Enjoy the pictures first and I will give some comments later. This scope oozes with quality on its exterior and will do more testing on its optical quality.
"Meade" 127mm Triplet APO pictures and review
"Meade" 127mm Triplet APO pictures and review
Ok..here are some of the pictures. This one came with a 8x50 illuminated finder. Front dewcap is screw-on type and the dewshield is retractable.
Enjoy the pictures first and I will give some comments later. This scope oozes with quality on its exterior and will do more testing on its optical quality.
Enjoy the pictures first and I will give some comments later. This scope oozes with quality on its exterior and will do more testing on its optical quality.
haha....nope, not Maxvision because the Maxvision one has red trims, not blue. (although technically, Maxvision, Meade, AstroTech 127mm all from the same factory)ariefm71 wrote:It doesn't say Meade. MaxVision?
The blue trim one is definitely meant for Meade but I bought it before they stamp that Meade name on it. I didn't want that Meade name or whatever name on it (unless it's a Tak, TV, TMB, TEC or AP..hehe)
Meade Europe is selling this scope for well, for a bomb if you know Europe kind of pricing.
Meade USA is not selling this scope.
Ok...I am going to post some comments on the outlook and mechanical aspect of it before I do the setup for collimation test
Case
The case is well designed but the latches and handle doesn't look strong enough for long term handling. Inside, the foam are of good quality and the cut are all very well done. In fact, the cuts were so well done that it took into account of any protruding screws on the finder or the OTA. If you look at the pictures above, you notice that the eyepieces holes are not just round but have "ears" on its side. This is for your fingers to reach the side of the eyepiece and pull it out easily. There are good thoughts into this case. It also come with keys to lock the case.
Another thing I notice is that there is some holographic effect on the case if you shine some light on it.
OTA
The OTA is simply beautiful. Very smooth pearl white gloss on the tube. The dewcap is screw on type and the dewshield is retractable. In retracted mode, the length of the OTA is 33 inches. Full length is 40.5 inches long.
The dewshield is a little tight but I guess it is better to be tight when it is new. More usage will get the dewshield looser. The glass is nicely coated with no dust or particles on it or in it.
The focuser is smooth but tight. Even when the tensioning knob is fully loosen, the drawtube still feel tight. I guess that's good if you have really heavy loads behind because I doubt it will slip. I think it is possible to loosen the focuser a little bit more by adjusting some of the screws but the current feel is fine with me. It is not in the same league as those premium focusers, but I think it will do its job just fine. The fine focusing knob is smooth...so no issue there.
The only thing that intrigue me is that the focuser seems to be able to rotate about 45 degrees if the finder is not installed. I am not sure if that is a flaw or it was meant to be that way. Once the finder is installed, the focuser is firm and you can't rotate it. However, there is a screw hole below the focuser that is meant to tigthen the focuser (so that it can't rotate) without the finder on it. However, that screw was not supplied. Maybe they will supply that screw if you order the OTA without the finder. Also, the focuser accepts only 2" diagonal. You can't use a 2" -1.25" adaptor on this scope.
One smart thing they did is that the blue ring near the focuser is actually rotatable. The finder is installed onto this ring. This way, you can have the finder on your left or your right depending on your preference. Once you set the finder position, you can then lock the ring down. This is good because most scopes have the finder on the left which I really hated. I need it to be on the right.
The rings are of good quality. A vixen dovetail is supplied below the rings. The rings also have a handle as can be seen in the pictures. his handle can be use to piggyback a camera as well.
All in all, the OTA does not look cheap. Very high in quality and definitely a step above most Syntha achromats.
Finder
The finder supplied is a 8x50 erected image illuminated finder. The illuminated crosshairs inside look great. The body has a chrome finish. The only bad thing is that the eyepiece end does not have a cap. Not sure why. Nothing much to comment here until I look through the finder tommorrow.
Any questions, please shoot. I am going to do my collimation setup now.
Case
The case is well designed but the latches and handle doesn't look strong enough for long term handling. Inside, the foam are of good quality and the cut are all very well done. In fact, the cuts were so well done that it took into account of any protruding screws on the finder or the OTA. If you look at the pictures above, you notice that the eyepieces holes are not just round but have "ears" on its side. This is for your fingers to reach the side of the eyepiece and pull it out easily. There are good thoughts into this case. It also come with keys to lock the case.
Another thing I notice is that there is some holographic effect on the case if you shine some light on it.
OTA
The OTA is simply beautiful. Very smooth pearl white gloss on the tube. The dewcap is screw on type and the dewshield is retractable. In retracted mode, the length of the OTA is 33 inches. Full length is 40.5 inches long.
The dewshield is a little tight but I guess it is better to be tight when it is new. More usage will get the dewshield looser. The glass is nicely coated with no dust or particles on it or in it.
The focuser is smooth but tight. Even when the tensioning knob is fully loosen, the drawtube still feel tight. I guess that's good if you have really heavy loads behind because I doubt it will slip. I think it is possible to loosen the focuser a little bit more by adjusting some of the screws but the current feel is fine with me. It is not in the same league as those premium focusers, but I think it will do its job just fine. The fine focusing knob is smooth...so no issue there.
The only thing that intrigue me is that the focuser seems to be able to rotate about 45 degrees if the finder is not installed. I am not sure if that is a flaw or it was meant to be that way. Once the finder is installed, the focuser is firm and you can't rotate it. However, there is a screw hole below the focuser that is meant to tigthen the focuser (so that it can't rotate) without the finder on it. However, that screw was not supplied. Maybe they will supply that screw if you order the OTA without the finder. Also, the focuser accepts only 2" diagonal. You can't use a 2" -1.25" adaptor on this scope.
One smart thing they did is that the blue ring near the focuser is actually rotatable. The finder is installed onto this ring. This way, you can have the finder on your left or your right depending on your preference. Once you set the finder position, you can then lock the ring down. This is good because most scopes have the finder on the left which I really hated. I need it to be on the right.
The rings are of good quality. A vixen dovetail is supplied below the rings. The rings also have a handle as can be seen in the pictures. his handle can be use to piggyback a camera as well.
All in all, the OTA does not look cheap. Very high in quality and definitely a step above most Syntha achromats.
Finder
The finder supplied is a 8x50 erected image illuminated finder. The illuminated crosshairs inside look great. The body has a chrome finish. The only bad thing is that the eyepiece end does not have a cap. Not sure why. Nothing much to comment here until I look through the finder tommorrow.
Any questions, please shoot. I am going to do my collimation setup now.
Ok...just completed the collimation test using laser and a flat mirror.
Collimation is almost perfect (need to take into account some slight error in the setup) Moving the drawtube fully in and out did not move the laser dot at all. The machining tolerances are good.
Hence, collimation should not be an issue with this scope in real practical use.
The chinese are becoming better. I remember the first batch of Orion 80ED require some shiming on the focuser to correct the collimation.
With the connfirmation of a good colimation, I can now test it out in the dark.
Collimation is almost perfect (need to take into account some slight error in the setup) Moving the drawtube fully in and out did not move the laser dot at all. The machining tolerances are good.
Hence, collimation should not be an issue with this scope in real practical use.
The chinese are becoming better. I remember the first batch of Orion 80ED require some shiming on the focuser to correct the collimation.
With the connfirmation of a good colimation, I can now test it out in the dark.
![[smilie=confused.gif]](./images/smilies/confused.gif "confused")
