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Meade 80MM Autostar Telescope any good?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 4th 03, 02:45 AM
John Cheak
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Default Meade 80MM Autostar Telescope any good?

I'm thinking about purchasing this scope from Heartland. Here is what they
say about it:
This Telescope makes it easy! It has 675X magnification, 80mm objective
diameter, huge 900mm focal length and a 6x30 viewfinder. You also get Meade'
s Autostar computer with handheld controller and one-touch Go To command.
Comes with 4mm, 12-1/2mm and 25mm eyepieces, 3X Barlow lens, aluminum tripod
and bonus Meade Electronic Eyepiece that lets you view images on your TV. I
can't find any info on Meades site. Is this a good starter scope that I
won't out grow to quick. TIA

John



  #2  
Old September 4th 03, 03:40 AM
Odysseus
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John Cheak wrote:

I'm thinking about purchasing this scope from Heartland. Here is what they
say about it:
This Telescope makes it easy! It has 675X magnification, 80mm objective
diameter, huge 900mm focal length and a 6x30 viewfinder. You also get Meade'
s Autostar computer with handheld controller and one-touch Go To command.
Comes with 4mm, 12-1/2mm and 25mm eyepieces, 3X Barlow lens, aluminum tripod
and bonus Meade Electronic Eyepiece that lets you view images on your TV. I
can't find any info on Meades site. Is this a good starter scope that I
won't out grow to quick. TIA

There's no way you can get a good 675X view from an 80mm objective;
under ideal conditions you could go to about 160X (according to the
2X per mm 'rule'). This means that the supplied 4-mm eyepiece is
pretty well useless for this 'scope, and has only been included to
let the manufacturer advertise an impressive-sounding (but quite
unrealistic) magnification. The highest useful power you'll get with
this setup will be from using the 25-mm EP with the Barlow, giving
108X; you'll get 72X from the 12.5-mm EP and 36X from the 25-mm EP alone.

Dividing the 80-mm aperture into the 900-mm focal length gives f/11,
indicating a fairly narrow field of view and somewhat dim images; the
instrument will therefore be fine for lunar and planetary observing
but, I think, rather unsatisfactory for 'deep-sky' objects and
completely unsuitable for photography. As for the go-to feature, many
amateurs enjoy finding things at least as much as actually looking at
them, so your money might be better spent on more optics and less
electronics -- but only you can decide, based on your particular interests.

--
Odysseus
  #3  
Old September 4th 03, 04:00 AM
Llanzlan Klazmon The 15th
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"John Cheak" wrote in
:

I'm thinking about purchasing this scope from Heartland. Here is what
they say about it:
This Telescope makes it easy! It has 675X magnification, 80mm
objective diameter, huge 900mm focal length and a 6x30 viewfinder. You
also get Meade' s Autostar computer with handheld controller and
one-touch Go To command. Comes with 4mm, 12-1/2mm and 25mm eyepieces,
3X Barlow lens, aluminum tripod and bonus Meade Electronic Eyepiece
that lets you view images on your TV. I can't find any info on Meades
site. Is this a good starter scope that I won't out grow to quick. TIA

John





This is a joke right?

Llanzlan

  #4  
Old September 4th 03, 12:05 PM
GoldfishPanda
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That is one of those department store telescopes. It is a waste of money.
While the GOTO is nice, it is silly to get a GOTO on a garbage scope.

I don't know how much this costs, but you would be better off saving for a
real telescope.

Look at www.telescope.com - They have some decent, lower end scopes. Don't
do what many of us did - we wasted money on our first 60mm (or similiar
sized) department store garbage scopes.



"John Cheak" wrote in message
...
I'm thinking about purchasing this scope from Heartland. Here is what they
say about it:
This Telescope makes it easy! It has 675X magnification, 80mm objective
diameter, huge 900mm focal length and a 6x30 viewfinder. You also get

Meade'
s Autostar computer with handheld controller and one-touch Go To command.
Comes with 4mm, 12-1/2mm and 25mm eyepieces, 3X Barlow lens, aluminum

tripod
and bonus Meade Electronic Eyepiece that lets you view images on your TV.

I
can't find any info on Meades site. Is this a good starter scope that I
won't out grow to quick. TIA

John





  #5  
Old September 4th 03, 02:16 PM
Dave Phillips
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If you want to see what 675x looks like thru 80mm, take a look at a
newspaper photo under a microscope.


  #6  
Old September 4th 03, 02:48 PM
Bobsprit
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The scope is total junk.

Capt RB
 




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