Customer Reviews

Meade ETX125EC Telescope w/Electronic Controller

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My 11 year old son and I jointly purchased a Meade ETX-125EC and tripod. When I was his age I spent my summer nights outside looking though a fair quality 4.5 inch Newtonian reflector. My son took the Astronomy merit badge in Boy Scouts and got the bug bad! We looked through my old scope, the mount had broken, so we went shopping.

The ETX-125 fit our needs perfectly: good compromise in light gathering while being very portable (19 lbs)and outstanding optical quality. The tripod works well and is steady. We opted to wait to purchase the AutoStar computer controller so he can learn the locations of nebula, planets and double stars on his own and become familiar with the sky. We enjoy hunting down faint objects and finding them!

As to another reviewer's suggestion that for the same money you could buy a 10 inch Dobsonian reflector...most people would also have to buy a truck to haul it in! We like the portability to take it away from the city in search of darker skies.

Before you spend the money on this scope I must warn you that you are NOT going to get close up views of the planets and celestial objects. Even though I spent over a year researching this scope and planning this purchase, and knew full well what I was getting into, it still came as a surprise when I realized that most of the things I would be viewing would be fuzzy clusters and blurry dots.

If you are okay with that fact, you will adore this telescope.

The first night we used it, we found Jupiter without much trouble. We pointed the scope at a bright dot in the sky that wasnÕt twinkling, and when we looked in the eyepiece, there was Jupiter. It was the size of an aspirin, its bands clearly visible and several of its moons brightly illuminated. Our own moon was amazing- the craters were just breathtaking.

Beyond those objects, we needed to plug in the optional Autostar. The problem for us was that the telescope worked so well we had a hard time figuring out if what we were looking at in the lens was what we wanted to find- hundreds of stars shine and twinkle in the scope when only a few may be visible to the eye. We lost our way several times trying to find objects using marker stars in the sky. With the assistance of the Autostar, we viewed brilliant Saturn, its rings clearly defined. Saturn was the size of a tic-tac, but very crisp and bright. We found the Orion nebula, and Venus at half full state. Then we viewed several bright star clusters.

The Messier and deep space objects, which make up a huge part of what you will be viewing, were dim and hard to make out. If you are an astronomy buff, you will be able to identify these guys, and probably enjoy hours of use with this telescope every night. However, for amateurs like us, you will need a really good map of the sky and information on the objects you will be seeing. There are some great software titles out there- we use Starry Night and do not leave the house without a detailed star map when we are going to use the telescope. Without either of these things, you will be lost, or bored, or both.

The lens that comes with the telescope will not be adequate for most objects beyond the moon. We purchased a higher power lens and use it about 99% of the time. I highly recommend the Autostar for novices in order to get the most out of this telescope. Otherwise, you will spend a lot of time trying to find things that may or may not be there.

Finally, splurge on the Meade Field Tripod. Any little touch to the telescope makes the image completely blurry from the vibrations. The tripod really helped with this problem. The telescope comes with a plate which can be screwed into the bottom of the mount to further stabilize the set-up. We spent a few days puzzling over it before we tried attaching it, and it made all the difference.

This was a great purchase. However, I thought I might write about all the extras that we found necessary to make this telescope worth the money we spent on it. It is an investment, but trust me, the first time you see Saturn in this telescope you will know that every cent will have been well spent.

If you are considering purchasing any of the ETX models of telescopes I would strongly suggest paying extra for the 125EC. The 125EC's aperture is 193% larger than the 90EC's and this makes a huge difference. The brightness of galaxies and star clusters allow even closer magnification and brilliance. If you are going to make an investment on a telescope, you want a scope that you can be happy with for many many years, and with the resolve capabilities of the 125EC, you will be. I have seen spectacular displays of the Andromida galaxy along with many closer objects such Mars, Jupiter, and our moon.

