Ranking the ETX models - Which One is #1? (or, Which One is Least Bad??)
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- čas přidán 3. 12. 2022
- Note: Just to be clear, I do not care for any of these telescopes. Buy one if you wish, but I think you'll be frustrated. The rankings are relative.
The Wegat visual backs are here: www.wegatoptical.com. Note that the Wegat back does not help with focus shift issues, but it does eliminate a lot of plastic, as well as the flip mirror. You will need to supply a diagonal and SCT-style visual back.
Goto ETXs are power hungry. You will deplete the 8 AA batteries after only a few nights use.
I do not view the tripods (#883, #884) as optional. On the electronic ETXs the hole spacing on the bottom plate is made to fit the tripods. If you have one of the refractors, I suggest replacing the stock too-light tripod with a #883 or #884.
The newest ETX90 Observer is OK but not great. I was hoping for a major upgrade but there’s still a lot of plastic. One nice feature - they made the OTA easy to remove.
Watch out when buying older used ETXs on Craigslist or ebay. Even many of the ones not listed as “for parts or repair” are in fact broken or missing parts (to be fair, the owner may not know). A good rule of thumb - when buying used, assume the electronics are broken no matter what the ad says.
The three spindly little legs on the ETX RA are useless.
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I recall the hype surrounding the ETX-90 when it first arrived.
I was 'lucky' enough to be too poor to buy one back then.
That is a crazy statement that’s true on both accounts
Definitely a win for the broke boys back then.
Great review! I bought the ETX 90ec in 1999 to take to Uni. No tripod, just balanced it on anything I could to view the Moon and planets. Loved it to bits, literally because it was an ETX :D
Fantastic reviews as always packed with years of knowledge (some of it out of less-than-ideal moments). Thank you so much for sharing.
It's an absolute shame you don't have 10 times more subs!
Regarding the ETX Maksutov light baffle, it's possible to gently pull it off the corrector as the double-sided tape isn't all that strong. The residual adhesive can be cleaned off with alcohol on a cotton bud. After that the baffle can be stuck back on with a small amount of bath sealant, which is flexible enough not to stress the corrector but doesn't creep in the way the original tape does. I've repaired an ETX90 where the baffle had slipped almost halfway across the secondary because the scope had been stored in the same orientation for several years.
Excellent video, Ed! I still have the ETX-125 EC that I bought back in 2000. I deforked it a couple of years ago (the mount died) and have used it for some planetary imaging and at public observing sessions. Mine has excellent optics. At the time, they were groundbreaking instruments. This was a fun look at the series.
My very first scope was a Walmart ETX60 circa 1999 or so. Wasn't long before I found your review site and my wallet has never recovered. Seems like yesterday but wow how time flies. Thank you Ed! Keep it up. I love the videos.
Your right....Boy does time fly !
Hi Ed, great vid as usual. I had a 60mm Jason 313 for 20 years which saw little use. An ETX-70 showed me more in a few hours. It showed me what electronics can do. I returned it to get bigger aperture (a Nexstar 8i). But it re-ignited the passion to observe.
Got my ETX 90 in '99. Took the train down to BC&F in London to pick it up and I remember how chuffed I was to get it. Never got the Autostar as I found it much more interesting to learn my way around the sky for myself.
I now do astrophotography and all those years staring at the night sky has paid off; who needs GoTo when you have it all in your head?
Very interesting video Ed! Thank you!
Great timing with this video. I just finished restoring and upgrading an ETX125 right when you dropped this video.
I think the best part about those plastic parts and mounts is that because they break so often, used ETX’s can be found dirt cheap! I recently picked up a 70 for $40 and and 125 OTA for $100 and fixed them up on my own. I also placed the Wegat backplate on my 125.
Pro tip: The cradle for the ES ED127 Carbon Fiber is a perfect fit for the ETX125 tube and instantly adds a Vixen rail and carrying handle!
