A brief review
Whilst Meade’s fortunes may appear to have declined a little in recent years, the company is now on top of their financial difficulties, and the new Lightswitch technology ETX-LS is the first sign of them roaring back to full strength.
The Meade 6" ETX-LS Lightswitch robotic telescope
Meade telescopes have been one of the worlds biggest selling and most successful brands and are especially favoured among users who take the hobby of astronomy seriously. I remember the introduction of the Meade LX200 seventeen years ago (now affectionately called the LX200 Classic). People like me who discovered astronomy in the 1970s were bewildered by the almost magical capabilities of this new instrument – it had so many fantastic features you had little choice but to go out and buy one! Steadily, and sometimes grudgingly, almost everyone with a serious interest in astronomy did just that.
A point about objectivity: this review has absolutely none. I’m closely involved with the sale of these and other Meade telescopes by businesses that I either own or am financially involved with – anything that I say can only be regarded as wholly biased (wouldn’t it be great if UK government ministers could adopt this standard of honesty!). The only observation I can offer in mitigation is that I don’t normally do “telescope reviews” either when asked or for the promotion of my business interests. And I’ve only done this one in a sense of fun because for my own personal purposes I took one of these telescopes home one night to try it out. So here, more or less, is what happened.
First impressions
The telescope was well packaged in a stout inner and outer box, and safely cocooned between two shells of die-cut foam.
The assembled telescope is in two parts – three if you count the removable handset but I recommend leaving this attached and plugged in at all times – the main telescope tube and drive base assembly and the tripod. The drive base and tube assembly has a handle cast into the very top of the fork arm – this makes the telescope easy to carry one-handed.
The build quality of the Lightswitch impresses immediately. The whole telescope construction feels solid – nothing moves, wobbles or creaks as you handle it. Much of the construction is cast aluminium – what plastics there are feel solid and dense to the touch. The aluminium casting that secures the main tube to the altitude shaft is an inspired piece of design – and functions as well as it looks. The red dot finder is of a type not seen on other Meade models and is robustly fitted. To anyone who admires Meade older products there are some little reminders of the past.
The build quality of the ETX-LS impresses immediately. The whole telescope construction feels solid – nothing moves, wobbles or creaks as you handle it.
The solid aluminium focus knob looks identical to the one used on the LX200 Classic – actually it’s whisker smaller (I know because I measured it and compared it with the specs of the original – I’m a sad little man, I know). The design of the front corrector cell and the eyepiece holder also suggest a link with the LX200. Unique features of the Lightswitch so far seen on no other Meade product include USB in and output ports, an RCA video output socket, audio output socket and a miniSD memory card slot as well as a moisture-proof loudspeaker.
Anything to worry about?
After clearing the boxes, my first concern was to find no book of instructions. Instead, a large glossy fold-out card with nice diagrams and hardly any text declared itself to be a ‘Quick Set-up Guide’. I should have been reassured by this simplification as this is just the kind of minimal guidance you get with today’s best plug-an-play computers and mobile phones. But my experience with Meade products made me cautious. Meade are known in the trade, and by experienced users, for great products accompanied by less than adequate instruction manuals. Finding no manual at all and just a disc and a quick start guide set my “Uh-oh” instinct in play.
It’s fair to say that I brought a few preconceptions to my test of this new Meade telescope – and not all of them positive. I’m very familiar with Meade telescopes and have, as part of my commercial life as a telescope accessory designer, made something of a study of their foibles.
At the back of my mind too is the fact that although Meade as a company has hit the highs of design and innovation excellence, with products like the LX200, LX90 and the previous ETX telescopes, not long after these triumphs they squandered their hard won reputation pushing poor products like the early Pictor CCD cameras and the ill conceived LXD55. Design genius, it seems, is often uneven in its workings.
I’ll also admit to being something of a practising Luddite, especially when it comes to electronic technology, and rarely change equipment just to keep up-to-date and, if proof was needed, I still own two Meade LX200 Classic telescopes the newest of which is at least twelve years old. I had started to wonder whether this fully automated self-aligning telescope might just be another step too far.
Not the ideal set of attitudes to bring to a review of the world’s most sophisticated electronic telescope you may think!
