On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 13:57:00 -0400, Tom Royer ...reflected:

"Alan W. Craft" wrote:

On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 08:43:53 -0400, Tom Royer ...reflected:

"Alan W. Craft" wrote:

On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 03:23:35 GMT, Excalibur ...reflected:

Greetings,

I am aware of general warnings about getting scopes from department stores etc.
but would make any difference if it was a Meade, specifically the Meade Polaris
AZ-D 60?

Would I be able to see the Saturn rings, 4 main moons in Jupiter etc?

Also, can't find specifications of this scope in www.meade.com ... probably not
a good sign.

Thanks very much,
Excalibur

Get something from Orion instead, as you'd stand a better chance
of not getting snookered; not that that's a high improbability with Orion,
however...

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...Type=HOME_PAGE

...but stay away from...begin ominous music...the "Transporter"...

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...rd=Transporter

I simply can't believe it! The darn thing's backordered!

Alan

Just out of curiosity, what's wrong with the Transporter?

Would that the bandwidth be spared.

To be sure, the mini-EQ table top mount could be a PITA
if you don't have a good stable platform to set it on, but
a 70mm f/5 that's as light as the Transporter could be a
good "grab and go" star sweeper.

One would get far more enjoyment out of this
one, as it's almost every bit as "grab 'n' go" as
the "Transporter", and $30 less to boot.

Certainly no one's THAT lazy...

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...ProductID=5153

Out of my own curiousity, with what do you stargaze?

I have a Meade ETX125EC. Given my home geography, portability is extremely
important. The ETX is about as big as I can easily move around.

My ancestors abandoned New England and the
East Coast by the 1830's or thereabouts, therefore I
may empathise.

I ended up in...NW Mississippi, and on a three-acre lot
with surprisingly dark skies given that I'm only 15 miles
south of the Memphis city limits, which were considerably
darker ten years ago. I have a dark, unpolluted view to
the east and the south, which I understand is the ideal if
living close to a major metropolitan area. Then, to the
west, there's the third-largest gambling complex in the
nation, and approximately five miles away...

....would that it sank into the River.

I stand atop the land, and behold! Sodom to the north,
then west to Gomorrha!


I think the Meade's a better choice over the
Celestron, within that category.

I suppose it was a toss-up between the two, eh?


My Takahashi FS-102 on a Vixen GP-DX mount
is by no means portable, nor the Parks 8" f/5 o.t.a.
I've custom-ordered to share said mount once it arrives
this fall/winter. I will eventually want a "grab 'n' go" for
myself, however, with a probable settling upon either the
Meade ETX125 o.t.a. or an Orion 127mm "StarMax" o.t.a.,
and for those times when either the wind's too cold, or the
bugs're too thick.

Alan