I bought an ETX-90 on Craigslist 5 or 6 years ago and got an old 125EC in 2020. I put a right-angle finder on the 90, and I've replaced all the nylon screws with #85153 socket head screws (from Menards) with 3D-printed screwheads. I've put electric focusers on both of them. Neither of them must have gotten much use before they came to me, because the drives are very smooth. I live on a wooded lot and I can pick them up on the tripods and carry them around easily. One or the other of them, or sometimes both aimed at different targets, and my Pocket Star Atlas, and I'm happy. I know that a lot of people (especially you!) don't think much of ETX, but for me they've been affordable, fun to tinker with, and I've had some great nights with them.
I enjoy your videos - I've learned a lot.
Excellent post, Ed! I still have my ETX-90 that I bought in 2000 from a Discovery Store in Dallas. Drive failed a long time ago. But I still use it as 'manual' scope (on #883 tripod). If I want to take a quick look at an object that is setting soon etc., (e.g Mercury), this is the scope I take out!
I bought and still have my etx 90 with all the bells and whistles when it came out. I just recently tore it down to clean and to my amazement it works like new. I always wanted something a little bigger but can't wait to see my step kids faces, just like my girls when they where young.
I have an etx60 that came with the auto star. I've never seen another one but mine's great I got it basically brand new from someone who had never used it and mine's worked fine and it's very accurate as long as you take the extra steps to train the motors. It has the same mounting holes in the base for the tripod that my etx 125 has and I've got the wedge for that so it's nice to be able to swap them back and forth and you can pull her a line both of them. What I found is that if you spend the time to get them polar aligned correctly they are very accurate but you don't want to put any extra weight on them is the problem. If you're using the EXT 125 for planetary and you get a small planetary camera it's perfect. And interestingly enough they both have the same threads on the back for the camera mounts and I do like having the flip mirror because I can put an optical eyepiece in the top position with the camera on the bottom which allows me to find my targets using a 25 mm IPS and then flip to the camera and I know it's in there. Anytime I can't find something I always know I just forgot to flip it. Which happens more times than I'd like to admit. The problem with the etx 125 is if you want to electronically focus it because as you screw it in and screw it out it lengthens and shortens which makes it difficult to put an aftermarket focus on it.
I have an ETX-105 PE still in the box. Never did use it. I mostly purchased it because of the spiral galaxy graphics on the tube. Still have the 884 in the box as well. I always intended to set it up as a decoration in my living room but forgot all about it until I saw this show. Beautiful piece. I have a small mountain of gear in one of the bedrooms downstairs. I can't use any of that stuff anymore due to old eyes. I miss those outings. Especially the time a friend flash froze his lower eyelid to the duty eyepiece in a winter trip. Had to take him and the eyepiece to the truck for a warmup before we could get the eyepiece back on the scope, Good times!
I got the ETX-125 in 2008. Great 1st little telescope! X-mass sale at $295! Couple years back I stripped it down and now just do manual tracking. Got the WO 2" back plate, Orion right angle 9X50 (used welding putty to mount it), Orion O-rings (had to enlarge it a couple millimeters using a grinder), Badder quick-lock to hold the right-angle/EP and an Explore Scientific Twilight 1 tripod. So much easier and more fun to use now! Issues before this is I had to replace the hand controller that went bad and too many issues to mention about the motor drive and computer (again is has issues). And really, the scope is best used for the 3 objects you already mention. So not much need for a go-to tracker for objects that are easy to find with the naked eye. Plus I got a better go-to system for astrophotography so I can always mount the ETX to if for visual tracking if I ever want to. Thanks for the video! Love your channel!
Ive Never Had 1,But Looked At 1 For A Grab and Go,Got The Celestron Mak90,Another Good Review Ed,Thank You and Clear Skies🙏🏻❤️✨🔭🌏
My first "real" Scope was the ETX 125. It was a progress to my older Discounter Scopes. The contrast was mindblowing for me (at the moon for example) and I had not the common mechanical issues. But I never used the goto function also. The one really disturbing thing was the loud/noisy motor when going to my targets (poor neighbors)...
