Hi folks,
Been wondering for awhile to get this or not. For the price range of just US$999 I think its a pretty good price! Anyone here how have an ETX care to share their experience? Also, since we're just at such a low latitude, what are the challenges setting up equatorial position? And can we use their alt-azi with goto capabilities from here?
d
ETX-125 PE UHTC
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acc
- Administrator
- Posts: 2577
- Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:15 pm
- Favourite scope: Mag1 Instruments 12.5" Portaball
Hi d
Yup its a great deal for a scope. You can buy it locally and pay more. However, you will enjoy warranty service with the scope, which may come in handy as quite a number of these scopes have quality control issues right out of the box. Some problems may include grease on encoders, stripped screws, mis-aligned gears etc. These issues you can fix yourself using the tons of ETX-repair resource on the internet. But if there are electronic faults and parts needs to be replaced, then you may be left high and dry have you imported the scope directly from the US. A somewhat more reliable scope that has lesser bells and whistle is the Nexstar5/6 from Celestron.
cheers
cc
Yup its a great deal for a scope. You can buy it locally and pay more. However, you will enjoy warranty service with the scope, which may come in handy as quite a number of these scopes have quality control issues right out of the box. Some problems may include grease on encoders, stripped screws, mis-aligned gears etc. These issues you can fix yourself using the tons of ETX-repair resource on the internet. But if there are electronic faults and parts needs to be replaced, then you may be left high and dry have you imported the scope directly from the US. A somewhat more reliable scope that has lesser bells and whistle is the Nexstar5/6 from Celestron.
cheers
cc
We do it in the dark...
Portaball 12.5"
Takahashi Mewlon 210
William Optics 110ED
...and all night long!
Portaball 12.5"
Takahashi Mewlon 210
William Optics 110ED
...and all night long!
hey, thanks for your reply ac.
you're right, if i bring in myself, it'll cost me abt $200~$300 lesser then if i buy locally.
i think there's 2 or 3 etx users in this forum, hopefully they can share their experience.
i think i like the etx because i did had the opportunity to use a 3.5 questar before and i definitely can't afford that! but i love the portability and the simple setup to start and use. off course we can't compare an etx to a questar but i reckon for me, a etx will make me happily viewing for sometime to come! especially for that price!
been reading quite a bit on etx reviews, like you mentioned, my only fear is problems with the internal parts. read someone had to wait for meade to send him the parts and he diy himself.
you're right, if i bring in myself, it'll cost me abt $200~$300 lesser then if i buy locally.
i think there's 2 or 3 etx users in this forum, hopefully they can share their experience.
i think i like the etx because i did had the opportunity to use a 3.5 questar before and i definitely can't afford that! but i love the portability and the simple setup to start and use. off course we can't compare an etx to a questar but i reckon for me, a etx will make me happily viewing for sometime to come! especially for that price!
been reading quite a bit on etx reviews, like you mentioned, my only fear is problems with the internal parts. read someone had to wait for meade to send him the parts and he diy himself.
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acc
- Administrator
- Posts: 2577
- Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:15 pm
- Favourite scope: Mag1 Instruments 12.5" Portaball
Welcome to Singastro d.
Anyway, if budget is not a big issue, $200-$300 more seems like a reasonable price to buy locally if it comes with warranty support. When I bought mine years back, I had 2 or 3 lemons in a row! Once you get a working one(!), its a great scope.
I still miss mine. And yes the ETX is optically very good, and doesn't loose out much if at all to the questar in this respect (plently of reviews on the web).
Anyway, if budget is not a big issue, $200-$300 more seems like a reasonable price to buy locally if it comes with warranty support. When I bought mine years back, I had 2 or 3 lemons in a row! Once you get a working one(!), its a great scope.
I still miss mine. And yes the ETX is optically very good, and doesn't loose out much if at all to the questar in this respect (plently of reviews on the web).We do it in the dark...
Portaball 12.5"
Takahashi Mewlon 210
William Optics 110ED
...and all night long!
Portaball 12.5"
Takahashi Mewlon 210
William Optics 110ED
...and all night long!
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jiahao1986
- Posts: 474
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:59 pm
- Location: Clementi
Hi deacon,
I've been an ETX125 PE user for eight months and overall I'm happy with the scope.
The ETX125 PE is an overall purpose scope. It integrates most of what you need for a scope - decent optics, compact size, good GOTO and tracking ability.
