MEADE ETX-105 vs. LXD-75 SN-6AT, please advise.

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am planning to get a
telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and
the LXD-75 SN-6AT. The idea is to be able to study the planets and
deeper space nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

Thanks,

C White

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:23:08 -0700, crazybear92604 wrote:

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am planning to get a
telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and
the LXD-75 SN-6AT. The idea is to be able to study the planets and
deeper space nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

Thanks,

C White

First of all I've not owned either instrument.

The etx will not have the aperture to see any structure in galaxies. I
don't think there is enough aperture to do justice to planetary nebulas
or globular clusters either. The telescope has a relatively high focal
length for its aperture (f14,) which will make it good for planets, but
less so for deep sky objects which are best viewed at low to mid power. I
have read that the LXD-75 have excellent optics, but are not well suited
for planets. The 10 inch would make an excellent deep sky instrument
though. An option would be to purchase the lxd-75 10 inch for deep sky and
maybe a 6 inch f8 reflector tube to be used on the lxd-75 tripod for
planetary, but this is probably going to throw you over budget.
Another option you should look at is an 8 inch sct (you will see limited
galactic structure in an 8 inch istrument though,) they are all around
good performers. You can find used ones in the range of $500 - $1000. If
you are interested in buying a sct, read Uncle Rods guide to buying a used
SCT.

Terry

"Terry A Haimann" wrote in message
news
Another option you should look at is an 8 inch sct (you will see limited
galactic structure in an 8 inch istrument though,) they are all around
good performers. You can find used ones in the range of $500 - $1000. If
you are interested in buying a sct, read Uncle Rods guide to buying a used
SCT.


I would only add how important it is to keep in mind the "hidden" expenses
of owing any scope with a corrector plate out front. To wit, dew control.

While a simple solution is an inexpensive flex shield, for damp climates
this is an insufficient solution alone, for more than a couple of hours,
give or take a couple of hours ;-).

Heaters are often a necessary evil.

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from buying a Schmidt or Maksutov design,
only warning that beyond the intial purchase, there are other expenses that
follow. Expect to spend an additional $100 or more on dew prevention, or to
be ready to build ATM solutions.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am planning to get a
telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and
the LXD-75 SN-6AT. The idea is to be able to study the planets and
deeper space nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

Thanks,

C White

Hi, I have an ETX105 and a 10" LX200.

I started out with the ETX, and I had a lot of fun, so much fun that I added the lx200. I still
use the etx for solar observations and as a grab-and-go travelscope. but .... I would not
recommend the ETX. being a maksutov, cooldown time is an issue. its long focal length and small
fov limits the range of targets. the goto is not that good, the tracking is ok for visual but
not at all for photography. I would recommend a small fast refractor as a starter scope, like
the orion 80mm shorttube. if you enjoy astronomy and discover that you actually spend a lot of
time with your scope, upgrade to larger scope. The computer control etc of the etx is really
just a toy anyway.

alternatively, if you already know you are serious about astronomy, buy as much aperture as you
can. If you can afford the lxd-75 SN-6AT now, go for it. or safe money and wait some more and
get an lx200 or lx90. Additionally, watch out for used lx200's, lots of them are available as
amateurs upgrade their gear to RCX400's, it seems.


--
Martijn (astro-at-pff-software.nl)
10" LX200GPS-SMT
ETX105
www.xs4all.nl/~martlian

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am planning to get a
telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and
the LXD-75 SN-6AT. The idea is to be able to study the planets and
deeper space nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

Thanks,

C White


CB,

First off let me state that I do not have anywhere near the experience of
others on this NG, but I too was just recently involved in purchasing a
first-time scope. Here were my experiences based on my experience and
knowledge...

I did the research on web and talked to an experienced friend and ended up
with the EXT-90 AT. I was limited by price and being new I wanted to see
planets, galaxies, etc right away. I also have limited time to spend doing
this and wanted to see rather than search.

Fortunately I bought my scope at the Discovery Store which as a 30 day
return policy. What I found was that the ETX-90 with it's 3.5 in app was
just not cutting it for DSO's. So I went back to the Discovery Store and
upgraded to an ETX - 125. I must admit that I'm very happy with this scope.
I have seen Mars, Venus, M31 etc with this scope.

Well in all my haste I bought this before going to a Star Party where
(Denver Astronomical Society) I was able to view many sizes and types of
scopes. My fear was that I would go to this Star Party (SP) and come back
disappointed in my ETX-125. What I found was just the opposite; I was very
happy with my purchase. Note I did not have my scope to compare side by side
to the scopes I looked through but still feel that I can make a general
comparison.

