Telescope Reviews: An ETX-80 Buyer's Checklist

I've been jonesing for one of the ETX-80's since last year, but many outlets were on backorder. I have and love my ETX-125PE, but due to some mobility issues (I'm disabled), it gets a bit cumbersome to drag out and set up. Consequently I haven't used it much this past year. I thought with its smaller size, the ETX-80 might inspire me to get out and use it more than my poor neglected 125.

As it turns out, supplies appear to be back up and I find myself with a little bit of discretionary money. Most of my scopes in the past have been refractors, so there's a comfort factor already built in to the 80 that I like. What's attractive about the 80 for me is its footprint and "lugability"; from what I'm lead to understand, the whole package (scope, mount, tripod, etc.) comes in around 10-11 pounds, which makes it much more "grab and go" friendly for me. I'm looking in particular at the "backpack" edition, which further facilitates the need I have for high portability.

I'm interested in hearing from past or current owners of the ETX-80:

• What in particular do or do you not like about the scope?
• How reliable are the RA/Dec brakes (prone to slippage, wearing, breaking, etc.?)
• How about the motors (noisy, loose, do they "chatter" like some of the older GoTo units, how is battery consumption, etc?)
• Are you satisfied with the optics, resolution, flatness of field, contrast, etc.? How pronounced are any chromatic or spherical aberrations?
• How is the focuser (too tight/loose, twitchy, tough to get at when the scope is at extreme declination?)
• How accurate do you find the GoTo/Autostar for this scope? Can you use the AS #497 with the 80, or must you use the #494?
• How sturdy/stable is the supplied tripod, and if need be, can it be mounted on the more robust 884 field tripod of the ETX-125?

That should get us started. Thanks in advance for fielding my questions.

PS I know, there are refractor purists who will advise me to get an ED or flourite scope. I have nowhere near that sort of money to toss at a second scope. What makes the ETX-80 attractive to me is it's price-point, relatively small and lightweight size, and its wide-field view.

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Tim

Champion of small aperture scopes everywhere!

Meade ETX-125PE
Meade ETX-80
Celestron FirstScope 76mm Mini-dob

Updated: 09/16/2009

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