Setting up the ETX Lightswitch
A scan through the quick start guide took me a minute and I set the telescope up as directed. I extended the tripod to full height and positioned it in front garden without any orientation or special levelling and only about 30 feet from the front of the house.
I had to scout about for some local shade as there is a street light not far away. It was dark and although the first quarter Moon was visible it was quite low in the sky and quite unobtrusive. I plonked the telescope on the tripod and found that there is a neat system to allow the base to click into exactly the right position so that the holes in the telescope base line up perfectly with the three hand-screws that secure the telescope to the tripod. This has been very well designed and needs no explanation or guidance in use.
The ON and OFF switch.
The telescope has a robust looking integral battery drawer that takes 8x C type dry cells. I elected to use a separate 12V power supply. I used a Black & Decker 4Ah battery pack and a Astro Engineering AC367 power lead to make the connection (a little product placement there – the only one in this review, honest!). Because of the name Lightswitch and the ‘you-only-have-to-switch-it-on’ marketing concept, the marketeer/design team at Meade have made a bit of a fuss of the on and off switch. It’s big and illuminated with a red LED and protected from accidental contact by raised shoulders. I like it. It’s the kind of moment of genious Kurt Vonnegut would have approved of (anyone who has read the Sirens of Titan will remember the automated flying saucers on Mars that only had one control – an on and off switch). I was already starting to get a warm cuddly feeling for this telescope.
I installed the star diagonal in the eyepiece holder and inserted the included 26mm 4000 Series eyepiece. I then uncapped the main telescope and also removed the cap from the integrated Eclips camera and, without a drum roll, switched the telescope on.
This is the Captain speaking…
Within seconds a calm professional voice was telling me what an all round good idea it was to have bought this telescope or some such. For the record the sound quality is rather good, not at all tinny or harsh, in fact the voice (male) has a nice soft bass tone that can be adjusted to a intimate whisper simply by lowering the volume, by dabbing the down arrow on the handset, so that only the telescope user can hear it. The handset gives you the option of switching the AV announcements off very easily by pressing a single button labelled Media – but I elected to leave this option switched on to see how well it worked.
After a brief self-check involving the telescope tube moving around briefly, the voice announced (along with the handset display) that the telescope was checking GPS satellites for time and location information – it also asked me to remove the dust cap from the Eclips camera. The handset display began to show the GPS search routine was in operation.
In the past GPS systems on telescopes can be troublesome if the telescope is placed such that the GPS module antenna is in radio shadow and not getting a good view of the whole sky. After about ten minutes of the GPS scan routine I decided that the telescope’s position could be improved greatly if I moved it further away from the house to give the GPS system a better chance at collecting enough satellite data to get a good fix. To do this I simply switched the telescope off before waiting for it to finish the search and picked up the whole shebang (with tripod the 6” Lightswitch weighs a little over 40 or so pounds) and moved it another twenty foot from the house. I switched the telescope back on and within a minute it had settled into the GPS scan routine again.
This time, after about a minute of scanning, the voice announced that the telescope was finding level and north. The telescope whirred sweetly and went through a series of preset moves to check the mount tip and tilt. There is no mechanical adjustment as such in the so-called self-levelling procedure – the telescope just measures the levelling error in the tripod and then uses this information to form a datum of the correction necessary when the telescope is tracking or making a GOTO move. Next the telescope finds north using its inbuilt electronic compass – and I noted that the main tube’s last position correlated pretty well with north as indicated by the direction of Polaris the north star. The electronic compass can be calibrated to reduce the error between magnetic and true north – but I put this off to another night, hoping that the magnetic bearing would be good enough.
Self-alignment
The announcer then confirmed that the telescope would now attempt self-guided star alignment .
The telescope moves and the voice announces that the telescope is now imaging the first alignment star.
This process is carried out in silence but the handset displays the sequence of what the telescope is doing from moment to moment – and I must say I found it entertaining in a geeky sort of way. It takes three images one after the other and calibrates them and moves to processing. The voice announces that the telescope is trying to centre the alignment star Vega. Being careful not to touch the telescope, I peeped into the eyepiece as the telescope was moving and saw the bright blue star Vega swing in to the field of view of the 26mm eyepiece. The imaging procedure was repeated and another small move placed Vega bang in the centre of the eyepiece view.