The observatory where the SP was held has a 20 inch refractor
http://www.denverastrosociety.org/chamberlin.html where I got to view the
Ring Nebula (M57). Of course M57 was larger and a bit brighter but what
impressed me the most was the difference between my scope and the
observatory's. I expected this huge detailed image of M57 thru the 20 inch
but was somewhat disappointed (still great view but not what I expected, I
know M57 is a Nebula...).

Next I made my rounds outside where the members let guests look thru their
scopes. I looked at thru as many as I could. Two notable mentions, I looked
at M31 thru an 8 inch Celstron Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT) with their version
of AutoStar... It looked almost the same as mine, still not able to see any
detail still a cotton ball in the sky.

Next there was a guy who had a JMI 25 inch Dobsonian mounted scope ( think
this was the make) This thing was a monster, a ladder was needed to view
when the scope was looking overhead. He let me look at Mars through this
scope; wow, much brighter and bigger than mine but I still did not see the
Polar Ice caps very well if at all. Now in all fairness this was 9/10/2005
at around 11:30 PM (Mars still not very high in the sky in a city with
atmosphere and heat). Essentially it looked just like my image but bigger
and brighter naturally. I also helped him load this monster into the back of
his truck, this is not a whip it out take a quick look and put it back type
of scope. I think I took three of us about 30 minutes to load this bad boy
up. What really surprised me was the difference between my ETX-125 and the
Celestron 8 inch. The Celestron will bring in more light due to app but the
difference between mine and the Celestron did not warrant the price
difference IMO. Matter of fact if it had been the other way around and I had
bout the Celestron 8 inch and looked through the ETX-125 I would have been
disappointed...

In conclusion where there better scopes than mine at the SP, absolutely, was
I disappointed in my purchase, no. I felt for the cost and ease of use the
ETX-125 is a clear contender. Eventually I would like to own an LX 200 10 -
14 inch or something equivalent but until then mine will suit me just fine.
One last thing, I would recommend the UHTC coatings and I would recommend
the 125 over the 105, yes it is $200.00 price difference it seems that there
is a big difference to go to anything bigger than the 125...

Please remember this has been my experience and opinion on the matter, it
may be that many here will disagree with good reason. This is the input I
would want from somebody if I was in your situation. And one more thing that
I would recommend, going to a SP and look for yourself. Your conclusion may
be totally different than mine, but at least you will know.

Good luck,

-p

You can't beat aperture, but these two telescopes also come with vastly
different mounts. I would recommend that you try out the 6" mount and
see how solid and easy-to-use it is. Then try the ETX. Compare the two,
then consider the apertur differences to sway one way or another.

The failure of most telescopes is the mount and/or tripod. If this
system isn't up to snuff, the telescope will be too difficult to use,
and it will gather dust.

That said, go for the aperture

In article .com,
says...
Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am planning to get a
telescope and I would like some advice between the MEADE ETX-105 and
the LXD-75 SN-6AT. The idea is to be able to study the planets and
deeper space nebulas, star clusters, and galaxies.

Thanks,

C White



The First question you have to ask and answer, is what do you want to do
with the scope. Are you interested in Astrophotography? If so what kind
of camera are we talking about? You say you want to study the Planets
etc... What do you mean by Study? Observe visually, Take Phots and do
Astometry?

Now on to the scope purchase. I have an ETX-105 and I love it. It has
very sharp optics and gives a nice small scope view. However it is much
more suitable for Planets and other objects requiring a small field of
view and decent magnification (Moon, Globular Clusters, Planetary
Nebulae). It is not a good wide field scope nor is it really good for
astrophotography (don't get me wrong, with the right equipment and
patience you can get nice shots, but the mount is not up to hooking a
Canon 20d to it.). Plus it will take about an hour or two to reach
ambient temp.

The SN6 on the other hand is almost the exact opposite of the ETX. It
does not give as high a magnification with the same EPs as the ETX due
to the shorter focal length. Nor is it as portable as the ETX. However
it can more easily be used for astroimaging than the ETX and will give
nice views of open clusters, diffuse and reflection nebulae, and give a
brighter albeit smaller image on the same object. this will also take
time to cool down but I can't tell you how long as I don't own one.

There are no perfect do everthing telescopes. The closest I can think of
is a Schmidt-Cassegrain but even those have trade offs.

Hope that helps

Craig