Be aware though, that the price does not stop at this telescope. In order to get any practical viewing out of this you absolutely must purchase the deluxe field tripod for $200. This somewhat limits the portability of the telescope, but if you do not have it, you will not be able to see much at all. Also, the hard carrying case is greatly beneficial. For about 6 months I lugged this telescope around in the original box that it came in and it was a pain. The cardboard was bending and it would get wet and soft. Also you cannot take any accessories in the original box like eyepieces or the Autostar controller. The hard carrying case holds at least three eyepieces and has room for other accessories. Any other things that you buy with this telescope would be luxuries, like the T-adapter for taking pictures, the dew shield (you don't really need that and it doesn't always work), or any filters.

If you have thought about buying the Autostar controller, I would hold off for a bit. It is extremely beneficial to learn the sky on your own, so that if ever you part with that controller, or your batteries run dead, you are not lost in the dark. It is not hard at all to learn the skies, and with a few weeks time, with or without a telescope, you can master most of the constellations. An unparalleled benefit of the controller is its capability to track objects during your observations. It is able to hold objects in the field of view for hours without having to adjust the telescope manually.

The ETX telescope itself is great; it has a motor drive system with four speeds so finding any object under any magnification is easy. Its portability is handy when it comes to taking it over long distances. I had no problem taking this scope with me in a canoe in the Adirondacks to a remote camping site (the viewing there was spectacular). This would be a great telescope for any astronomer, as a first one to learn the skies, or as a backup, to use for long trips.

I bought this scope about a month ago. Overall I'm pleased. Its not too heavy, and the size makes it relatively easy to pull out of the garage and into the backyard.

I also bought several accessories with it. The field tripod is a must if you want any semblance of stability. And the plossl lense that it comes with is good for viewing the Moon, possibly some open star clusters, but not much else. You will probably end up getting one or two additional, higher power lenses -- and possibly a barlow as well. I bought the 12.4mm lense and the 2x barlow, and when using both at full magnification it can really bring an object like Saturn to life. The problem is that even the slightest vibration can cause the image to shudder.

I bought the Autostar, but can testify that when running on battery power alone you will NOT be able to "punch in an object" and expect it to go right there. It will get close, but even 8 new AA batteries seem to struggle to power the thing. So I ended up buying the power adapter, and now it works much better and more accurately.

As you can see, you may end up buying lots of accessories to get a good experience from your scope. However, it appears to be worth it. I have no regrets.

I was so impressed with the Meade ETX 90/EC (purchased last year), that I bought the Meade ETX 125/EC. This is a fantastic telescope for amateur astronomers, both beginners and experienced. The optics are superb and provide razor sharp images across the visual field, with little or no achromatism. Couple this telescope with an Autostar controller and one gets push-button Go-To capability for over 14,000 celestial objects. This telescope has increased my viewing productivity immensely, and I highly recommend it.

This is the GoTo scope of choice with the Autostar. It gives clear views and a distortion-free view of the sky with the standard eye piece. For planetary viewing, the barlow lens is good, but the higher power was not as useful for deep-sky objects. I found the Autostar somewhat difficult to use in the Easy setup mode due to the star choices it gave for orientation of the scope. I recommend using the Two-star set-up mode that lets you pick stars you KNOW you can identify and find.

With the Deluxe tripod (for the required steady footing and polar orientation) and a good read of the scope's owners manual, one can get good siderial tracking without the Autostar. This scope DOES take some foreknowledge of the sky and buying more accessories will not take that away. Start with the scope and deluxe tripod and GET TO KNOW IT before adding more accessories.

This is the size that the ETX should have been when it was introduced. The 125 is a relatvely new member of the ETX lineup, and the one that I would recommend first to those with the money and the desire to buy an "UltraPortable" scope. With its 5 inches of aperture, it is the only ETX scope so far that I would recommend for any sort of serious deep sky (galaxies, star custers, nebulae) viewing. (See my review ot the ETX-90 for an explanation of why aperture is important.)