The ETX MCT optics can be purchased with standard visual backs and mounting hardware as Explore Scientific’s FirstLight series. ES’s 3.5” and 4” versions are basically the same as Sky-Watcher’s SkyMax series, but the 5” retains the f/15 focal ratio of the ETX while the SkyMax 5” is f/12
Had a 90 goto and it was a great little scope when new. I heard of numerous drive-base failures but mine kept chugging along until I sold it. Years later the last 125 series (agreed the best of the bunch) came out and I picked it up used for a good price. Sent it to Dr Clay’s Super-Charged service that addresses a whole host of things you mentioned about the drive base and fine tuning of the optics. Great upgrade and the scope performed wonderfully and was a joy to use. The 5” Mak optic is hard to beat and the perfect size for a travel or quick look scope. The brighter Deep Sky objects are all within its light grasp. Still have and use this little ETX125. Wonder if Questar will ever release their 5” Mak they’ve been working on for the last 10 years?
My favorite thing about your channel is how hard you try to get reasonable images with garbage hardware. Kudos.
Thanks Ed! Cmon 40k subs!
Dear Mr. Ting, I've recently just found your channel and wanted you to know much I've enjoyed your assessments. The only thing I think you need to revisit is the Celestron C-90. At first I agreed with you but then I found a article on contrast improvement for the C-90 over on Jenham's Astro. His suggestions worked very well. I found that the focusing can be greatly improved with a hair dryer and a few drops of light machine oil to soften the old hardened grease in the mechanism. Telescope Warehouse sells at low cost a 0.965 to 1.25" hybrid diagonal. This is a fun project on a rainy afternoon'
The only other thing I can suggest when buying a scope is to consider the quality of seeing in your area. Where I live clouds and forest fires are frequently interfering with good seeing. I found that I enjoyed my well equipped 8" scope gets far mor use then my basic 12"
Thank You and keep up the good work,
Shaun Gass
Thanks Ed.
Excellent review!
IMHO the ETX60/80 backpack scopes are good for grab & go watching, both celestial and terrestrial.
The ETX-125 is my favorite for quick/simple viewing. BTW - I am developing a better finder scope mount.
Thanx, Ed! I can recommend Intes Maksutov Telescopes. They have really fine optics!
I'm working on a review of the Intes M715. It's a great telescope.
Hey ed what a great review
Can you make a review on comparison of all william optics refractors
I had bought a ETX 80 for the solar eclipse in 2017 and attached a Sony Alpha 700 to it to do some basic images of it. It was the biggest scope I could fit in an airline and the cheapest if something did go wrong. I got an adapter to use with my medium camera tripod and used that. I had some fun with it and on the way back the internal focus broke on the way back. Next time I am just going to drive there with my C8 for the next eclipse.
I could not afford the ETX when they were new to the market, but I have actually picked up used ETX-70, 80 and 90 scopes over the past year. I do agree with most of what you mentioned regarding their shortcomings particularly regarding the drives. Nonetheless, I have managed to work around these issues and I have been having a lot of fun with them, including some very decent planetary images with the 90. As for the 80, it's pretty fast and I have been able to get some acceptable images of the brighter Messier objects with it. Overall, as long as you are patient with them, these little scopes cannot be beat for portability and capability.
I remember as a child seeing the ads Meade put out for these. It made me want one. Key phrases such as “dial a star” had me hooked. Luckily in college I was gifted a 7” 1996 Meade mak from my nuclear physics professor. He said it was a custom company 7 order that came with tube rings. Never forked, which I thought was interesting. He also said I could have it if I got a mount. I built one, entirely out of 2x4s, and it worked great. He compared me to Herschel 😂. It’s still my favorite lunar and planetary scope, though I’ve since bought an EQ mount.
