Meade 12.5 inch Starfinder is still available

Just went to the Meade website and discovered that, despite rumors to the
contrary, this affordable dob with the generally GREAT mirror is still in
production.

In these times when it seems that Meade does very little right, the
continued manufacture of this scope is the correct decision.



--
Martin
"Photographs From the Universe of Amateur Astronomy"
http://home.earthlink.net/~martinhowell

In these times when it seems that Meade does very little right,

Hi:

How do ya figure? Some things they have done right lately:

The optics in the SCTs...better than they've ever been.

The new 14 GPS.

The DSI.

When Meade screws up, I'll be the first to call them on it, but I'd say they've
done much more right than wrong, lately.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

On 10 Nov 2004 11:47:32 GMT, Rod Mollise wrote:


In these times when it seems that Meade does very little right,

Hi:

How do ya figure

Professor Rod,

It is good that you have pointed out good things about Meade. Long ago, I
stopped buying or even considering new telescopes. I have my Starfinder
12.5" and my Meade 4500 and am very content with them.

My word "seems" in the original post indicated my take on the Meade
situation guided by all the negative comments I see on Meade in Cloudy
Nights, Astromart, and SAA. Perhaps I am wrong, but there is no shortage
of those ready to put the company down.

The names of the products you list are familiar to me, but it must be
admitted that my knowledge of them is limited to their label.

Bravo, Meade for keeping up innovation and the product line. Had I more
money, time, and better skies (or at least occasionally clear ones. .
..tough to get in the Seattle area for large parts of the year), know that
more of my money would find my way into your shareholders wallets.


Your student (the old man seated in the back row of desks),


Martin

Martin:

While your are applauding Meade for keeping their Meade in the product line, I
wish they would move the 12.5 inch DOB scope into the 21th Century. Apparently
the mirrors are good but the rest of the scope has some serious limitations.

IMHO, these scope are about what we were getting in the early 90s as commercial
scopes.

Buy an a GSO Dob or a Synta DOB and not only do you get a pretty decent mirror
and a 9 point floatation cell, but you get a good focuser, a good finder and a
reasonable mount that just needs a bit of Ebony Star and Teflon to be a pretty
good mount.

In otherwords, you get a finished product that can be a pleasure to deal with.
With the Meade, I mean give me a break, the model 77 focuser as an Upgrade?

Jon

"Jon Isaacs" wrote in message
...
Martin:

While your are applauding Meade for keeping their Meade in the product
line, I
wish they would move the 12.5 inch DOB scope into the 21th Century.
Apparently
the mirrors are good but the rest of the scope has some serious
limitations.

IMHO, these scope are about what we were getting in the early 90s as
commercial
scopes.


Buy an a GSO Dob or a Synta DOB and not only do you get a pretty decent
mirror
and a 9 point floatation cell, but you get a good focuser, a good finder
and a
reasonable mount that just needs a bit of Ebony Star and Teflon to be a
pretty
good mount.

In otherwords, you get a finished product that can be a pleasure to deal
with.
With the Meade, I mean give me a break, the model 77 focuser as an
Upgrade?


I agree with your sentiment, but let's not paint too terrible a picture
here. The 12.5" Starfinder isn't _too_ bad a structure. The two sore points
are the (virtually unbreathable) particle board primary mirror cell, and the
focuser (as you suggested). At $849 it is really the best deal going on a
100% _US made_ 12.5" Dobsonian. Especially for those among us who are
protesting the American consumer rush to inexpensive foreign products. I may
be a dope about such issues, but I can't help think that somehow that's
going to bite us in the ass. Not saying we shouldn't allow a change in the
economic structure of the world, just that we should try to at least force
it to go more slowly and methodically to protect our own interests. After
all, it is the American consumer who holds the power cards. One shouldn't be
in too much of a hurry to throw away a good hand for a quick buck.

That said, I think it would be a mere pittance for Meade to charge an extra
$200 to add, and balance out an open aluminum or steel mirror cell, and
provide a decent 2" focuser.

$1050 for a fully functional out of the box 100% US made 12.5" Dobsonian
doesn't seem unreasonable.

