mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Hello all,
I need your opinion, I have a AR5 achromatic that I am planning to replace with a Meade 102ED that is for sale at AM, what do you guys think? If I buy the 102ED I will sale the AR5 to cover the cost of the 102ED. I use a OrionXT10 for the DSO stuff and dark site, the refractor mostly is for the backyard and public viewings. Thanks.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
Edited by mausf (11/03/09 05:54 PM)
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Starman27
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 579
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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Hello,
I have a Meade 102ED on a 650 LXD mount. I find it to be a very good scope. I sold my Televue 101 and kept the 102 ED after I bought my FS128 and Sky 90 II. It has held its collimation well. I think the F9 is just right. I do not have any serious color fringing on bright objects. It is a seriouly underrated scope.
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Enjoy the dark,
Herman
Meade
14 LX200 GPS SMT
12 LX200 GPS
7 LX200 Maksutov
ETX 125
TAK FS128 NSV
Sky 90II
Lunt LS60ThaDS BF1200
Canon 5D Mark II
Illinois
Iowa
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Thanks Herman, I was thinking about the same as you, F9 sounds right and I know it will work with my current eyepieces, I wasn't sure going from 127 to 102, but I don't think I will notice the difference and the 102 will be an easier load to the CG5.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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KerryR
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1172
Loc: SW Michigan
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Be prepared to get into this scope. They're very sensitive to misalignments between the 2 elements, and there's a significant loss of contrast if everything's not (very nearly) perfect. While aligning the 2 elements and collimating the focuser and objective is not terribly difficult, it's far more involved than most other scopes.
The Meade ed/apo series had a habbit of loosing their alignment in shipping.
Also, be SURE the one you're getting has an adjustable cell-- some of the oldest ones didn't, and cosequently, many of the older ones were not able to work nearly as well as the optics are capable of.
Join the Meade ed/apo/ar5/6 Yahoo Group if you haven't already and read about radial alignment.
If you're in the market for an f9 ED scope, and don't want to have to worry about such extreme sensitivity to misalignment, you might consider the Vixen/Orion/Celestron (Synta) 100mm f9 ed scopes-- they're very good, and, while you can't adjust much on them, they are far less sensitive, and far less prone to showing lateral color the way the Meades are.
These comments are based on my experiences with my Orion ED100 f9, and my Meade 127mm ed/apo f9.
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Kerry
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Hi Kerry, I appreciate the advice, I will check if the scope has the collimation cell.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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deSitter
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 12/09/04
Posts: 2928
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I would hold out for a 127ED to replace the AR-5 - that's a big difference (25 percent jump) in aperture. The greater grasp of the achromat gives it a huge advantage on most of the sky.
-drl
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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I had been checking the 127EDs on AM but they tend to be out of my general budget (I won't deny I would like one), the 102ED on AM is withing my budget, for that reason I am considering it, I was thinking that losing an inch but getting an ED would make it not a bad change.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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stevew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/03/06
Posts: 1147
Loc: Vancouver
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Go for the 102ED. I have not heard anything bad about it.
I have heard that the smaller versions of the Meade ED line, had less problems than the larger ones, and I am sure you will like the contrasty color free views.
Steve
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Jason B
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/21/04
Posts: 2861
Loc: Mid-Michigan
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Quote:
Go for the 102ED. I have not heard anything bad about it.
I have heard that the smaller versions of the Meade ED line, had less problems than the larger ones, and I am sure you will like the contrasty color free views.
Steve
That is very true. The 102's had a very good rep and did not have the problems of the larger ones, especially the 178 and the 152. I have looked through a few of the 102's and they were all very good.
Years ago, I went from a 120mm Achro to a 102mm APO. I change I NEVER regretted. The increased contrast and sharpness of the APO more than made up for the slight loss in light grasp, IMHO, of course.
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Jason
My Photostream
Lead Volunteer/Coordinator for Fox Park Observatory
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KerryR
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1172
Loc: SW Michigan
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If you can hold out, the 127 holds 200x and stays nice and bright, where 102mm starts getting dim.
My issue with my Meade 127 is that it's MUCH bigger and heavier than my Orion ED100, making the ED100 far easier to mount, which is something you really want to consider. The optics in any scope will rarely work to their potential if you can't easily see the point of best focus due to focusing wiggle! In fact, the extreme lightness of the Synta 100mm ED scopes makes them VERY easy to mount REALLY solidly. The Meades (and especially the 127 and larger) are much harder to mount well (and affordably)!