I am the president of a large (300 members) astronomy club in Columbus, Ohio and have looked through thousands of telescopes in my life- including a few Meade ETX-125s. The scope seems to be high quality, very contrasty, with just a touch of softness that makes views through it distinguishable from high end refractors costing many times as much. If you enjoy planetary or lunar viewing, and don't want the hassle and expense of a large refractor, or the "cool down time" of a reflecting scope, then this is the scope for you.

The AutoStar GOTO system seems to be the same as the one on the ETX-90, and, as in that scope, seems to do a good job finding objects. (Recommendation: learn the names of the brightest 20 or so stars in the sky. You will need them as guide stars to align the scope with.)

NOTE: I have stood next to many first time users of the Meade-ETX (all versions) and watched them fumble in the dark for hours with the system of computerized menus in the GOTO system that comes with this scope. Learn to use it in the daylight or during the full moon and not while you're cutting into your observing time.

At its current average asking price, beginning astronomy enthusiasists might ETX-125 might be a bit pricey. At much less, views that are almost as good (if not better, due to greater aperture) can be had through and 6-8 inch Orion or Meade Dobsonian scope. On the other hand, like the ETX-90, the ETX-125 is extremely portable- perfect for travel or quick looks.

The 24 millimeter finder is useless for finding anything but guide stars and the planets. It is difficult to align, and is so small that very little can be seen through it.

I would recommend getting a dew shield in addition to this scope.

I just purchased a new ETX-125EC (June 2003). I keep getting motor failure errors and retraining does not help. In talking with Meade they indicated that it was probably a motor encoder problem and to please send it back for repairs. The expected wait was quoted as 3 weeks. Asked why the wait was so long it boiled down to "get in line with everyone else needing repairs". Frankly, I didn't pay [money]. for a new scope to get in a 3 week line. I have an old (20 years) C11 as well as a C90 so I am very close to returning the unit to the supplier, who has tried to help but had no pull with Meade to do any better, and telling Meade to take their scope and arrogant customer service and shove it.

...this little scope delivers. I received an ETX90 as a Christmas gift this year and spent this evening viewing the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. I took a long look at the earth's moon while I was at it.

I live near (several blocks) the middle of Atlanta, so there's a lot of ambient light.

The image is sharp, the telescope is easy to manuever, and you can have it out of the box and in the back yard in no time. The multi-speed drive makes keeping the telescope on-target a lot easier as well. The field tripod is a nice extra to have.

On the down side, the price IS steep. It's a luxury price. I was already looking at a Celestron model for about half the price of this one. The Celestron was a clearance price, but it was a fairly large telescope - not at all appropriate for frequent transport. I intend to take mine on the road often. (Mountains, beach, anywhere darker than the city).

The ETX telescope makes viewing easy, hence the price. It seems worth it to me, but I didn't pay for mine.

Thanks Mom!

When the scope worked it was great - for all of about 3 weeks. There was a lot of time & money spent on my ETX125ec scope & accessories with such promise. Like others I've read, the drive motor failed. For the 3rd time it's stripped its plastic drive gears. 1st time through Meade service was a nightmare of endless waiting. Here's a high-tech company with no email. 2nd time through service was better. Now the scope's out of warrenty and the workmanship is past 90 days. It's broken for its 3rd & final time. There won't be a third trip back. The ETX125ec is now discontinued leaving only the smallest of the ETX models remaining. Could it be the heavy scopes were too much for the cheap plastic gearing?. Hmmmm. There should be a "Lemon Law" for more than cars. I'm deeply disappointed in both the quality & service from Meade. With claiming such precision optics, why stuff it with such junk drives?

UPDATE: More engineering problems with this scope - a short mounting fork. When setting the scope in an equatorial mount (42 degrees latitude), the short fork won't accommodate approaching the horizon. The scope collides with the base. In the Alt-Azimuth configuration, same problem with the rear of the scope if you have attachments like a camera or erecting prism.