Then there's Discovery who is still offering the PDHQ for $1299 and I'm
pretty certain that it's $300 better than either the Meade or the GSO/Synta
scopes. IMO, you would have to sink that much into one of the scopes from
the Orient, to get as good a structure (large adjustable bearings and a
lightweight plywood rocker and base).

So, I'm not saying the GSO/Syntas are bad. Just that on the price scale, it
makes more sense to me that they would go: GSO/Synta for $900, Meade
Starfinder (with suggested changes) for $1000, and then the Discovery PDHQ
for $1300.

If everyone rushes to the bottom, then choice goes bye-bye. Meade should
definitely step up to that plate with the 12.5" Starfinder. I bought one,
and in the end I've spent the difference on after-market upgrades. Are you
listening Meade? Fix the Starfinder and add a few bucks to the price. Your
12.5 F4.8 mirrors are worthy of a better out of the box structure!!

-Stephen

If everyone rushes to the bottom, then choice goes bye-bye. Meade should
definitely step up to that plate with the 12.5" Starfinder. I bought one,
and in the end I've spent the difference on after-market upgrades. Are you
listening Meade? Fix the Starfinder and add a few bucks to the price. Your
12.5 F4.8 mirrors are worthy of a better out of the box structure!!


Pretty much what I was thinking. A real focuser and mirror cell and maybe a
bit more on the base. Just get the thing up to current standards.

Since spending that $50 on that Telestar/Meade 60AZ-A I have been more tolerant
of Meade and their low end stuff....

jon isaacs

Hi Steven/All
You Said:
At $849 it is really the best deal going on a 100% _US made_ 12.5"
Dobsonian. Especially for those among us who are protesting the American
consumer rush to inexpensive foreign products. I may be a dope about
such issues, but I can't help think that somehow that's going to bite us
in the ass. Not saying we shouldn't allow a change in the economic
structure of the world, just that we should try to at least force it to
go more slowly and methodically to protect our own interests. After all,
it is the American consumer who holds the power cards. One shouldn't be
in too much of a hurry to throw away a good hand for a quick buck.
---------------------------------------------------------------

As most here know, Meade does have a manufacturing plant south of the
border.

And exactly what is being manufactured, and assembled in Mexico may be
somewhat hard to determine, unless you're a Meade Employee/CEO. I know
that the Meade Tripods/Giant Field tripods are being made across the
border, as Meade themselves told me so, when I was waiting for a
replacement part for one.

Where any of the optics are made for any given scope may come from
various sources? (USA, China, Mexico, who knows?)

Sounds to me that parts/optics are sure doing lots of traveling back,
and forth for manufacturing, assembly, testing, packaging, etc. Mark D.

Meade
situation guided by all the negative comments I see on Meade in Cloudy
Nights, Astromart, and SAA. Perhaps I am wrong, but there is no shortage
of those ready to put the company down.


Hi:

Well, I won't argue that. And there's some truth to some of it. But a large
number of these folks will put Meade down no matter what they do or produce.
It's the fashionable thing, ya see. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

Subject: Meade 12.5 inch Starfinder is still available
From: (Rod Mollise)
Date: 11/10/2004 5:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:



Hi:

Well, I won't argue that. And there's some truth to some of it. But a large
number of these folks will put Meade down no matter what they do or produce.
It's the fashionable thing, ya see. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
***********************
I think the only line of scopes where Meade flunked , was the ED scopes.
Seems like the 7" was a big time flunker!!!

Chas P.

"CHASLX200" wrote in message
...
Subject: Meade 12.5 inch Starfinder is still available
From: (Rod Mollise)
Date: 11/10/2004 5:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

Hi:

Well, I won't argue that. And there's some truth to some of it. But a
large
number of these folks will put Meade down no matter what they do or
produce.
It's the fashionable thing, ya see. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
***********************
I think the only line of scopes where Meade flunked , was the ED scopes.
Seems like the 7" was a big time flunker!!!

Chas P.

Even there, for the most part, it wasn't optics; it was the objective
mounting cell... Once the cells were upgraded, and that was as it should
be, these became decent scopes for the money, but by then, a handful of
bad reports had already done the damage...

Jan Owen

To reach me directly, remove the Z, if one appears in my e-mail address...
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