ETX-90 PE questions

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a foot of mud in
Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it now but the only ETX scopes
I find are the PE -- Premier Edition -- versions with the red-dot finder
instead of a traditional finder and the automatic alignment (although there
is a process where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90 PE's and
would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope? Can a
traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the auto-align
really work?

Thanks.

Hi:

I've been using the ETX125PE for a while now and am pretty happy with
it. I do believe you should still be able to get an AT scope, however.

Is the finder workable? Yes. Much more so in my opinon than the
original. IMHO, the ETX optical finder was not useful for much of
anything.

Yes, the auto-align works...it's not much different from the alignment
routines you find on GPS scopes. That is, you initially enter the time
and date initially, but, unlike the original ETX, the scope has a
decently accurate, battery-backed clock that keeps the time updated. If
you move the scope to a new site (as in a new city), you will have to
"manually" select that site.

Anyway, what you basically do is just turn the scope counterclockwise
until it hits the stop, turn on the power, and let it do a little
dance. Once it's sure of its attitude (via compass/level sensors), it
will point at an alignment star. With the help of the red dot finder,
you center the star in the eyepiece and hit enter. Scope then goes to a
second alignment star. Center it and you're done.

How good is it? As far as go-to, at least as accurate as a buddy's
Nexstar 8i, if less so than my go-to NS11 and ASGT scopes. Drive? It's
an ETX...sufficient for visual observing. Optics? Outstanding. Funky
astro-image on the tube? Bearable and not as garish as it appears. I do
note that--on the 125, anyway--the fork has been substantially
strengthened. It's now plastic covered _metal_ rather than just plastic
as on an earlier 125 I used.

I've used this scope for about a year as a grab-n'-go, and have been
quite pleased with it. Frankly, if the Celestron Nexstar 5 SE had been
available at the time, I'd have probably opted for that, but, again,
I'm happy with the 125. It's not of heirloom quality, that's for sure,
but it serves the purposes I have for it.


Joe S. wrote:
My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a foot of mud in
Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it now but the only ETX scopes
I find are the PE -- Premier Edition -- versions with the red-dot finder
instead of a traditional finder and the automatic alignment (although there
is a process where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90 PE's and
would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope? Can a
traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the auto-align
really work?

Thanks.

"RMOLLISE" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi:

I've been using the ETX125PE for a while now and am pretty happy with
it. I do believe you should still be able to get an AT scope, however.

Is the finder workable? Yes. Much more so in my opinon than the
original. IMHO, the ETX optical finder was not useful for much of
anything.

Yes, the auto-align works...it's not much different from the alignment
routines you find on GPS scopes. That is, you initially enter the time
and date initially, but, unlike the original ETX, the scope has a
decently accurate, battery-backed clock that keeps the time updated. If
you move the scope to a new site (as in a new city), you will have to
"manually" select that site.

Anyway, what you basically do is just turn the scope counterclockwise
until it hits the stop, turn on the power, and let it do a little
dance. Once it's sure of its attitude (via compass/level sensors), it
will point at an alignment star. With the help of the red dot finder,
you center the star in the eyepiece and hit enter. Scope then goes to a
second alignment star. Center it and you're done.

How good is it? As far as go-to, at least as accurate as a buddy's
Nexstar 8i, if less so than my go-to NS11 and ASGT scopes. Drive? It's
an ETX...sufficient for visual observing. Optics? Outstanding. Funky
astro-image on the tube? Bearable and not as garish as it appears. I do
note that--on the 125, anyway--the fork has been substantially
strengthened. It's now plastic covered _metal_ rather than just plastic
as on an earlier 125 I used.

I've used this scope for about a year as a grab-n'-go, and have been
quite pleased with it. Frankly, if the Celestron Nexstar 5 SE had been
available at the time, I'd have probably opted for that, but, again,
I'm happy with the 125. It's not of heirloom quality, that's for sure,
but it serves the purposes I have for it.


Joe S. wrote:
My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a foot of mud
in
Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it now but the only ETX
scopes
I find are the PE -- Premier Edition -- versions with the red-dot finder
instead of a traditional finder and the automatic alignment (although
there
is a process where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as
the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90 PE's
and
would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope? Can a
traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the auto-align
really work?

Thanks.


Rod:

Thanks for the informative run-down -- that's about what I expected. I was
very pleased with my ETX-90. Think I'll poke around and see if I can find
an older one and if not get the PE.

And thanks for the "Urban Astronomer" book -- mine arrived from Amazon
yesterday and I've already found a lot of useful information. Your chapters
on seasonal observing are especially useful.

Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look at a
105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better optics than
the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that one are incredible.
It really is a great scope for the Planets and Moon, and will nicely
show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....
--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a foot of
mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it now but the
only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition -- versions with
the red-dot finder instead of a traditional finder and the automatic
alignment (although there is a process where you can align it
yourself using one or two stars, as the older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90
PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope? Can a
traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the
auto-align really work?

Thanks.

"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look at a
105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better optics than
the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that one are incredible.
It really is a great scope for the Planets and Moon, and will nicely
show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....


Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I lost an XT-8 and ETX-90 in Katrina. After moving away from the Gulf
Coast, I replaced the XT-8 with an XT-12 -- not exactly a portable scope,
though I have a dedicated two-wheel dolly that moves it around quite easily
and I am very pleased with the scope.

I am trying to decide between the 90 and the 105.