The voice announced that the telescope was now moving to find the second alignment star. After the move the imaging sequence began. After two attempts the telescope announced that it had failed to locate the second star (I could see that it was hidden by a small patch of cloud) and would try a broad search. The telescope moved eastwards about 10 degrees and repeated the imaging sequence. When this failed the telescope moved about 20 degrees west and tried the imaging sequence again – when this was finished, the telescope announced that it had failed to find the second alignment star and was selecting a third option – this time Mizar in Ursa Major.
After just two imaging and centering episodes Mizar moved smoothly to the centre of the eyepiece field. The telescope is successfully aligned said the voice. In all, counting from the moment I put the tripod up, the alignment took about thirteen minutes – excluding the initial false start of course - enough time to get your coat on and select a few eyepieces (in fact the next night I used the scope it took less than ten minutes to reach this same point).
I was very impressed at the straightforward way the telescope had got on with the job without any input from me at all – especially when the search for the second alignment star failed. This suggested to me that the technology was solid and reliable and that it was tolerant enough to cope with the real world difficulties of stars hidden behind trees and buildings etc. From switching on the ETX LS the whole alignment procedure was 100% automatic – had I chosen not to watch the telescope work and simply set it on its tripod and switched it on the result would have been the same – a remarkable and impressive feat of technology.
Astronomy with the ETX Lightswitch
The telescope was now tracking Mizar (the last alignment star) and as the Moon was too low for useful observation and the house was blocking the view of Jupiter – the only planet on view – I decided to try the telescope out on a few deep-sky targets. I pressed the button on the handset for the Messier target list and selected M57. The Lightswitch swung quickly to the target and as it slowed I moved to the eyepiece in time to see the tiny grey smoke ring of the Ring nebula swing into view. I tried a few different eyepieces and was impressed with the nice tight stars produced by the 6” ACF optical system.
Next up, the nearby Dumbbell, M27 another planetary nebula – perfectly centred and a good view in a 15mm eyepiece showing a dappled hourglass shape (I guess I need to spend a lot more time in the gym and less in the kitchen if I’m ever to see M27 as a dumbbell!). To test the pointing accuracy with a larger move I selected M81 – and it swung nicely in to the centre of the 26mm eyepiece. Every target was accompanied with a voiceover delivering details of the target in terms of, type, distance etc. I didn’t connect a screen to the video output and I can imagine this being less than useful when observing deep-sky targets that need dark-adapted vision. First a tiny hop to M82 and then a long slew to the giant M31 Andromeda spiral showing a prominent dark dust lane in the 26mm eyepiece, Followed by another short hop to the nearby galaxy NGC891. I found this edge on galaxy hard to see as the sky was not totally dark and there was quite a bit of nearby light around the telescope. I observed for another hour viewing about twenty targets each one appearing almost perfectly centred in the 26mm eyepiece.
I didn’t have the time to test the on board camera (other than during self-alignment) and I didn’t use any of the other special features, like the ability to connect a Meade DS camera or view any of the multi-media content on a screen via the video output socket. I was content just to use this telescope for its basic purpose of viewing the night sky – and I was very impressed with the quality of the views. But the real crowd-pleaser is the convenience and precision of the self-alignment system. Other than a few curmudgeons who don’t really like anything new on principle – I can’t easily see how there can be anyone – newbie or veteran astronomer – who won’t like this telescope for this ability. The ETX-LS Lightswitch discharges, completely automatically, those essential telescope set-up chores at the beginning of an observing session that normally take effort and time to do.
David Tatton and Ralf Bell of the Astronomy and Nature Centre observing our nearest star using the ETX-LS and an AE SolVu safe solar filter
The inveterate grumblers out there are going say that this is not a telescope for experts. They don’t need the soothing “American Airlines” captains voice telling them what the telescope is doing and why and what it’s going to do next. The expert doesn’t need the voiceover giving vital facts and figures about each object the telescope moves to. And, of course, the expert doesn’t need all this clever help setting up the telescope, finding alignment stars, setting the date and time etc. Well, I’ve been an amateur astronomer since I was 14, and I liked all these features and I can easily imagine folk with much less experience liking these even more than I did.
