I Didn't Need a Meade
Jul 07 '00
Epinions just has a way of NOT letting me suggest a lot of items I want to suggest. There is no category for Meade Telescopes, so I'm going to put it here in the next best place.
First of all, let me make it quite clear that, I know absolutely nothing about telescopes. I am not into astronomy. Purchasing a telescope is something I never would have done. At friends' houses it was always neat to look through their telescopes, but it just wasn't something I would consider spending hard earned money on.
But...
One day as we were walking through the mall, 3 kids in tow, we decided to venture into a camera store to "just look." That day was one of those days when the kids were just all wound up and wouldn't settle down. (I must have fed them too much sugar.) The store was Ritz Camera. We knew we couldn't buy anything, but sometimes it's just neat to look at what's available. The next thing I heard was a "crash." When you're in a semi-expensive store with 3 wound up kids, the last thing you want to hear is a "crash!"
They had knocked over a telescope. My stomach almost threw up. My blood pressure probably rose quite high and I felt faint. I had visions of hundreds of dollars floating through my head. The store attendant did not even touch the telescope or look at it, she just immediately got on the telephone to the manager. Without even checking it out, the manager said we had to purchase it. We could see that there was one tiny plastic piece broke, but hey, that could be superglued. The manager said the lenses in these things are fragile, and a fall like that would most definitely cause damage to a lens or even break one.
We forked out $188.95 that day that we didn't have and went home with a Jupiter Telescope by Meade. Specifically, a Meade Digital Electronic 60 mm Refracting Telescope. I was just thankful it wasn't more money than that.
(My children are still alive, by the way.)
We got this thing home and all set up and put together. (They had to "completely" disassemble it at the store and package it in the original box. They would NOT let us take it home as it was. We had to buy it "as is," I think we should have been able to take it home "as is.") That was the second thing that upset me. We knew absolutely nothing about putting together a telescope.
The directions were OK. Not really all that simple for us, being ignorant of telescope talk. It was a little difficult and tedious I thought. But, we did it.
It really is a neat telescope. Much better than what some of our friends have. It came with several components including the optical tube, viewfinder, viewfinder bracket, yoke mount, aluminum tripod legs, an accessory shelf, 3 eyepieces, and a digital mirror. There are step by step instructions included for assembly, but it was still difficult for us. It also came with Star Locator Software for the computer. You can explore the heavens and check out all sorts of star charts. There is a database on this little floppy disk of over 10,000 celestial objects.
We finally got this thing all put together and went outside to see what we could see. Nothing. We couldn't focus in on anything. We turned the focus ring from one end clear to the other. Nothing. The next day I called the Meade company, told them the whole story of us having to purchase the telescope yesterday, and explained how it wouldn't focus. They told us the whole focusing unit was probably damaged and they would send us a new one immediately. Free of charge! I was impressed. 3 days later it came UPS. Great customer service. They didn't care about the circumstances of why we purchased it, they just wanted us to be satisfied. That alone gets 5 stars.
Sure enough, that solved the problem. It worked. We could focus in on the moon. That was really cool. We can't figure out how to use it to the best of its ability. We are not telescope people. But, it's a great telescope. Gives you a very clear picture of the moon. I just wish we could figure out how to zoom in on some stars. Once you get this telescope together, it's fairly easy to use. To see the moon anyway. I'm sure someone who knew what they were doing would get a lot more out of it.
This telescope is capable to have an optional electronic and computer motor drive system attached to it. Computer software is available. Then you can hook up to the computer and view what the telescope is viewing, print pictures and everything. Sounds like it would be great. There are computer control buttons on the side of the telescope. It can be upgraded with an optional Meade Digital Electronic Controller. A Dual-Motor Electronic Control System is available and the controller that's available for this telescope is the Autostar Computer Control System which allows pushbutton object-tracking at any of four speeds on both axes. Sounds awesome.
I wish we could spend more time with it than we do, trying to figure out how to view those far away stars. It seems like such a waste to have it sitting in the computer room attracting dust. We would never have paid $200 for a telescope. We didn't need a Meade, but since we have one, it is a cool telescope to have.
And finally, since this is the category for advice on purchasing a telescope - here's my advice - don't let your kids decide for you which telescope you will buy, by knocking one over in a store!
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Epinions.com ID:
J.A.Keirns
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Member: Julia A. Keirns
Location: Payne, Ohio
Reviews written: 72
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
Married for 15 years, mother of 3 children ages 8, 11 and 13, freelance writer.
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