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Tuesday, June 18, 2002 |
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News: First light for my new telescope, the ETX-125 -- http://www.meade.com/catalog/etx/etx_mak.html Comment: First of all, I want to thank my wonderful wife Jennifer for being very supportive and encouraging this purchase. I think she understands how much I enjoy my hobby and that I was really enthused about a new telescope. She is certainly a "star" among spouses. I was on pins-and-needles all day Monday, hoping that UPS would deliver the scope. Finally, it arrived at 7 p.m. It was really exciting to unpack the box and take out the beautiful new scope. And it is a beauty: esthetically, the Meade folks really chose a nice color scheme, with the dark blue tube and midnight black mountings. I was very pleased to discover upon examination that I got one of the new, redesigned models with stronger forks and ball-bearing mounts. It was hard to tell what Amazon was going to ship me out of their stock, and I really did not want to have to ship it back. I was really fortunate to have clear skies Monday night so I could take the scope outside for a field test. Ask any astronomer -- usually, the best way to guarantee cloudy skies is to take possession of a new telescope. So, I was lucky. Anyway, even though I had read lots of great things about the quality of this scope, my expectations were exceeded (how often does that happen when you buy something?). Mechanically, it's very smooth and solid. The motors are much quieter than my other ETX. And best of all, the optics are fantastic. Even viewing over our roof (so heat waves shimmered the air), the view of the half-Moon was stunning. Much clearer, sharper and more distinct than I had ever seen in my old C-8. Views of stars were also exceptional. Alberio, the well-known, bright and colorful double star in Cygnus, focused to two sharp, well separated round dots. Same effect with Mizar and Alcor. Clearly, the virtues of this Mak optical setup have not been exaggerated by ETX-125 fanatic Dr. Clay Sherrod ( http://www.arksky.org/ My field testing was a little limited because the tripod still hasn't arrived (looks like probable for the end of next week). But I saw enough tell that this purchase was a great decision. I can tell that when I get the tripod, so I can fully utilize the Autostar-powered pointing abilities of the scope, I'm going to really enjoy my summer star gazing. Accessories still to come: Dewshield (Father's Day gift from Brandon), tripod as noted above, #506 cable to update the Autostar. Click here to see current comments and add your own. 3:42:30 PM 
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