Telescopes

Archive for the ‘ETX Telescope’ Category

Hi, I was given a Meade ETX scope yesterday which seems to have two missing parts. The eyepiece on the top rear of the scope, and there is another port on the very back end of the scope that is open. Can someone tell me what I am missing, sizes and sources to get them? I’m a total newbie, but it would be great to take the kids out back with it…..and thanks!

Here is a link to the manual-
http://www.telescopes.com/images/pdf/MEAD132.pdf
Looks to me like the rear cell port cover,and eyepiece.Any 1.25 eyepiece will work.I suggest a 25mm and a 10mm.The lower the mm the more mag.but I wouldn’t go under 10 with that telescope.Also be sure the Diagonal is there-the elbow between the scope and eyepiece.
Here are some links to good dealeres-
http://www.telescopes.com/
and
http://www.Telescope.com/control/main
Good luck,
Wally

I have a Meade ETX 125-PE edition but it is broken now and I need a new one. I would like to begin looking at Astrophotography what good telescopes and equipment do you recommend?

Telescopes usually don’t "break." If the mount is not working properly, it can be repaired or replaced. An ETX125 is too good a telescope to just throw away!

Here are a few web pages with good information on beginner’s telescopes:
http://www.gaherty.ca/tme/TME0702_Buying_a_Telescope.pdf
http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html
http://observers.org/beginner/j.r.f.beginner.html

For more advanced information, read Phil Harrington’s Star Ware, 4th edition (Wiley).

You’ll get the greatest value for your money with a Newtonian reflector on a Dobsonian mount, such as these:
http://www.telescope.com/control/category/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~VIEW_INDEX=0/~VIEW_SIZE=1000000
http://www.skywatchertelescope.net/swtinc/product.php?class1=1&class2=106

Buy from a store which specializes in telescopes and astronomy, either locally or online; don’t buy from department stores, discount stores or eBay as mostly what they sell is junk. Find your local astronomy club and try out different telescopes at one of their star parties:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/community/organizations

I strongly recommend that beginners steer clear of astrophotography until they have learned their way around the sky. Astrophotography is by far the most expensive and difficult area of amateur astronomy.

Many people who buy Telescopes have no idea how to find interesting things to observe. A good introduction to finding things is NightWatch by Terence Dickinson (Firefly). A more advanced book is Star Watch by Phil Harrington (Wiley).

ey man, I just got an Meade ETX-80AT-TC Astro Telescope with AutoStar for Christmas and was using my 9.7mm eye piece with my 2x barlow and I was able to see the moon in great detail, taking up the entire lens. I also am noticing that it is picking up on very very faint stars that I cannot see with the naked eye and making ones that I can see look great through the piece. I have a few questions for you. How decent of a view should I get of planets? Like jupiters moons and any cloud belts? Saturn ring and cloud belts? Venus phases? Are there any planets beyond those and the inner planets that I can see such as uranus and neptune? if so what would they most likely look like? and what would Mars look like through my telescope? I was observing something in the sky last night December 27th location Florida, indian shores near tampa about between one and midnightish and it wasn’t dircty above me but it was above me and to the east slightly I think. What I was looking at appeared to be redish orange it was pretty bright, it even appeared to be red/orange from the ground looking up without a telescope, my first thought was that it was mars but then I thought it might be a giant star of some sort. Would you be able to tell me what this is? or most likely was? I dont have a night sky chart and am still getting used to my autostar alignment. Another question, what should galaxies or nebulas look like through my telescope? I know my telescope isn’t the best but I have been told that it should be able to pick up on things like that. Lastly. The two eye pieces that I have are a 9.7mm piece and a 26mm piece, does Meade make any higher power eye pieces for my telescope? or is there any way to purchase a piece that would enhance power?

Thanks in advance.

It was Mars you seen,Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy you should be able to see well. 80mm is a small aperture I don’t think anything below 9mm eyepiece will help.You should join an astronomy club in your area.Members will be very helpful and Im sure they would let you try some other eyepieces.
Stellarium will help you-a free download that shows your sky real-time,just put in your location and timezone.
Wally