The folk who think you must suffer for your astronomy, that somehow it’s not ‘real astronomy’ unless your fingers and nose have gone black and brittle with the cold, and unless you’ve spent 30 minutes fumbling about in the dark setting up the telescope, fiddling with compasses, spirit levels and polar alignment scopes – are not going to like this telescope. If you really enjoy spending all night to see five objects and honestly enjoy the challenge of finding targets rather than actually viewing them, then the Meade Lightswitch is not the telescope for you. But if you want to view 50 of the best targets in the night sky in two hours, one after another, and learn something about them along the way, with next to no effort from yourself then this stunning telescope might be the one for you.
By way of balance I need to find something I don’t like about this instrument. It’s not easy – I like almost everything about it. I think the tripod is the one area where the critical eye can see signs of economy of manufacture. The tripod is actually quite good and does the job of holding the telescope well enough “for government work” – as we like to say in the Astro Engineering machine shop. There was some extended wobble at the telescope eyepiece that a heavier gauge tripod would have seen off. So the tripod could be better – a more substantial head casting with fewer tendencies to buckle and heavier gauge legs would be good but you can’t have everything. And besides, it gives Astro Engineering something to do – we have a small range of special ETX-LS Lightswitch accessories planned for launch spring 2010 (when we think the telescope will be around in commercially significant numbers as regards accessory sales).
Concluding remarks
As a very good astronomy telescope the ETX-LS Lightswitch gets full marks – ten out of ten, no question. As an example of a state-of-the-art multi-discipline modern design – that offers a performance close to magic – it is without doubt the most sophisticated GOTO telescope on the market. There is quite simply nothing to touch it.
We celebrate 400 years of the telescope in 2009 and Hans Lippershey has the distinction of inventing the first telescope and Galileo that of being the first person to use a telescope systematically on the night sky. But there is no doubt, that currently the distinction for creating the most sophisticated and easy to use astronomy telescope goes to the designers and engineers at Meade Instruments for their beautifully conceived and executed ETX-LS.
Robert J Dalby
Hi Robert thanks for the intuitive review. I have just stepped into amateur astronomy and after my initial purchase of an ETX 7 realise i need something a little more powerful and i think the lightswitch may just fit the bill. However i thought i may drop you a quick note to pass on some knowledge i picked up during a Aerosystems MSc course. Standard GPS (Not WAAS etc) alamanacs every 12.4 mins. this means that when a gps system turns on for the first time or if it looses its position and requires a find it can take upto 12.4 mins to down load the data to find all the satellites. So it looks like the Lightswitch performed pretty well.
Regards
Tony Burnell Msc AFRIN.
Hi Robert.
A very good review and one I was hoping for about this new and intresting product from meade. Theres been alot of run for the hills over the recent down patch in Meades history. But with the release of the most fun and advanced small Go-To telescope this just got intresting.
I have been thinking over buying the EXT125 to break into astronomy with going into astrophotography. This telescope allows both. Granted it may not be viable for DSOs, but for cutting your teeth on planet,star trails or Solar images, this ticks all the boxs. On top of all that its going to be a valued tool to help me learn the night sky. 10 out of 10 for the review.
Clear Skys.
JP.
Hi Jason, thanks for your feedback. I spent the weekend attending the Astronomy Festival at the Observatory Science Centre
in Herstmonceux – a jolly time was had by all. The ETX-LS saw action on Saturday finding Venus in full daylight – and at night, was used to good effect on a wide range of deep-sky targets and delivered some great views of Jupiter. I think you’ll find the scope a good all-rounder with a more than creditable performance on all the popular (Messier and Caldwell) deep-sky objects. Kind regards RJD
I attended the Astronomy festival at the OSC in Herstmonceux and saw the ETX – LS ” to touch ” for the first time having heard about it almost as soon as it was announced by Meade Corporation some time ago >>> as a fairly new amateur astronomer I am excited to see where this will take go-to instrumentation/innovation in the future and how it will develop and expand across manufacturers….!
