405 replies to this topic

[VA3DSO]

Only the blue remained and it wasn’t the same blue!

It may seem weird, but honestly that's whey they lost me as a fan. I've owned a bunch of Meade telescopes and they were all that deep blue colour with a shine to them. I think when Sunny bought Meade, they changed to a lighter blue, and then if I'm not mistaken, they had bumpy paint surfaces.

 

It's interesting that Celestron has managed to release their SCT's in a bunch of colours (black, white, orange, silver) and they all look great. Meade even had some white SCT's that looked great. But the new blue didn't work for me. It appears they've also got a blue in between the two - that one looks a bit better.

 

I know it's silly to worry about a telescope's colour, but I like to look at them during cloudy nights - so they should be attractive to me.

 

Rick

[CHASLX200]

Only the blue remained and it wasn’t the same blue!

The real Meade was when i first knew about them in 1977.  Then in the late 90's it was down hill.

[starman876]

The real Meade was when i first knew about them in 1977.  Then in the late 90's it was down hill.

I loved the research series what a scope

[bjkaras]

I personally don’t care much about Meade. I am primarily a Newtonian person, and my scopes are old classic Cave and Parks. I do own an 826, but I bought it used and it carries a 6” f/12 refractor. I think the only other Meade product I ever bought was a Barlow back around 1980. I miss Orion more, because their Cupertino store was near my house and it was convenient for accessories. I bought some Televue eyepieces there, and some various minor hardware. That being said, when my brother wanted to buy a telescope I took him there. He bought a Meade 6600. Since that model had recently been discontinued all they had was the store demo model, which they sold him at a big discount. He used it for a few years, but now it’s just a dusty doorstop. Meade made some nice Newtonians back in the day, but by then I was kind of angry at the way they treated their competitors, such as Cave. So I never really bought any of their stuff.

[MarkMittlesteadt]

You have to remember that the Meade we all think of, isn't really the company that recently died. You might say they died long ago.

There was a time when Meade meant something and was a relevant player. Despite their cheaping out on the mounts, I do believe their ETX line changed things and got more people into the hobby. SCT's, Maks, Reflectors, the LX Series at least from the LX50, LX90, LX200 were great mounts and scopes. Their full page ads in S&T.

 

That's the Meade I remember. 

[CHASLX200]

I personally don’t care much about Meade. I am primarily a Newtonian person, and my scopes are old classic Cave and Parks. I do own an 826, but I bought it used and it carries a 6” f/12 refractor. I think the only other Meade product I ever bought was a Barlow back around 1980. I miss Orion more, because their Cupertino store was near my house and it was convenient for accessories. I bought some Televue eyepieces there, and some various minor hardware. That being said, when my brother wanted to buy a telescope I took him there. He bought a Meade 6600. Since that model had recently been discontinued all they had was the store demo model, which they sold him at a big discount. He used it for a few years, but now it’s just a dusty doorstop. Meade made some nice Newtonians back in the day, but by then I was kind of angry at the way they treated their competitors, such as Cave. So I never really bought any of their stuff.

The 660 was a Mizar.  I had tons of Meade stuff and never anything bad until the 7" ED and that took bad to a new level.

[CHASLX200]

I loved the research series what a scope

Those were the days my friend. And the wars with Celestron in SKY& TELE around 1981.

[deSitter]

I personally don’t care much about Meade. I am primarily a Newtonian person, and my scopes are old classic Cave and Parks. I do own an 826, but I bought it used and it carries a 6” f/12 refractor. I think the only other Meade product I ever bought was a Barlow back around 1980. I miss Orion more, because their Cupertino store was near my house and it was convenient for accessories. I bought some Televue eyepieces there, and some various minor hardware. That being said, when my brother wanted to buy a telescope I took him there. He bought a Meade 6600. Since that model had recently been discontinued all they had was the store demo model, which they sold him at a big discount. He used it for a few years, but now it’s just a dusty doorstop. Meade made some nice Newtonians back in the day, but by then I was kind of angry at the way they treated their competitors, such as Cave. So I never really bought any of their stuff.

I don't see how Meade went after Cave. Cave could not keep up with the demand for scopes. Meade inherited the Cave mantle of quality Newtonians, they didn't take it from them. I mean it's competition. No one cries over the demise of Hudson or Studebaker. The Meade scopes seem to have better optical reports. I feel much worse for Criterion, who had dramatically lowered the entrance fee to big scope observing.

 

-drl

[CHASLX200]

Big Newts were going out by the late 70's as was Unitron thanks to the SCT.  By the mid 80's they  were done.

[rolo]

My first real scope was a Meade 628C back in 1977. It was a jaw dropping experience from a 60mm Jason. I saw and photographed the comet impact in 1994 after I restored and recoated the optics for the event and had it until 2003. I also had an 856, & a 1066 Newtonian and both were fantastic. No, the SCT's weren't the best but I did own two 12" LX200 OTA's and both were optically excellent, well corrected and relatively smooth. Good luck going forward 

[greedyshark]

Never owned a Meade however loved their ads in S&T and A during the 70’s and 80’s.  …and as far as grieving, I’m still working through the loss of University Optics.

 

Cs,

Charles

[Retentive]

Never owned a meade but now looking at FB market is like looking at a Meade catalogue, SCTs galore. Is there a list somewhere that tells which ones are worth picking up or avoiding?

[greedyshark]

Never owned a meade but now looking at FB market is like looking at a Meade catalogue, SCTs galore. Is there a list somewhere that tells which ones are worth picking up or avoiding?

Avoid the Halley’s Comet era.

