8 replies to this topic

[deSitter]

I have had a lot of fun getting new new and new old telescopes in my years. But I've never just fallen in love with a scope.

 

Until now.

 

This ETX-125 (EC era) is just a thing of pure joy to me. It is permanently free of the base (it's too big for that setup anyway, the 105 is pushing it) so it's "just" a 5" f/15 Mak. It performs great, almost all of them do. But it's just the shape and the ergonomics. The wonderful skill with which near automatic work could turn out such a telescope just astounds me. Even the little 8x25 right angle finder comes into its own, because it is far enough away from the optical axis to get your head into without banging the scope. I need to 3D print some radius blocks to fit over the threaded brass inserts where the fork arms attached. Those will support a 50mm finder and a side scope or balance weight.

 

I expected to love the scope but I didn't expect my heart to go pitter-patter, the way it did for Jackie in the 3rd grade Has that happened to you?

 

-drl

 

 

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[geekay]

Congratulations on your new love! Looks especially lovely atop that wooden tripod!

I do love my 25-year-old ETX-90 (also deforked). However, I wouldn't call it the most ergonomic of scopes. The straight-through finder, in particular, was a disastrous choice by Meade.  

Fortunately, a RACI finder was standard equipment on the 125 EC.

[deSitter]

Congratulations on your new love! Looks especially lovely atop that wooden tripod!

I do love my 25-year-old ETX-90 (also deforked). However, I wouldn't call it the most ergonomic of scopes. The straight-through finder, in particular, was a disastrous choice by Meade.  

Fortunately, a RACI finder was standard equipment on the 125 EC.

It's a RAFI, right-angle flipped image (vertically) like a regular diagonal. There is a tiny mirror in it. It's a really slick design, although the field of view is pretty mushy on the edge of the large FOV (for a finder, almost 70 degrees with a Kellner! no wonder). It works to get close enough to switch to main scope with a 40mm Plossl.

 

I use the scope with a 1.25" visual back, but I realized just yesterday that I have a 2" visual back with a 48mm interface, like the 1.25" visual back. Of course using it with a 2" diagonal and eyepiece is going to invoke a lot of optical constraints but it would look cool There is an enormous mirror range and almost zero image shift even at high power. It is small enough that I didn't notice it on Mars at 250x.

 

-drl

Edited by deSitter, 07 February 2025 - 12:11 AM.

[ericb760]

You will love it even more once you remove that clunky mirror contraption and replace it with a Wegat Optical Back Plate. My 125 sat in the back of a closet for five years until I upgraded to the Wegat. Now it's back in permanent rotation. 
 

Edited by ericb760, 06 February 2025 - 10:12 PM.

[deSitter]

You will love it even more once you remove that clunky mirror contraption and replace it with a Wegat Optical Back Plate. My 125 sat in the back of a closet for five years until I upgraded to the Wegat. Now it's back in permanent rotation. 
 

No, I like her taste in clothes The flip mirror is a good thing for using a binoviewer.

 

-drl

[ericb760]

No, I like her taste in clothes The flip mirror is a good thing for using a binoviewer.

 

-drl

Fair enough. How did you adapt your Polaris mount to accept a regular dovetail?

Edited by ericb760, 06 February 2025 - 10:51 PM.

[deSitter]

Fair enough. How did you adapt your Polaris mount to accept a regular dovetail?

It's a regular short dovetail with the holes in the right place to fit the tripod shoe screws. In this configuration it is way out of balance from the heavy meniscus but eventually it will balance out with good finders/side scopes/cameras. The mount is a Synta EQ3-2 and will be getting an OnStep kit when I get around to installing it. It is a very fine mount and the equal of a SP. Very similar.

 

-drl

[deSitter]

Ha - just occurred to me the scope is Meade and the mount is Orion branded.

 

The Grateful Dead

 

-drl

[DouglasPaul]

Ha - just occurred to me the scope is Meade and the mount is Orion branded.

 

The Grateful Dead

 

-drl

I'm not a huge fan of the GD but their music will live on just like Meade and Orion's scopes.