I purchased the new ETX-LS ACF and agree with every thing you say. But there are a few items that Meade should deal with. The SD slot on the telescope is a Mini SD slot and not a standard SD slot The mini SD chip however went out of popular use about a year ago and they are very hard to find. You can always fit an adapter however but getting the chip back out is extremely difficult unless you are female and have long nails. Also no mention is made as to wether the scope will accept SDHC chips. The scope should be supplied with the AC power adapter, not everyone has a stock of batteries around their house. Meade does not at present make a carry case for the telescope but for $375 JMI does. No 2″ optical back, this would have been nice. Give the option of a finder scope or a red dot finder. One major change that Meade gets points for is that now all their accessories have the same thread patern as Celestron this enables me to use a vast collection of bits and pieces that I have accumulated over the years. On the whole I liked the telescope it performed well after I updated the AutoStar to Ver1.2 at 212mb (this refined the GPS tracking) A bit expensive for the begginner but for someone older (retired) and hard of seeing to line things up, its ideal.
Hi Guy – thanks for your comments. That’s a fair point about the Mini-SD not being that popular anymore, not something I realised at the time, maybe the scope was a long time on the drawing board. I had no trouble getting the right cards from an online outlet. Other comparable SCT and ACF scopes from Meade and Celestron don’t come with 2″ visual-backs either, but because, as you point out, the ETX-LS uses the now standard SCT visual-back thread (used widely by both Meade and Celestron incidentally) you can attach after-market accessories (like the AC307 & AC478 made by Astro Engineering et al) that convert that fitting to accept 2″ push-fit eyepieces and other hardware. I’m not keen on small 1.5V batteries or dry cells, I prefer to attach the scope to a separate portable DC power pack. I’m not 100% sure but sitting here, I can’t actually think of any popular serious scope that is supplied with a mains unit – at least not as standard equipment from the manufacturer. They used to include an AC unit with all LX200s – but that stopped some time ago, in the UK at least. Clear Skies RJD
Hi , nice review by he way .
just a few questions that I would like answered and it is in reference to the primary obstruction .It seems to pictures I see that it is different between the ACF and non ACF version , what is the % of obstruction in each ?And is the ACF larger obstruction is compensated by the better quality optics ?
I am looking to purchase one , price difference is irrelevant but light gattering might be .
Thank you and again thank you for such a nice review.
Luc
I purchased an etx-ls in october along with a canon eos 500D dslr camera. Very excited about starting some astro photography i set up the scope and camera and started to experiment, now i went through the auto align procedure and was informed of good alignment, i then selected jupiter and pressed goto, the telescope slewed to the object but when i looked through the red dot sight the telescope was about half a thumb distance out(problem 1), i then manually slewed the telescope till jupiter was centred in the eye piece and pressed enter to sync the telescope with jupiter. i then attached the camera and took a 10 second exposure when i reviewed the picture it came out as a sort of oval and the moons were lines, i have tried a few different objects like m31 and the double cluster both again showing trails in the longer exposures im not very experienced with photography and with astronomy this is my 4th telescope but my first goto telescope. i would appreciate any advise or help from your experience with meade products. i do like the telescope design and the veiws are great
Hi Folks,
I can only say that I have had since June 22, four replacements, not repairs, due to gps, even with the latest software update.
It also has a unusual habit of tracking 100 to 110 degrees backward. I”m making no judgement at this time as every last thing I own is Meade.
Also not too happy with two cheaper models after the initial market penetration with the high priced spread.
Sincerely,
Fred
I am pleased to report the my ETX-LS is working perfectly. Despite some startup issues Meade was kind enough to send me a replacement and it works as advertised. I would highly recommend this scope to anyone but be patient since it is new technology. I will also add that I purchase the Meade 3.5 in video monitor and again highly recommend it to the LS6 users since it fits perfectly and the video is outstanding. It is especially handy when using the CCD wide view camera to check out exposure settings etc. in addition to easier menu navigation etc. It is great. You can also easily turn if off by using the “display” key on your handbox or change it to red light display so it doesn’t affect your night vision. It’s a bute….Enjoy!!!!!