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Kerry
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Yes, I have a CG5 mount and with the AR5 Achro it handles it fine on my backyard since my house and fence shields the wind, when I take the scope to the dark site and also to public viewings I do have a little bit of problems with light wind, so for that reason I was thinking that the 102ED would be an easier load on the CG5 so that is why I am considering to lose some aperture by getting the 102ED, but now I have a dilemma, locally a guy is selling an Odyssey 1 13.1 for same price that the 102ED is selling on AM ($500 I may bring the 13.1 to $450), so now I am tempted to get the 13.1 to replace my 10inch dob...not sure which way to go.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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SteveG
sage
Reged: 09/27/06
Posts: 238
Loc: Seattle, WA
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I agree with the recommendations for the 100ED. They have great optics and no collimation issues. I have one on a Polaris EQ mount, the combined weight is 30 lbs which makes for really portable (grab & go), rock steady viewing. These scopes are sold for $400-500 used - a bargain.
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WO Megrez 110 ED on SP Mount
10" Meade LightBridge
Orion ED 100 on Polaris Mount
6" f8 Edmonds reflector on GP Mount
4.5" F8 Orion EQ Reflector
Astroscan
Meade 226 2.4" f11.7
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Thank you all for the advice, it seems that the seller was trying to reach me but the email kept bouncing back so he is selling the scope to somebody else, not big lost, now thanks to your advice I know that if I want a 102ED I need at least find one that has the collimation cell. Maybe I will go for that Odyssey 1 13.1 to replace my 10inch dob.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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DLB242
professor emeritus
Reged: 07/29/08
Posts: 545
Loc: Pen Argyl, PA
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Quote:
Hello all,
I need your opinion, I have a AR5 achromatic that I am planning to replace with a Meade 102ED that is for sale at AM, what do you guys think? If I buy the 102ED I will sale the AR5 to cover the cost of the 102ED. I use a OrionXT10 for the DSO stuff and dark site, the refractor mostly is for the backyard and public viewings. Thanks.
Is this the one you missed out on?
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=653669
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David B
10" f/5 DOB
6" f/8 DOB
Celestron C8
Antares 1529 6" f/6.5 MoonLite Focuser
Orion ShortTube 130mm f/5 Reflector
Stellarvue SV102BV f/8.7 LOMO Doublet APO
Stellarvue SV90T f/7 Fluorite
Synta ShortTube 80
Stellarvue SV70ED
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Hi David,
This is the one I missed out:
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=653514
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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KerryR
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 12/05/07
Posts: 1172
Loc: SW Michigan
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Don't fret too much-- both the Meade and Synta 4" ed scopes show up on the used market quite frequently.
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Kerry
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stevew
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 03/03/06
Posts: 1147
Loc: Vancouver
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Don't buy the 13 inch Odyssey.
Not that they were bad as a light buckets, but they have not been made for quite sometime, so your 10 inch Orion should have a better mirror with brighter coatings.
Steve
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TV Genesis SDF
Meade 127ED
Antares 152
Celestron C5
Celestron C8
Celestron C11
Coulter Odyssey 8
16 Dobsonian
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mausf
member
Reged: 11/02/09
Posts: 21
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Thanks Steve, I was tempted by the aperture of the Odyssey but other people like you tell me that is not a good investment.
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Meade 90mm Mark (used for solar viewing and travel scope)
127 Meade achromatic
XT10 Classic Orion dob
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Starman27
professor emeritus
Reged: 01/29/06
Posts: 579
Loc: Illinois, Iowa
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PM sent
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Enjoy the dark,
Herman
Meade
14 LX200 GPS SMT
12 LX200 GPS
7 LX200 Maksutov
ETX 125
TAK FS128 NSV
Sky 90II
Lunt LS60ThaDS BF1200
Canon 5D Mark II
Illinois
Iowa
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SteveG
sage
Reged: 09/27/06
Posts: 238
Loc: Seattle, WA
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There is a 100 ED for sale right now on the Mart.
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WO Megrez 110 ED on SP Mount
10" Meade LightBridge
Orion ED 100 on Polaris Mount
6" f8 Edmonds reflector on GP Mount
4.5" F8 Orion EQ Reflector
Astroscan
Meade 226 2.4" f11.7
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