Hey everyone! Like many people, I got laid off from the pandemic and I am looking for things to do at home and outdoors and noticed a few telescopes that popped up on Craigslist. I started looking at the ads but really didn't know what was a fair price or a good place to start. I decided since I live in a major city, that I really wanted something that would pack quickly and safely into the truck and I could take out into the wilderness to use. A bit of research and it seemed like the Meade ETX-90 was a good place to start. I was excited to see a Meade ETX-90 that was listed for $300 on Craigslist, so I quickly went to go check it out.
Sadly, it turns out that the owner was given this when they were 7 years of age, and this is the original ETX-90 without the hardcase, tripod, and "Go To" features. On the plus side, I was told that his dad and him used it only a handful of times and it had been sitting in the original box for the last two decades. It certainly looked very clean and the box didn't have any major damage or dust inside it. It had decided I was going to pass on it and but they offered it to me for $160. I'm not sure if that was a fair, good, or great deal, hopefully not bad, but I took it.
So now I have this ETX-90 telescope in the original cardboard from 1996(?) with a Celestron PLOSSL 12.5mm objective, a Meade PLOSSL 26mm LP multi-coated objective, and lastly a Meade 2x Barlow 1. Everything looks really clean with no flaws in the lenses with the exception of the Barlow. It looks like the multicoating on it might have gotten rubbed off? The OTA itself looks brand new with the paint looking flawless and glittery. The reflector didn't have any dust on it, and the tube looked similarly free of anything. The end cap was on it and the front collector was perfectly clean and flawless. So optically, I think I have a good tube and some objectives. The only think I'm worried about is that it only has 2 of the 3 legs and I'm afraid it might have batteries that could have leaked inside the base. Crossing my fingers and will have to open it up tomorrow.
Since I'm not going to have the "Go To" options, what would people suggest I get for star charts and learning how to use them? I'm assuming that there are Android Apps or applications for your PC that you can use, or maybe just a website? Is there anything I should get or do as immediate things to make this older tool work better today?
Cheers
-S