Hi Fred thanks for your post. This sounds grim – four swap-outs sure sounds like batch problem or maybe some kind of environmental problem local to you (electrical interference). I’m impressed by your faith – I would probably have thrown in the towel by number three! I’ll assume you’ve tried operating the scope from a new location to eliminate the possibility of local interference and just hope you get this sorted out soon. RJD
Hi Mark, thanks for your post. You will be able to image Jupiter with a much shorter exposure than 10 seconds. Try this: set the camera to a ‘film’ speed of ISO200 to 400 (experiment with this setting but start here) and use either a 2x Barlow lens or a 10 to 15mm eyepiece and a eyepiece projection camera adaptor to increase the image scale (ie, get the image of Jupiter bigger on the chip) and try a wide spread of exposures starting at 125th of a second all the way down to a full second. Shoot at least three images at each setting – and give the scope plenty of time to settle between shots. Lock the mirror up if you can to minimise vibration – if you’re struggling with focus try connecting the camera to a TV or computer to get a bigger more accurate screen view. Hope this helps. Regards RJD
I got hooked on astronomy when I was 11, even tried to make my own scope. Life happened and astronomy went by the wayside. Well, now my kids are grown and I want to get back into this great hobby. And let me tell you, I have no qualms about using all the technology available to help me catch up! Besides, there seems so much more to learn, so much more available to the amateur now that finding something new to learn will never be a problem. I’ve pre-ordered the 8″ and scarcely wait. In fact, knowing that I’ll be able to start observing my first time out has me even more interested in my astronomy books and magazines. Bravo for your courageous review. I don’t refuse the calculator because I know how to use a slide rule and I am certainly not going to refuse the ETX-LS.
Hi Rene, thanks for your positive feedback. The 8″ ETX-LS promises to be a great scope – I hope it brings you back to astronomy again, this time for good. I couldn’t agree more about technology – telescopes like the Meade Lightswitch let more people do high-quality astronomy on their terms – anything that makes things easier and saves time, gets my vote – and my credit card fluttering into the light! Clear skies RJD
I am contemplating buyng a new scope and your comprehensive review was a great help. Many thanks. I have to admit that I have some reservations about buying Meade again. Some years ago I bought one of their early go-to scopes – A DS127 Newtonian. In a word it was crap. No, lets make it 2 words – utterly crap. The optics were reasonable enough, but the mechanics were pitiful, due in part to cheap and flimsy components, but also to poor mechanical design. After the RA worm gear failed I dismantled it to suss the problem. The entire weight of the scope (and we’re talking 1 metre long tub here) hinged on a 20cm nylon gear wheel held in postion (I kid you not) with a 5mm self tapping screw. The declination motor would overdrive and sheer the nylon cogs in an instant and strip the screw from its fastening. I had 2 replacements from Meade and each did the same after only a couple of hours use. I paid over £600 for it at the time and felt destinctly ripped-off. However, my main frustration was always being able to align the scope for viewing (even when it WAS working) so the EXT LS is a very attractive option if it delivers. But being Meade – and judging by some of the posts here – it is still a very big ‘if’.
Hi Peter – thanks for your comments. There’s no doubt that Meade have an uneven reputation as regards quality that is quite a puzzle – their name appears on many very third-rate entry level products, but, in contrast, it also appears on some of world’s best and most (deservedly) popular telescopes. I remember the scope you are referring to. It was an overly ambitious attempt at a value-for-money GOTO telescope and they got it wrong; key components of the mechanism were way too fragile. (Btw, I realise you probably meant 2cm rather than 20cm). They did make that system work later on – but they lost a lot of goodwill along the way. Come and see us at Astrofest in London if you get the time (Kensington town hall 5th & 6th Feb 2010) as we are hoping to have a 8″ ETX-LS on show. Kind regards RJD
Hi Robert.
Great review and thank you very much. Considering to purchase an ETX-LS, your review was helpful to let me know more about what I am going to buy. But still, I just have few questions about it (Excuse my simple questions, since I’m an amateur and this will be -hopefully- my 1st telescope):
1- In the absence of any electrical source (AC adapter, batteries,…etc), can the telescope be operated manually?
2- Does the integrated GPS system work in locations like (Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon); i.e. Is it limited to specific countries?
3- Is it possible to attach a heavy DSLR to this telescope for astrophotography without having imbalance?
Thanks again for the review.
Regards.