I'm Antonio from Italy, fantastic collection of telescopes, i know the Maksutov ETX 90 : small but high quality
You're right on about the optics on the cats. They're not bad at all, just garbage mounts. I used to run the Loaner Telescope program for the Houston Astronomical Society (before I escaped to New Hampshire last year). We had a couple ETX-125s in the club inventory, along with a few Celestron NexStar SE models (a 4SE, a 5SE, and two 6SE models). All of them were problematic, but the two ETXs were a nightmare to maintain. There was a plastic or nylon gear in the mount that was just really a HORRIBLE design decision (right up there with Celestron's pairing a mount with a payload rating equal to the weight of the OTA alone on the 8SE). For the couple years I ran the program, I think we had to replace those gears at least 2 or 3 times each (luckily there was another guy in the club who ran a small telescope shop at a flea market who bought up broken down cheaper GoTo mounts like the ETX and NexStar series and used parts from 2 or 3 to refurbish one of them at a time, and I could get replacement gears from him). I would NEVER recommend any of these things to anyone, especially when a 6 or 8 inch Dob has far more optical capability and almost nothing can go wrong with them.
Fortunately, I bought a used ETX-120 with the better pivot design made of metal and in perfect shape with two controllers. Quality does show through and through as I see that it was made in Taiwan which is that of Japan manufacture quality. Optics quality rivals that of many high end cameras of that era when it was first introduced. I am so happy I went this route instead of buying a cheaper looking and mass manufactured new Celestron equivalent model.
Hey ed, I love your show. It has been a great source of info for me as a beginner. I took your advice and bought a starblast and your advice for books. Thanks.
I got an amazing view of the moon and I also tried looking at Jupiter. Jupiter looked like an unusually bright star. It moved through out the night so its not a star. Why couldn't I see more detail? I do have the Eugene astronomical society but my work schedule interferes with their meetings.
Could you make a video about mistakes beginners make?
I got a USA assembled ETX-125EC, I honestly forgot when, probably in the early 2000s. I can't complain about it, after all this time it's still completely stock and it does what it's supposed to do quite well, but nothing more. It's still my choice for friends/family picnics.
I had one of those but finally decided to buy the Orion 8 inch dobsonian after watching all of your videos and I love it so far, but which finder-scope do you recommend since the one that came with it is not really good quality, thanks…
Great review! I could never get one as they were always out of stock, now I know who had them ALL! 😂
Don't envy someone who has this many ETXs...
@@edting 😂
I've got one of the later 125s, with the LNT module. It took Meade a long time to arrive at that point, but it's a pretty awesome little telescope. I got lucky with the optics, as mine are really good even for an ETX. There's quite the subculture dedicated to tuning those things so that they work the way you hope they would. I spent a lot of time with the drive base of mine disassembled, but the goto is pretty much spot on, even at that large focal length. The main problem with ETXs imo is that they're often viewed as beginner's telescopes, which they are really not. If you get one of those, you gotta be aware of its use cases. They're amazing for viewing the moon, planets and double stars. They're okay for lunar and planetary imaging, and observing some deep sky objects. But if you're even thinking about deep sky astrophotography, you should steer well clear of them.
I have the 125 premier edition with the ngc7000 print on it. I love and hate this scope lol I got it used from a customer who owed me some money for a job, his son used it exactly once and never again.. so it was pristine with the case and tripod bag and a bunch of plossls etc. I might pass it on as it seems people still want them.
Hi Ed! Somehow I ended up with 4 ETX’s myself. It just sort of happens and I worry that someday I’ll open up my telescope closet and a couple more will appear that I can’t find a home for.
I got my ETX90 EC specifically for having a scope I can literally schlep anywhere I can also transport my bones via feet. There is a lightweight collapsible tripod with a center post that is actually surprisingly stable because it can be used without extending the legs too much while seated. Mine tracks well and there is no focus shift and it has excellent optics. I can pack the whole thing in a couple of shoulder bags and the heaviest thing to tote is my observing chair. This is my default scope for eclipses and will be with me in Texas in 2024! I certainly got what I paid for out of it already. "It is what it is" :) Edit - it's the Meade 882 tripod - hard to find but perfect for the ETX90.
