Meade ETX90EC Telescope w/Electronic Controller

I've had my telescope for over six months and wouldn't trade it for anything. This is a great telescope and it is very crispt in the viewing of stars and planets. I love it and for the money it can't be beat. If you are new to astronomy you need this scope. I saw Saturn a few nights ago and saw the rings very clearly. I brought a dew shield and two more eyepieces for it and they helped make the scope even more fantastic. I got a 18 mm wide and 13.3 mm super wide Meade eyepieces. You will also need autostar for a tour of all that is in the sky at night. You can see 14,ooo objects and hundreds more if you download them from the internet with an adapter which cost a few extra dollars more. I bought a deluxe field Meade tripod. You need this one because it keeps the image that you are looking at stable. This is the best telescope you can buy for the money and the best type too. I love my ETX-90 EC and plan on keeping it for the rest of my days of viewing the universe.

Just saying this review comes from an average guy who just simply wanted to see cool celestial bodies with detail. (Meaning, that you're going to have to know all about eyepieces focal lengths so 50mm equals this and 25mm equals that and blah blah blah. How inspiring for our young astronomers, huh?) okay so one, it takes like forever to calibrate. (I don't calibrate it anymore when I use it) Two, after giving up trying to calibrate, I had to manually find a bright star and focus on it. Then I realized that I needed to take out more money ($190) from the piggy bank and buy the eyepieces to ACTUALLY see distant bodies. (actually the moon is the ONLY thing you can see with the default eyepiece) I tried to look at a Jupiter (big and bright so I can't miss out on detail here) with all the new six different eyepieces and guess what guys? It looks like a white dot BUT CLOSER. (The same case with ALL other objects) I made a lot of research on my telescope but I guess you gotta have an ph in astronomy and be almighty smart to understand telescopes. But boy am I glad I spent all that money just to see a white dot wow I feel accomplished. Unless you're dedicated and want to go to your local autonomy club — hahahah *ahem* sorry — Save your money and buy binoculars instead cause I can gaureentee that it will not work better but will definitely save you some time and money if you wanna see upclose white dots and little of the moon.

Not sure why antone would pay what is being asked.The ETX 125 is 700 bucks with much more light gathering power but still suffers deep design flaws.The 125's central obstruction with light baffle is 40%, clearly violating the 25% rule with maks.I suppose if one can find it cheap enough, it would make a OK guide scope.

The ETX-90EC has magnification of 48X; great for looking at the moon. However, if you want to look at any planets or stars, you _definitely_ need the optional eyepieces so you can have some control over magnification. Without these optional eyepieces, you have no control over magnification.

The ETX-90EC was a breeze to set up. Within 20 minutes I was viewing the moon in my backyard. The optics are fantastic for the price and the standard eyepiece is great for terrestrial peeking as well as stargazing.The motor works well and the variable speeds are very effective, but mine is a bit noisy. It tends to growl as it idles and I have not been able to determine if this is normal or not. Other downsides are the vertically exposed eyepiece (I ended up using a plastic cylinder as a protective cap) and the six screws on the spotting scope, which make centering very difficult.You definitely need the tripod because the standard base is unstable unless you are placed on solid rock, so prepare to add another $200 to the price. And the erecting prism is a must for terrestrial viewing.All in all this is a great scope. The few limitations are far outweighed by the line of eyepieces and accessories available for the ETX-90EC such as Autostar and the 35mm camera attachment. This is a great deal for beginning and amateur use, expandable enough that this could very well be the only scope you will ever need.

The biggest thing about this telescope is its size, not how big it is but how SMALL it is. Small means easy to carry, and that means you'll be more motivated to take it out and look at things. More importantly you will take it to good 'dark sky' locations. Even with the Meade deluxe tripod this scope is easily carried with one hand, that and a simple set up make it fun to use. The Super Plossil Zoom eyepiece is a great accessory, and the astrostar lets even clutzs like me find cool things to look at.

I bought one as is on Ebay. As a handy guy I thought I might be able to fix it. The problem turned out a worm gear shaft froze up. This caused the stripping of cheap plastic gears inside. I was NOT impressed by its drive train. Very weak in my opinion. Google it to see others problems.