M. Al-Hakim
Hi there – thanks for your post. Meade have have always had a good line on sophisticated scopes that are capable of satisfying the serious user and the newbie (eg, LX-90). The ETX-LS is a stand-out example of this experience. Your points in order:
1 – No the Lightswitch will not function at all without some form of electrical supply. There are no manual locks on the scope so the tube can’t be moved without power.
2 -The GPS is fully global in range and the Lightswitch will be 100% effective in all the countries you mention.
3 -The 6″ lightswitch is over-built in terms of motor torque etc and will easily cope with normal DSLRs. However there is no provision to operate the ETX-LS in equatorial mode and so the telescope as it stands is not suitable for longer exposure photographic work (ie exposures over a few seconds). Hope this helps. Regards RJD
I am in the process of buying a new scope. Because of weight I have pared my want list to 2. I am considering the LX90 8″ and the LS 8″. I am concerned about the GPS issues I am hearing redarding the LS and the stability issue. Is the LX90 considrably more stable than the LS because of the heavier tripod and double forks, or does it not matter much? How hard is the LX90 to setup, I know where Polaris is and can find Vega & Antares, but again the auto setup of the LS sounds enticing if the GPS works. Also, will there soon be a motorized focuser for the LS or is that years away. I will probably use the Meade CCD II imager for what picture I would take with either one. Is there another brand that has a comparable telescope that allows ease of setup and great views? Thanks for any help you can give me I am ready to buy.
Allen
Hi Allen, sorry to be slow in reply. I don’t think it would be at all wise to recommend a scope that we haven’t actually seen in the UK yet. The 8 inch LS is an unknown commodity and will remain so until a decent number are in circulation. I have no hesitation in recommending the 8 inch LX90 however – I think it’s probably the best all round 8 inch instrument available for the user who wants the power of a system telescope. The Celestron has all the spec to give it a run but the design of the CPC800 range is marred by unnecessarily flamboyant design features that make more advanced usage a challenge for the serious user (eg. the lack of economic after-market wedge and other common imaging accessories). The LX90 range has a vast amount of after-market support – this makes it a clear winner all round in my view. RJD
Hi Robert, Meade replaced my first LS6 after I had troubles with the gps twice in a row. The one they replace it with has worked flawlessly since I received it and the updated software ver 1.4A make a big difference in the operation. I am extremely pleased with the telescope and concur 100% with your statements about the optical quality of the scope. Because the telescope is no longer classified as an ETX scope Mike Weasner has discontinued support info on his site for this scope. I have tried to take up a little of the slack caused by having a Facebook page for modifications and problems/fixes for the LS series. Please feel free to have a look and make any suggestions…..
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Winnipeg-MB/Meade-LS-info-page/346363190184
Thanks
GW
Thank you for the excellent review. I currently have a ETX-80AT-TC that myself and the kids use. Not much lately as l am in Afghanistan. I am looking to buy a bigger telescope when I return home and hope to be able to start some astrophotography. The LS 6 looks like it will fit the bill, help us learn the sky better and easier to see.
Hi Robert,
Just came across your excellent review of the Meade LS. I have an ETX-125 for six years and it has served me well. However I always had some problems aligning the scope and using the goto function, so when I read about the LS with the internal GPS, it got my attention. Thirty years ago I had a C8 and it was a lot of fun and with an 8″ mirror there was lots to see. BUT…you had to find those little fuzzy cotton balls first! So, after seeing Meade come out with a 8″ version I decide to take the plunge!
I just started observing with my new scope this week and I am amazed as to how this works. The optics seem to be excellent and when I first saw M13, my jaw dropped! I don’t remember resolving it so well with my old C8 back then. I could see objects in one night that would take me weeks long ago…..star maps and hopping from one star to the next to find a Galaxy. Now I see beautiful colors with the LS that the ETX-125 would come up a little short. I think the tripod for the ETX though, seems to be better built then the one supplied with the LS?
I do have a question about alignment. The scope is using the default “two star” method, but the objects seemed to be either just off the center or even just a bit outside the eyepiece. I then manually center the object, but not sure how to “sync” it so it should improve the overall alignment. I could not find the command anywhere on the hand-box, so I press the “enter” key hoping that will do it. Do you know if there is a command anywhere in the menu and if so how do I find it? Will syncing it improve the goto this way? Thank you for any of your suggestions. RC