Telescope Reviews: Re: ETX As a portable scope

Here's where such subjective criteria as "comparable views" is going to net a wide array of opinions. All other things being equal, the old 'scopers axiom of "aperture rules all" always applies. However, things are obviously not equal here. You're looking for portability and (unless I'm mistaken) ease of use. Here's where you'll probably have to compromise a bit. Nevertheless, there's no reason why you can't get perfectly acceptable (and dare I say, enjoyable) views from a smaller scope.

As Rod said, the 125 is in the "close enough" category. I think for you the aperture would be adequate while presenting a much smaller "footprint" than the Dob. Setup time, once you get used to the ETX system, goes pretty quickly, and once you have it set up will slew/track objects pretty accurately over the course of a viewing session. Acclimation doesn't seem to take as long with a closed tube scope like a Mak, SCT, or refractor (this is my opinion, others may differ.) The main limiting factor as I see it compared to your XT8 is the current cost of a new ETX-125. They've gone up about $200 since a year ago for a new scope. You might be able to score one on ebay or Astromart for a decent price, but if you go new, plan on parting with the better part of a grand.

Now if you want super-portability along with the a wide field view and the GoTo capability, perhaps the ETX-80 might be more to your liking. The whole enchilada (scope, mount, tripod) only weighs about 12 pounds and is very compact. You won't see nearly the faint fuzzies you do with the Dob, but if portability is a key feature, you'd be hard pressed to find a better, more affordable ($250-ish) scope than the 80.

So it's largely going to depend where on the spectrum of portability, affordability, and capability you want a scope to land. Having owned the 125 for nearly a year now, I can vouch for its reliability and quality. There was a time, as you alluded, where there was some questionable QA in the motors and gear train, but I've had nothing but rock solid performance from mine right out of the box.

--------------------
Tim

Champion of small aperture scopes everywhere!

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

Updated: 09/16/2009

Post Extras