Meade 102ED APO versus Orion 100ED APO

Any online comparisons of the two? Or any user experiences here?
Both are f/9 apo doublets, so are they the same manufacture?

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Oh, I forgot...I'd also be interested in comparisons of the Meade to
the twins of
the Orion, the Celestron and Skywatcher models. And, impressions of the
mount/tripod that the orion comes with versus a Meade LXD75.

Thanks again.

Meade 102ED is no longer produced. Scope and optics were made in the
USA.

Orion 100ED "APO" is 100% China scope.

"Mean Mr Mustard" wrote in
oups.com:

Meade 102ED is no longer produced. Scope and optics were made in the
USA.
Orion 100ED "APO" is 100% China scope.

Have you read Meade's 10K?

http://www.meade.com/nasdaq/pdf/2005_10K.pdf

--
Pierre Vandevenne - DataRescue sa/nv - www.datarescue.com
The IDA Pro Disassembler & Debugger - world leader in hostile code analysis
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latest review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1590497,00.asp

Pierre Vandevenne wrote:
Have you read Meade's 10K?

http://www.meade.com/nasdaq/pdf/2005_10K.pdf

Mean Mr Mustard avoids mining, oil/gas exploration, anything on the
AMEX, gun and telescope stocks. (*** note: Mean Mr Mustard also sold
TASR in 2002 in favor of a health beverage company)

I know all that. I was wondering if anyone had used both, and could
give his/her impressions of each. I've been seeing the Meade 102
showing up on A-mart for pretty reasonable prices lately.

Any online comparisons of the two? Or any user experiences here?
Both are f/9 apo doublets, so are they the same manufacture?


Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
--------

I can only provide you a few tid bits...

1. I believe the Meade uses FPL-51 as the ED component where as the
Synta/Orion scope uses the more desireably FPL-53. How this affects
the overall color correction I cannot say. Roland is always stressing
that it is not the ED element that determines the color correction but
the mating elements.

On the other hand, he uses FPL-53 in his stuff so there must be some
advantage.

2. I am quite sure the Meade and the Orion are of different
manufacture, Synta makes the Orion stuff, don't think Synta ever made
anything for Meade but I could be wrong.

3. One reason these Meades are showing up is that Meade closed them out
in their Ebay store a while back at pretty good prices. Some people
might be keeping the mounts and attempting to move the OTA's to help
cover their costs and maybe end up with a nice mount at a great price.

Jon

To follow-up on the previous post, the (Synta) Orion, Celestron,
Skywatcher 100ED refractors and the Meade 102ED refractors, both f/9
doublets as was pointed out, are NOT made by the same source. The
Synta ED scopes come from China, the Meades were made at Irvine,
California. Also noted, the Meade EDs are now discontinued.

I concur that the Meades use an older and now less exotic ED glass
(FPL-51), whereas the Synta ED's use the now preferable FPL-53 ED
element. Each is paired with a non-ED lens.

I have used both types of OTA's, although not the 100mm size. I own a
Synta (Orion) f/7.5 80ED OTA and an f/9 Meade 127ED OTA. I like them
both. For me, the color correction is similar in the visual range. I
cannot comment about the Synta 100ED. I bought the 127ED after the
80ED and did so to get more aperture and magnification for planets. I
have been pleased with the 127ED in that regard. It also gives a
better star test than my Synta 80ED, but I may have gotten a less than
stellar Synta ED.

I do not think the Synta tube build is as solid as the Meade. The
Meade is just a better looking scope. The Meade also allows
collimation at the objective (lens) end of the OTA. The Syntas don't
allow for direct lens collimation (it is done by shifting the focuser).

Speaking of focusers, the Synta ED's (the Orion version) offer a nice,
smooth Crayford design. The Meade ED scopes have a beefy, but sloppy
rack and pinion version. I'd give Synta's Crayford style the edge on
the focuser.

Good luck on your decision and purchase!

Mike Lewis
Virginia

wrote:
Any online comparisons of the two? Or any user experiences here?
Both are f/9 apo doublets, so are they the same manufacture?


Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
--------

I can only provide you a few tid bits...

1. I believe the Meade uses FPL-51 as the ED component where as the
Synta/Orion scope uses the more desireably FPL-53. How this affects
the overall color correction I cannot say. Roland is always stressing
that it is not the ED element that determines the color correction but
the mating elements.

On the other hand, he uses FPL-53 in his stuff so there must be some
advantage.

2. I am quite sure the Meade and the Orion are of different
manufacture, Synta makes the Orion stuff, don't think Synta ever made
anything for Meade but I could be wrong.

3. One reason these Meades are showing up is that Meade closed them out
in their Ebay store a while back at pretty good prices. Some people
might be keeping the mounts and attempting to move the OTA's to help
cover their costs and maybe end up with a nice mount at a great price.

Jon

Thanks for the reply! I did know the syntas were chinese, and the
Meades were not. I didn't mean to say same manufacturER, but
manufacture-
i.e. were they the same design. You've both answered that quite well,
thanks you.

It sounds to me as if the Meade is the way to go. Now, I just have to
work up the guts to sell my Nexstar11GPS to finance it. (Or, maybe the
127ED!!!!!!! 8-)

Thanks for the reply! I did know the syntas were chinese, and the
Meades were not. I didn't mean to say same manufacturER, but
manufacture - i.e. were they the same design. You've both answered
that quite well, thank you.

It sounds to me as if the Meade is the way to go. Now, I just have to
work up the guts to sell my Nexstar11GPS to finance it. (Or, maybe the
127ED!!!!!!! 8-)

Or , maybe wait for a Synta 5", with the FPL-53 D element. It's gotta
be
coming, right?