Meade DS2070AT Telescope

by Meade

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 31.8 x 15.3 x 12.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 19 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005QWYL
• Batteries: 8 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,298 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: November 14, 2002

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Skillfully observing the many visible stars and planets in the sky can be daunting for the beginner and trying for even the intermediate amateur astronomer, but the Meade DS-2070AT telescope makes the task easy with the Autostar computer controller system. You can locate any astronomical object by entering it into the keypad; electric motors then align the telescope to display the object. The Autostar's catalog includes 74 galaxies, 135 star clusters, 26 asteroids, and the 8 major planets, for a total of 1,586 objects that you can view.

You can store up to 200 objects in the memory for an immediate go-to function. Digital readouts display the telescope’s position in both radians and decimal form. Oversize bearings and locks on both of the telescope’s axes eliminate imprecisions of movement that are common to lesser telescopes.

With a 70mm diameter and a focal length of 700mm, the multicoated, color-corrected objective lens increases image contrast and light transmission. The 5x24mm viewfinder and 1.25-inch diameter eyepiece makes viewing comfortable and free of any eye strain. Also included are an aluminum tripod with a fold-up accessory shelf and astronomy software on CD-ROM.

From the Manufacturer

Meade Digital Series telescopes bring microprocessor technology and the very latest in electromechanical design to the serious beginning or intermediate observer. Completely re-engineered and redesigned, Meade DS-2000 telescopes provide extremely smooth motions in both altitude and azimuth, and, most importantly, include a fully integrated Autostar control system as standard equipment. Oversize bearings on both telescope axes of all models negate the imprecisions found universally, virtually without exception, on competing models.

Meade StarNavigator Software
Included with all Meade DS-2000 telescopes, StarNavigator software displays more than 10,000 celestial objects on your personal computer — galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, stars, and planets — enabling even the beginner to locate and identify objects to observe with the telescope or to print out star charts for use in observing sessions. StarNavigator operates with any Windows-based PC.

Observing with Meade DS Telescopes
A large and exciting array of objects is visible through any Meade DS-2000 telescope: the rings of Saturn, including, in 114mm and larger models, the Cassini division in the rings; Saturn's largest satellite, Titan; the four largest satellites of Jupiter, as well as cloud belts across the planet's disc; Moon craters, mountain ranges, and fault lines by the hundred; and hundreds of deep-space phenomena: galaxies, nebulae, star clusters.

While all of the foregoing objects may be easily viewed through the Meade DS-2070AT, the larger apertures of the Meade DS-2114ATS and DS-2130ATS telescopes show all of these objects in greater resolution and in wider extension, in proportion to the additional aperture and light-collecting area of the telescope.

The Orion Nebula (M42), for example, is easily visible through the DS-2070AT; the nebula's four central stars are readily resolved and a good deal of tenuous nebular structure can be observed. Through the larger aperture of the DS-2114ATS, however, the nebula becomes almost three times brighter at the same magnification, filling the field of view at moderate powers and with outer extensions of the gas cloud now observable. The Pleiades (M45), an open star cluster in the constellation Taurus, displays perhaps one hundred stars in a low-power field of the 70mm telescope, while the DS-2130ATS permits observation of over 250 stars. The larger instrument also enables, under dark-sky conditions, the resolution of faint nebulosity around some of the primary stars in the Pleiades.

Optical Systems
The Meade DS-2070AT 70mm (2.8") refractor includes a 2-element achromatic (color-corrected) objective lens, precision polished from crown and flint optical glass components, and yields sharp, round, pinpoint stellar images. Multi-coatings on the lens increase light transmission and image contrast through the optical system. Newtonian reflecting telescopes, Models DS-2114ATS and DS-2130ATS, of the series include high-resolution primary and secondary mirrors free of the optical zones and irregularities often found on optics of lesser quality. Integrated to the focuser sleeves of these models is an achromatic relay lens, allowing longer telescope focal lengths to be housed in short, compact tubes. All Meade DS-2000 telescopes resolve to the theoretical limits of their respective apertures.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not big enough for astronomy, December 17, 2003

By 

De Bene (Boiling Springs, South Carolina United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meade DS2070AT Telescope (Electronics)

I have bought 4 of these telescopes for young people and the elderly. It is ok for looking at the moon, but little else. Telescopes must have APERTURE to be useful, and this little 70mm scope's objective lens is too small - try a DS 90mm scope which has much better quality and shows a lot!

In addition, the Meade DS scopes usually have only 0.965" eyepieces, and they are crap. Buy a telescope that uses 1.25" eyepieces. The DS90 has an adapter that permits 1.25" and even 2" eyepieces, which show much more sky when you are observing.

39 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Starter Scope, November 19, 2001

By 

"munsellh" (Columbus, OH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meade DS2070AT Telescope (Electronics)

After much research and product comparisons, I opted to purchase this scope and I am extremely happy with my buying decision. The first night I had the scope, it was setup and in use! It was easy to setup, very user friendly and I could actually follow the instruction manual to enhance my experience. I highly recommend this scope to people who are interested in astronomy but don't want to committ to a pricey scope or complicated setup and use. Definately a great buy for a family also! Happy star gazing...

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars save your money, May 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Meade DS2070AT Telescope (Electronics)

To be fair, I have never used a telescope before. I have, however, assembled many products using instruction manuals. I found this manual difficult to follow. It lists the assembly instructions in two different areas of the manual and each set of instructions were slightly different from each other. I had the same problem with the alignment instructions. The remote control is impossible to read while it scrolls. I couldn't tell you if the telescope is aligned properly, but we could not see anything with it. We managed to manually find a bright star through the viewfinder, but it looked much better to the naked eye than through the scope. We are very frustrated with this product and will probably return it.