What a great review. Interesting in that I just bought a 90 mak, an Orion Starmax ‘2nd’.
Only had it for about 3 weeks and my limited experience so far is; “we’re going to need a better mount”.
This one came on a little single arm dob that is barely adequate for the lowest power eyepiece at 50x. Right now it resides on an alt-az that came with my Celestron Omni 102. It’s steady enough and damps in 2 seconds or less but you are very busy with the slow motion controls at 139x with a 9mm eyepiece. My most pleasant ‘high power’ viewing has been with a 36 year old 15mm Edmund RKE at 83x.
A few nights ago, after a 30 minute cool down I could see broad markings on Mars and for brief moments I *might* have caught a glimpse of an ice cap. Wonderfully lightweight, and very handy for hauling outside when we have had a surprise clear early evening. I just need to remember to keep it mounted and ready to go in the unheated garage under a bag. Otherwise the first 30 minutes are waiting for it to come to ambient temperature.
If you have the tabletop version of that Orion Mak, everyone has that problem. They shouldn't sell it that way.
Yep! Already emailed Orion and conveyed the same message. Telescopes like these, aimed at first time buyers, are ‘hobby killers’ for sure. I’m no expert but have real enough expectations to know their pitfalls and do work arounds. But a first time buyer would be lost.
Hi Ed , you are Channel is awesome , thanks for what you doing, is a tremendous help to us , question What you think about Unistellar eVscope equinox? Thanks
Don't buy. These products are not very good in their present state and they are wildly overpriced. There are people working on sub $1000 units and the major players may be installing this feature in their existing telescopes. If this interests you, wait until the product gets better, wait until the price comes down, wait until the market sorts itself out.
Very nice
Excellent survey! I remember visiting the Meade HQ in California in the early 90s and being shown the prototype of what would become the ETX90. It was clear then it was to be a Questar clone. ETX = Everyone’s Telescope, rather than one for the elite few.
One wonders that if the ETX was such a popular line, why Orion discontinued it when they bought Meade. I suspect the profit margin wasn’t there, or the supply chain - I thought ETXs were made in Mexico - couldn’t be sustained.
Alan, was the prototype more robust than the final shipping versions? I keep holding out for "ETX 2" - a more refined refresh on the original idea. I would be willing to pay more. Despite all the time I've been trashing this scope, if it was good, I'd buy one.
@@edting As I recall the prototype was just an engineering model, perhaps not even a working telescope. They asked what I thought of the design and if it would be popular. I’m sure I said yes. I think by then I had owned and sold a Questar. I’ve owned three ETXs, and still have two, and I’ve always found the GoTo surprisingly accurate despite the plastic gears and creaking noises they make.
Hey Ed. AL here from NZ. I have a basic 90mm ETX. No goto. I almost prefer it to the goto versions I have seen on my bench. I have seen so many with failed motor controllers. Have you experienced this in north america?
I got a broken mount 90 for a crazy low price. Threw the mount in the garbage, OTA makes a very nice telephoto lens for my Canon DSLRs.
I remember the ETX 'scam' over the controller and it was hard to get one. I was young, but I remember.
My first scope was an ETX-90 Mak.
I Looked At These A Cpl Years Back As A Grab and Go,But Went With The Mak-90 Celestron,lol..I Love That Little Thing🙏🏻❤️🔭
The Mighty ETX site is a great resource for these telescopes.
Yes, I've gone there many times.
I bought one of the originals, even though I owned a Questar. I thought I could use the ETX as a travel scope for times I didn’t want to risk the Questar. I didn't have the ETX very long before I sold it.