1). About optics, it shows almost all that a 5" scope can show with such optical design. Unlike SCTs, the design of ETX assures no further need of collimation as long as the one you get is well collimated(mine is not 100% collimated, but at least 90% accurate, doesn't seem to affect the view).
for the moon and planets, it allows you to push the power to up to 300x under good atmospheric conditions. Though the views of planets are not as sharp and contrasty compared to refractors of the same aperture due to it's large secondary mirror obstruction, but still quite satisfactory.
for deepsky objects, some people say that this scope is not suitable due to the long focal length - a small field of view (the maximum field of view you can get with 1.25" eyepieces on an ETX125 is around 50'), it's right that this limits the ETX from observing large DSOs like North America Nebula etc. , but such large DSOs are not many, for other DSOs, ETX125 shows you all a 5" scope should show. For instance, in an observing session back in China last December, I was able to observe 200+ DSOs within an 10-hour session under a nice dark sky. During that night, I could see DSOs as faint as 14th mag. - three globulars in M31: G1, G76 and G280 ! For those famous bright nebulea, they show all they should show for a 5" scope like the ETX, the Veil Nebula, Rosetta Nebula, Orion's Nebula, even reflecting nebulea in Pleiades! For galaxies, the GOTO fuction saves you tons of time looking for them, I spotted over 100 galaxies as faint as 12th mag.!
2). The GOTO on ETX125, at least on my ETX is overally accurate, it doesn't really center the target in the eyepiece everytime, but the targets are always in the field of view if you set up correctly. The tracking is also satisfactory, I once left my scope alone for 30 minutes and find Saturn still in the field of view when I came back, I was using 271X then.
For setting up process, the ETX PE series include the new LNT technology, which can remember date and time once you key in and can automatically find north direction and whether the scope is leveled, thus no more need to set the scope to north home position like the previous models, and this is good for us living on equator, and also make rough alignment at daytime easier. However, I learned that the LNT on most ETXs are not very accurate when pointing north, though it can be solve by the fuction called "Calibrate Sensor", but that will require you to locate pollaris, which is impossible in Singapore...
3). The size of ETX125 is compact, you can fit it in a medium or large back bag, thus allows you travel by air or by other means easier. However, the weight of ETX125 is not as small as it appears, due to the GOTO mount, the ETX125 is actually a bit heavy, it can be tiring if you walk long distances with it. Besides, the #884 tripod that comes with it is not portable , at least to me. It's heavy and takes a lot of space. I usually keep the scope assembled on the tripod, put all the accessories in a back bag, then grab and go, still portable regardless of the weight...
4). The ETX125 needs 8AA batteries to run, and the compartment for batteries is on the base of the scope, which makes changing batteries very annoying(at least to me), you have to take the scope off the tripod, change the batteries, then put the scope back. Besides, those cheap AA batteries or rechargable batteries won't last long on the ETX and they may leak and ruin the scope if leave them in the scope too long, so I got a lead-acid powertank(which is heavy!) to power my scope, though this adds up to the weight to carry, but still ok for me.
Besides, the ETX dews up quickly in humid conditions, so a dew heater, or at least a dew shield is a must for it.
5). For astrophotography, the ETX125 is weak for most part except webcam planetary imaging. Because the field of view of ETX125 is too small, you cannot even take the full mooon or sun into view if you use DSLR at prime focus. If you want to shoot the full moon or the sun with DSLR, you have to combine at least two images during post-processing. This can be quite frustrating. When doing webcam planetary imaging, the tracking function of ETX does great help, as long as you have the proper webcam and a laptop, you should be able to get satisfactory lumar and planetary images. For DSOs, the large focal ratio and small field of view severely limits the ETX from doing that...
...
didn't have much time, so just wrote these, hope this helps
Jia Hao
I've been an ETX125 PE user for eight months and overall I'm happy with the scope.
The ETX125 PE is an overall purpose scope. It integrates most of what you need for a scope - decent optics, compact size, good GOTO and tracking ability.
