Meade DS-2130ATS-LNT Altazimuth Reflector Telescope - Silver (20133)

Other products by Meade

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18 x 37 x 11 inches ; 29 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 23 pounds
• ASIN: B000BY81WE
• Item model number: 2130ATS-LNT
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 9, 2006

Product Description

Product Description

The DS-2130ATS-LNT is a fully GoTo telescope. Its onboard computer knows the night sky. After a short alignment procedure, your telescope will be ready to take you on a tour of the universe. You will see more objects in one night than Galileo saw in a lifetime. See planets like Saturn and Jupiter, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A beginner's scope, June 9, 2007

By	C. Ryan "Tova" (Covington, LA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

NOTE: This review discusses mainly the manual control potential of the Meade DS-2130. The motorized mount may be used as a manually-guided mount, instead of using its Autostar capabilities. This review primarily explores the scope's manual guidance functionality.

In all fairness, the Meade DS-2130 was manufactured with the use of the Autostar guidance system in mind. There is, however, an option to use the scope without computer guidance. The altitudinal and azimuth axes can be disengaged from their gears and rotated by hand. Aiming the scope manually, though, was far more jerky than I was hoping it would be (especially along the azimuth axis). There are three reasons for this.

The mount's base consists of three rubber pads that move along a metal surface at the top of the tripod. Using the DS-2130 manually, I was able to manually view planets with a 9mm lens with some ability to precisely track and hold the planet within the eyepiece view. I wasn't able to track with any lens smaller than the 9mm lens because the mount just did not rotate smoothly enough to keep objects in view for very long.

When using a new lens, trying to bring the view into focus would throw off the aim. The force applied to the focus knobs shifted the aim. It seems like locking the telescope in place would solve this problem, but in actuality locking the rotational axes was not a solution because locking the axes would also throw off the telescope.

Another factor in my difficulty to aim the telescope precisely was the tripod. It shifted when I manually rotated the scope. A sturdy tripod would have made the whole experience a lot better.

Despite the negative review, I believe the DS-2130 is an OK scope for beginners. The primary and secondary mirrors are nice and clear, and the lenses that come with the scope are adequate for most purposes. If you are looking for a good manual scope, I suggest you consider a scope specifically suited for that purpose.