I had an issue with my 1st gen ETX 90. The wood screw that held the center pivot together backed out and loosened which destroyed the tiny outer bearing pads. Weasners site provided the hanger bolt and nylock nut fix, (which worked great), but I needed the little plastic bearing pads. I called Meade and they demanded I send it in for servicing, but since I made unauthorized repairs to ~their~ telescope, I would have to pay for servicing and restoration to it's original condition. This made me to never want to buy another Meade product. I replaced the pads with etched teflon. Then the baffle fell off.
The optics are great but hard to sight. Ultrawide eyepieces with zoom make them somewhat easier to use. Not sure what the current controller are like on the new ones but in the past they were like DOS tech from the 80s or 90s. Their tripod mounts weren't all that steady. Some people really like them and get good photos out of them. (I wonder what they were like you took them out of their cradles and put them on real mounts. I think the optics are fine.) I forgot, hard to focus.
> Telescope Shop: Remember those?
I have one of the biggest in the area within 5 km of where I live. Got my C9.25 and eyepieces there, still have a H-alpha filter on order with them.
Ah, I wish I had one of those near me...
How about doing a video on the new smart telescopes, do they really work ?
Lucky enough this year to get a fully working ETX 90 EC with auto-star controller and deluxe tripod for only $100.
A guy I worked with gave me an ETX90EC, and it was deformed because the hand paddle was junk. I found a new hand paddle on CN. That fork mount was about the worst thing you could have ever tried to use. Wobbly, noisy, inaccurate...absolute junk.
But the optics in this particular tube were superb! It's now got a dovetail and is clamped to a Stellavue M1, and the hand paddle went off to some guy in New Zealand. Throwing the fork mount into the trash brought me pleasure. :-)
*deFORKED*...autocorrect is nearly as frustrating as that mount was.
Hey mr. Ting. Just had a few questions. So I have a 8in reflector as you can imagine. Simple dob. It’s base has really bad friction. Not sure of the exact terms but my altitude is fine but the east to west bottom platform isn’t very smooth.
Besides that, im having a lot of trouble getting stars in view. Sirius is easy but many others are hard when faint with light pollution. I was wondering if there was a way to make a “dumb” telescope into a smart one with a phone and alignment.
My main issue is my bifocals and lack of proper viewing technique have limited my ability to find stars and clusters through the less powered finder scope. Even getting the moon in view has seemed an arduous task at times even when eyeballing the scope towards it.
Sounds like you are doing just fine. Keep going. Find an astronomy club or someone who can show you the night sky. The azimuth bearing is always the bad one on a commercial Dob. Be glad you didn't get the 10".
I have one of the earliest ETX 90's. It's biggest design flaw is the fork mount. Too cumbersome to move the telescope quickly with the knobs. As for the eyepieces, too small to view anything comfortably. It looks great but it is so hard to operate that l am reluctant to use it. I think l would have had more fun with Galileo's refractor.
I love the clarity of Maksutovs, but the images are just so damn dim :(
Can't figure out the thread connection to put a dedicated astro camera on the photographic section of the etx 105 pe telescope. None of my pile of adaptors work.
Had one when they were new and a big thing. Always thought it to be "meh" at best. I eventually just threw it away to save someone else the hassle if they got it at the thrift place.
wow you own a lot of scopes😮
In some circles my collection would be considered small!
etx 125 was my first scope it was uhtc coated and supeer tuned by dr lay sherrod at thw arkansas sky obsevertory and was totally accurte inn the go to function a long time friend on on night said he observed mor messier objects that night than in years of chasing them manually with an 8 inch orion reflector on equitorial mount
Frist light
Word of caution there’s no suitable rings available for the 125. I tried the Orion 144 ID rings and they’re too tight. You can upsize but it requires cork or some other material to get a good fit. The Wegat modification and all the other aggravations quickly climb in price. It’s always more practical to buy Orion or Skywatchers 127 over the ETX 125. I’d venture to say it’s the correct decision even if you already own the ETX.