1). About optics, it shows almost all that a 5" scope can show with such optical design. Unlike SCTs, the design of ETX assures no further need of collimation as long as the one you get is well collimated(mine is not 100% collimated, but at least 90% accurate, doesn't seem to affect the view).
for the moon and planets, it allows you to push the power to up to 300x under good atmospheric conditions. Though the views of planets are not as sharp and contrasty compared to refractors of the same aperture due to it's large secondary mirror obstruction, but still quite satisfactory.
for deepsky objects, some people say that this scope is not suitable due to the long focal length - a small field of view (the maximum field of view you can get with 1.25" eyepieces on an ETX125 is around 50'), it's right that this limits the ETX from observing large DSOs like North America Nebula etc. , but such large DSOs are not many, for other DSOs, ETX125 shows you all a 5" scope should show. For instance, in an observing session back in China last December, I was able to observe 200+ DSOs within an 10-hour session under a nice dark sky. During that night, I could see DSOs as faint as 14th mag. - three globulars in M31: G1, G76 and G280 ! For those famous bright nebulea, they show all they should show for a 5" scope like the ETX, the Veil Nebula, Rosetta Nebula, Orion's Nebula, even reflecting nebulea in Pleiades! For galaxies, the GOTO fuction saves you tons of time looking for them, I spotted over 100 galaxies as faint as 12th mag.!
2). The GOTO on ETX125, at least on my ETX is overally accurate, it doesn't really center the target in the eyepiece everytime, but the targets are always in the field of view if you set up correctly. The tracking is also satisfactory, I once left my scope alone for 30 minutes and find Saturn still in the field of view when I came back, I was using 271X then.
For setting up process, the ETX PE series include the new LNT technology, which can remember date and time once you key in and can automatically find north direction and whether the scope is leveled, thus no more need to set the scope to north home position like the previous models, and this is good for us living on equator, and also make rough alignment at daytime easier. However, I learned that the LNT on most ETXs are not very accurate when pointing north, though it can be solve by the fuction called "Calibrate Sensor", but that will require you to locate pollaris, which is impossible in Singapore...
3). The size of ETX125 is compact, you can fit it in a medium or large back bag, thus allows you travel by air or by other means easier. However, the weight of ETX125 is not as small as it appears, due to the GOTO mount, the ETX125 is actually a bit heavy, it can be tiring if you walk long distances with it. Besides, the #884 tripod that comes with it is not portable , at least to me. It's heavy and takes a lot of space. I usually keep the scope assembled on the tripod, put all the accessories in a back bag, then grab and go, still portable regardless of the weight...
4). The ETX125 needs 8AA batteries to run, and the compartment for batteries is on the base of the scope, which makes changing batteries very annoying(at least to me), you have to take the scope off the tripod, change the batteries, then put the scope back. Besides, those cheap AA batteries or rechargable batteries won't last long on the ETX and they may leak and ruin the scope if leave them in the scope too long, so I got a lead-acid powertank(which is heavy!) to power my scope, though this adds up to the weight to carry, but still ok for me.
Besides, the ETX dews up quickly in humid conditions, so a dew heater, or at least a dew shield is a must for it.
5). For astrophotography, the ETX125 is weak for most part except webcam planetary imaging. Because the field of view of ETX125 is too small, you cannot even take the full mooon or sun into view if you use DSLR at prime focus. If you want to shoot the full moon or the sun with DSLR, you have to combine at least two images during post-processing. This can be quite frustrating. When doing webcam planetary imaging, the tracking function of ETX does great help, as long as you have the proper webcam and a laptop, you should be able to get satisfactory lumar and planetary images. For DSOs, the large focal ratio and small field of view severely limits the ETX from doing that...
...
didn't have much time, so just wrote these, hope this helps
Jia Hao
Clear skies please...
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jiahao1986
- Posts: 474
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:59 pm
- Location: Clementi
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Canopus Lim
- Posts: 1144
- Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:46 pm
- Location: Macpherson
Jiahao, Nice setup If spore or msia have such fantastic skies that will be GREAT.
Yup actually for newbies, it is better to have a scope that does not need collimation. In the past I was afraid to collimate; now I do that all the time. Unfortunately newtonians usually need to be collimated but they do give good planetary views once properly collimated.
If spore or msia have such fantastic skies that will be GREAT. Yup actually for newbies, it is better to have a scope that does not need collimation. In the past I was afraid to collimate; now I do that all the time. Unfortunately newtonians usually need to be collimated but they do give good planetary views once properly collimated.
AstroDuck
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jiahao1986
- Posts: 474
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:59 pm
- Location: Clementi