[starman876]

Having picked up a 10" meade starfinder I found the optical tube not to my standards.  The mount is great.  The paper tube was not holding the optics properly anymore.   So I bought a hasting aluminum tube. Also bought a 2" focuser and new optics.  Will keep the mirror mount and spider.   I could see the sonotubes were not holding under the compresion of keeping the spider and the primary mirror cell.  Also the focuser screws were crushing the sonotube

So overall meade did not make a very good tube in my opinion.  I was never fond of sootubes.

Edited by starman876, 02 September 2024 - 02:08 PM.

[CHASLX200]

Having picked up a 10" meade starfinder I found the optical tube not to my standards.  The mount is great.  The paper tube was not holding the optics properly anymore.   So I bought a hasting aluminum tube. Also bought a 2" focuser and new optics.  Will keep the mirror mount and spider.   I could see the sonotubes were not holding under the compresion of keeping the spider and the primary mirror cell.  Also the focuser screws were crushing the sonotube

So overall meade did not make a very good tube in my opinion.  I was never fond of sootubes.

The Fiberlite tubes were good then they went cheap to sono.

[grif 678]

So, how many of the older classic telescope makers are left.     Unitron, B&L , Meade, Orion, Sears, are now gone, is Celestron the only one left from the good old days? I know a lot of makers from the years prior to these have gone, but I am just talking about the 80's through 90's era.

[Kasmos]

So, how many of the older classic telescope makers are left.     Unitron, B&L , Meade, Orion, Sears, are now gone, is Celestron the only one left from the good old days? I know a lot of makers from the years prior to these have gone, but I am just talking about the 80's through 90's era.

Except for Questar, maybe none. Orion, Sears, and yes, Unitron were only brands and never actually made scopes (although Unitron did do some assembly from NS Parts) And like Meade, Celestron is really not the same company it once was but does hold onto a bit of it's legacy, like keeping some of their operations at the old headquarters building in Torrance.

 

My visit there in Dec 2022:

https://www.cloudyni...stron-solstice/

Edited by Kasmos, 02 September 2024 - 03:42 PM.

[NinePlanets]

Having picked up a 10" meade starfinder I found the optical tube not to my standards.  The mount is great.  The paper tube was not holding the optics properly anymore.   So I bought a hasting aluminum tube. Also bought a 2" focuser and new optics.  Will keep the mirror mount and spider.   I could see the sonotubes were not holding under the compresion of keeping the spider and the primary mirror cell.  Also the focuser screws were crushing the sonotube

So overall meade did not make a very good tube in my opinion.  I was never fond of sootubes.

The 10" and 16" Starfinders (as I recall) were Meade's desperate answer to Coulter's 10.1", 13.1" and 17.5" Odyssey Paper/Plywood push-along altazimuth scopes that allowed folks to get a lot of aperture for cheap. Cheap cheap. They were snarfing up market share from Meade in a significant way. So Meade went cheap too, but at least they tried to keep things equatorial, which was nice. But I sort of gagged a bit of puke in my throat when I first saw the un-reinforced Sonotubes screwed to the little 628-ish mounts.

 

Sonotubes are great if one puts the work into reinforcing and sealing them, but that didn't happen in Meade's market share gamble.

 

At least that's the way I remember it. (Caveat!)

[starman876]

The 10" and 16" Starfinders (as I recall) were Meade's desperate answer to Coulter's 10.1", 13.1" and 17.5" Odyssey Paper/Plywood push-along altazimuth scopes that allowed folks to get a lot of aperture for cheap. Cheap cheap. They were snarfing up market share from Meade in a significant way. So Meade went cheap too, but at least they tried to keep things equatorial, which was nice. But I sort of gagged a bit of puke in my throat when I first saw the un-reinforced Sonotubes screwed to the little 628-ish mounts.

 

Sonotubes are great if one puts the work into reinforcing and sealing them, but that didn't happen in Meade's market share gamble.

 

At least that's the way I remember it. (Caveat!)

I Had a Meade 16" equatorial.  the old blue one. That sonotube was one heavy tube.  The optics were not that great.  Another Meade failure.

[tim53]

It may seem weird, but honestly that's whey they lost me as a fan. I've owned a bunch of Meade telescopes and they were all that deep blue colour with a shine to them. I think when Sunny bought Meade, they changed to a lighter blue, and then if I'm not mistaken, they had bumpy paint surfaces.

 

It's interesting that Celestron has managed to release their SCT's in a bunch of colours (black, white, orange, silver) and they all look great. Meade even had some white SCT's that looked great. But the new blue didn't work for me. It appears they've also got a blue in between the two - that one looks a bit better.

 

I know it's silly to worry about a telescope's colour, but I like to look at them during cloudy nights - so they should be attractive to me.

 

Rick

The prototype SCTs were purple.  One of the 4" models showed up here several years ago.

[RichA]

Meade will be like Indian Motorcycles. Dead, resurrected, dead and resurrected. Wouldn't surprise me if a Chinese OEM buys out their inventory and IP and resurrects it in someway.  

Meade's name is well-established and that would be good for anyone selling telescopes.

[jgraham]

As mentioned above, avoid the Halley Era (mid 1980s) and you should be okay. I would also suggest caution with the early production LX6s. I have several later examples of the f/6.3s and they are pretty good, but I have not seen an original LX6. The later f/10 Premiers (same mount as the LX6) were also pretty good.

[CHASLX200]

I Had a Meade 16" equatorial.  the old blue one. That sonotube was one heavy tube.  The optics were not that great.  Another Meade failure.

Train wreck scope as i call it. It was all wrong like the CR6 on the bad CG5 with the small metal tripod.

[Terra Nova]

I loved the research series what a scope

And the RG eyepieces are quite good as well!

[azure1961p]

Meade's demise began when they turned out F6 SCT's, followed soon after by terrible simple Newtonian mirrors. They turned a corner and never came back. Then there was their laughable apos.

 

Glad, 

 

Pete