I purchased the Orion rings that were just a couple of millimeters too tight. I used a dremel and that took hours and hours to grind but I finally got it to fit! You're right about the price climbing quick and high! I only paid $295 for my ETX-125 (new on sale) and even at that price the Orion/Skywatcher may have been more cost effective (definitely less time consuming).
My ETX-80AT-TC is a door stopper because the focuser cannot be fixed.
I have a 125PE ETX and broke the finder off when I first purchased. Meade stopped supporting the telescope but I found the electronic finder on cloudynights for $35. It works. Meade makes a lot of crappy plastic parts and gears on otherwise great little telescopes.
I also have a 105 ETX that the cheap plastic gears stripped out and won't goto or track anymore. Waste of money.
The 125 was the best. But none really compare to the mak OTAs we have available now. And the drive base fork height was a disaster for any rear attachments. Definitely defork any 90,105,125 onto much better mounts. I have used a 90 on my LX65 hanging off as a second scope paired with an ST80 to give a really broad capability for cheap.
I own an etx125. When putting the batteries into the compartment, the cr2032 3v battery fell into a slit within said compartment. It now rattles within the base. Is there a way to extract this battery. Can this be repaired
Hey I am confused between 8 inch and 10 inch dobsonian telescope? Which one to buy as 10 shall be better as it has large aperture, but it is big and bulky ,so I can buy explorer scientific 10 inch truss tube but it is expensive as buying a 12inch dobsonian ? Plz help
Get the 8". I have never wavered from this advice. If you are referring to that awful 10" Explore Scientific Dob being blown out on Amazon/Costco/B&H/Overstock/etc for $650/$599/$549, stay far far away from that piece of junk.
Thanks Ed 😊, clear skies
Mr. Ting, I feel hammered into the ground. The ETX-70 with backpack that truely got me into astronomy - after having had only a feeble pair of binoculars I could never hold still enough (why do you never hear anyone else having that problem with binoculars ?!?) has simply no good point whatsoever, because the optics are bad. After just having heard that the plastic mechanical GoTo doesn't really work either. What's left than for my poor ETX-70 ? Have I been living a lie by thinking the optics weren't that bad for an achromat while observing the moon, jupiter, saturn, the pleiades, M13 and "the sword of Orion" ? Isn't it technically a crown+flint airspaced doublet acrhomat ? A sort of a semi doublet ? Not ?
Call me silly, but I have used 8mm and 5 mm Vixen LVW eyepieces on my ETX-70. Sure, the GoTo was never going to work out for me, the sound it made alone was horrendous and even made my neighbours come out at night as I was operating it many times from a balcony in an appartment building. And after 10, 15, 20 years of ownership, what plastic motordrives still actually function on this thing ? All agreed, but "let's get this out of the way the optics are the bad part on the refractors" ???
No, I really wouldn't say that about my "sample". Some chromatic aberration on bright stars and the moon, indeed, but nowhere near as bad as I have seen from other more classical looking achromats being sold out there. And this was an F5, it was glorious widefield ! It didn't need any viewfinder.
I do understand your view and opinion of course on the whole of the Meade ETX series and agree with the feeble mount, the later mediocre quality eyepieces and not very long lasting plastic fantastic mechanics, let alone GoTo, but surely the refractor's optics weren't half that bad ?! In any case I would venture that the 70 mm was the best of the three refractors actually. 60mm was a bit too small an aperture, 80mm however was getting a bit bigger without any discernible increase in quality (also agreed upon), but 70 mm seemed the sweetspot for the refractors. And did I say it offered a glorious F5 richfield ? ;-)
Anyways, I appreciate your way of doing these videos and that for so long already (I have watched for years) and I simply like you as an online personality. You are a likable fellow and recently we got to meet your even better half I presume, which was interesting as well. I don't care for creative writing so much, truth be told, but her responses made me think immediately that all spouses are the same. If you know what I mean. Same output. I have one like that as well. ;-) No disrespect intended of course to yours and mine. To prove to you even an ETX-70 fanboy can go other places as well, I now prefer my Sky Watcher 7.5" Maksutov-NEWTONIAN f5.25 the most of all, but also use 3 APM TMB LZOS refractors of 105 f6.19 / 115 f7 and 130 f6 which is at least 2 too many, but you know how that goes.
