Imager
SBIG ST-7E Imager
Temple Research Observatory
AAVSO Member
Society of Astronomical Sciences Member
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orbitman
journeyman
Reged: 08/18/09
Posts: 5
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My profession is in the spacecraft area and the CCD is there to function as a star tracker, similar to those on spacecraft but much simpler in design. Like Mark said, it is a wide field camera and you will need a camera to take good photos.
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orbitman
journeyman
Reged: 08/18/09
Posts: 5
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I have had my ETX-LS for about one month. Unlike others posting here, I have had some difficulties. My GPS will not locate me. Each time it places me about 60 miles away. Therefore it fails auto alignment. I did go into the system and change the default alignment to manual and things worked better. There are a few other owners having the same issue. However, I bought the scope to use when I travel away because it is lighter than the LX200R I normally use. I wanted to stay with the ACF optics which are really good. The scope is very well built and very sturdy for a one-fork scope mount. The integration of the MySky features are really good if you want to spend the time listening to the descriptions of what you are looking at. The other problem I have is with the scope not recognizing a "Mini" SD card. I was planning on using the SD card to save photos to. Be aware that the camera on board the scope is a wide field camera and doesn't take photos through the eyepiece. It is mounted at the bottom of the tube so it can look up to the sky. The addition of the camera is to function as a Star Tracker, similar to ones used on spacecraft, but simpler in design. Once the camera has located the "bright" star, it will center it in the scope's field of view, which is pretty cool. I have since spoken with Meade and sent my scope to them to have it inspected and fix anything broken. I will update when I get it back.
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rollout
member
Reged: 03/25/08
Posts: 85
Loc: Broken Arrow, OK
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Quote:
I have since spoken with Meade and sent my scope to them to have it inspected and fix anything broken. I will update when I get it back.
I hope you have better luck with Meade than I had. Yes, they would fix a problem, but would break something else and it would have to go back in. Lots of run-around.
Bill
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Meade ETX-125PE
Purchased 4/7/8...I am a newbie
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Michael Cox
member
Reged: 12/24/08
Posts: 49
Loc: Barstow, CA
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Hello All:
Just to let you know up front that I do not any ax to grind against Celestron or Meade. That said, I had high hopes that Meade would hit a home run on the ETX-LS because I think inovation and progress should be supported and rewarded. Not to mention turning the company around and getting it on the road to recovery.
I have since it was first announced been following the reviews of the ETX-LS and it has been a mixed bag for many new users. I am starting to see more people having problems with the scope providing correct gps and onging alignment failures.
If you would like to read what is said about the scope on Mike Weasner's Mighty ETX Site here is the link.
http://www.weasner.com/etx/reviews/2009/etx-ls-6-acf.html
It is my hope that Meade gets the bugs worked out of this new scope, but at a price of almost $1500.00 and not have it work as advertised would just drive me up a wall. Meade is capable of making good products and I still believe the market would be stronger with them as a company then without.
Hope this helps those who want more information about this scope.
Clear Skies
Michael
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Michael Cox
Member High Desert Astronomical Society
Nexstar 8SE (For At Home Viewing)
NexStar 6SE (Grab & Go)
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