--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a foot of
mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it now but the
only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition -- versions with
the red-dot finder instead of a traditional finder and the automatic
alignment (although there is a process where you can align it
yourself using one or two stars, as the older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90
PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope? Can a
traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the
auto-align really work?

Thanks.

Get the 105. More light grabbing ability than the 90, and just as
portable. Plus the mechanics are better thn the older 90s/125. The
newer 125s (and possibly the 90s) use the sale metal frame covered in
plastic that the 105 started with.
--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look at a
105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better optics than
the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that one are
incredible. It really is a great scope for the Planets and Moon,
and will nicely show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....


Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I lost an XT-8 and ETX-90 in Katrina. After moving away from the
Gulf Coast, I replaced the XT-8 with an XT-12 -- not exactly a
portable scope, though I have a dedicated two-wheel dolly that moves
it around quite easily and I am very pleased with the scope.

I am trying to decide between the 90 and the 105.





-- Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a
foot of mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it
now but the only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition
-- versions with the red-dot finder instead of a traditional
finder and the automatic alignment (although there is a process
where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90
PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope?
Can a traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the
auto-align really work?

Thanks.

"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Get the 105. More light grabbing ability than the 90, and just as
portable. Plus the mechanics are better thn the older 90s/125. The
newer 125s (and possibly the 90s) use the sale metal frame covered in
plastic that the 105 started with.
--


You convinced me. Now I only need to convince this lady I've been living
with for 40-plus years.

Oh, wait -- she's getting 2.5 carat diamond earrings for Christmas -- maybe
we could work out a swap.






Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look at a
105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better optics than
the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that one are
incredible. It really is a great scope for the Planets and Moon,
and will nicely show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....


Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I lost an XT-8 and ETX-90 in Katrina. After moving away from the
Gulf Coast, I replaced the XT-8 with an XT-12 -- not exactly a
portable scope, though I have a dedicated two-wheel dolly that moves
it around quite easily and I am very pleased with the scope.

I am trying to decide between the 90 and the 105.





-- Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a
foot of mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it
now but the only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition
-- versions with the red-dot finder instead of a traditional
finder and the automatic alignment (although there is a process
where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90
PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope?
Can a traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the
auto-align really work?

Thanks.

LOL! My wife got me the 105 for our 1st Christmas. She had no idea what
she was getting into. I had to look long and hard to find a gift for
her that would have the same impacton her that the scope did on me.

I found her an antique Player Piano and got that for a her a couple of
years ago.

Now lets hope your's doesn't read this group.....
--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Get the 105. More light grabbing ability than the 90, and just as
portable. Plus the mechanics are better thn the older 90s/125. The
newer 125s (and possibly the 90s) use the sale metal frame covered
in plastic that the 105 started with.
--


You convinced me. Now I only need to convince this lady I've been
living with for 40-plus years.

Oh, wait -- she's getting 2.5 carat diamond earrings for Christmas --
maybe we could work out a swap.






Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look
at a 105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better
optics than the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that
one are incredible. It really is a great scope for the Planets
and Moon, and will nicely show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....


Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I lost an XT-8 and ETX-90 in Katrina. After moving away from the
Gulf Coast, I replaced the XT-8 with an XT-12 -- not exactly a
portable scope, though I have a dedicated two-wheel dolly that
moves it around quite easily and I am very pleased with the scope.

I am trying to decide between the 90 and the 105.





-- Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a
foot of mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it
now but the only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition
-- versions with the red-dot finder instead of a traditional
finder and the automatic alignment (although there is a process
where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the
ETX-90 PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope?
Can a traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does
the auto-align really work?

Thanks.

Hi:

If anybody wants the 105, better get one soon, as a little-bitty bird
told me that Meade is discontinuing it.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

Craig wrote:
Get the 105. More light grabbing ability than the 90, and just as
portable. Plus the mechanics are better thn the older 90s/125. The
newer 125s (and possibly the 90s) use the sale metal frame covered in
plastic that the 105 started with.
--
Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:


"Craig" wrote in message
om...
Joe,

I'd second what Uncle Rod says, but instead of the ETX-90, look at a
105. IMO (and that of many others) the 105 AT had better optics than
the 90 or 125. I have a 105 and the optics of that one are
incredible. It really is a great scope for the Planets and Moon,
and will nicely show DSOs as well.

Granted Apture rules, but great grab and go scope....


Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I lost an XT-8 and ETX-90 in Katrina. After moving away from the
Gulf Coast, I replaced the XT-8 with an XT-12 -- not exactly a
portable scope, though I have a dedicated two-wheel dolly that moves
it around quite easily and I am very pleased with the scope.

I am trying to decide between the 90 and the 105.





-- Remove My_Skin to E-mail me.


Joe S. wrote:

My ETX-90 EC/UHTC did not survive 10 feet of salt water and a
foot of mud in Hurricane Katrina. I'm looking at replacing it
now but the only ETX scopes I find are the PE -- Premier Edition
-- versions with the red-dot finder instead of a traditional
finder and the automatic alignment (although there is a process
where you can align it yourself using one or two stars, as the
older ETX models did).

I've read all the comments on Mike Weasner's site about the ETX-90
PE's and would like to hear what folks here have to say.

Is the red-dot finder as useful as a traditional finder scope?
Can a traditional finder scope be mounted on the ETX-90? Does the
auto-align really work?

Thanks.