Does anyone know if Ed has a review of the celestron 127 slt telescope???
The SLT mount is not that great. I wouldn't trust it to be accurate enough for a Mak of that focal length. In this class, I much prefer the NexStar 5.
@@edting - thanks for letting me know I was really thinking on buying that 127. I’m going to check out more of your videos to see if I can find a telescope I might look into, thanks
Unfortunately my auto star screen is bad. It seems foggy. The numbers are not visible. I tried to gst a new one. But not available. Very sad.
U forgot to mention that Meade #884 tripod can transform an ETX from AltAz to EQ configuration...
Purchased a de-forked 105 several years back - the rare ETX. It failed to impress and I resold it.
I was never for desire the Etx even as beginning because I know it is like hobby killer. Ed how does Questar compare to the Astrophysics? Which is better? Thank and keep up the good work
I wasted my money on a ETX90 back in 1999 and it was junk. Image wise it was ok but the drive was noisy and irritating and it veered off suddenly while trying to observer for no reason. The declination clamp snapped on me and the finder was worse than useless.
I used it on a Skywatcher EQ1 for a while then the primary got attacked by fungus. I was short of money at the time and it could have been used for something decent . I've never forgiven Meade for this.
How long would the video be "telescopes I currently do not own"? Lol, like 1:30?
That is a lot of ETX 😁
Too many!
My etx 125 just gave up the ghost. Sorry I bought it.
What did your reply mean ? It said to contact you for a prize I won ?
Scam. Ignore.
The 80s seem to be hardest to find.
If you want one, look around. They're available. One will turn up eventually. The 105s are really hard to find!
There is like 4 105s on ebay right now. One 80 that's way overpriced and had mounts cut. I have a 125 pe I bought in like 2003 and a 60. I have another 125 that is a project. Got the wegat and a new mount.
Orion owns Meade now and the ETX has been discontinued. I found a used DSX-125 on eBay for $268 (after taxes) and it is just a few miles away so tomorrow I will drive over and pick it up.
I wish I had watched this before buying my etc 125. The 3v battery in the battery compartment fell inside the cracks within the compartment. It now has jammed the motor. Despite contacting Meade, they will not reply. This very expensive telescope is now just a manual. Very disappointed. DO NOT BUy ETX!!!!
Ed is by far the best shit talker I’ve ever seen 😂😂
Celestron > Meade
I really enjoy my ETX-60. It is a fun little scope for those short breaks in cloud cover. I set it up on the coffee table on my deck when it looks like there is less than an hour cloud break. I have had it at x116 magnification and have been really happy with moon and planetary views. I have also used it on some clusters and galaxies and it is OK.
I just got my hands on a Bausch and Lomb criterion 4000 catadioptric telescope which is luckily one of the good ones. It will probably be replacing my ETX-60 for those quick deck set-ups.
Hi Ed,
I received a message to telegram you. I don't' have telegram.
I believe it was about a prize you are offering. I also believe you said the prize would only be delivered inside the US. Sadly I am a Canadian living in British Columbia. Therefore I think that I can't claim the prize.
If I am wrong please let me know and I will figure out how to get on telegram.
I think you were too harsh on the ETX line of scopes just because of the liberal use of plastic. The OTA had to be light weight in order for the metal and plastic gears to handle the weight as it slews around. I'm a big fan of heavy metal OTA's but plastic has its place in the hobby, when you are trying to meet a certain weight maximum.
The ETX's problems go far beyond the cheap plastic construction.
@@edting lol fair enough. Thanks for the reply, sir! Love your channel.
This is like telling Hyundai owners to buy Bugattis...