Meade 14" f/8 ACF SCT vs Celestron C14 Edge HD

cyberblitz · #1 12-08-2021, 01:47 PM

Ok,

My dream for years was to own the Celestron C14 Edge HD, but here in Australia they are ridiculously over-priced compared to U.S. Currently, a C14 costs 17,000AUD (a few weeks ago they were $14,000 AUD. The pandemic is pushing prices up hard). In U.S they are equivalent $8,000AUD. I am primarily a planetary astrophotographer and have seen amazing planetary images taken with this scope. However, it would be cheaper for me to fly the U.S. to purchase this scope and bring it back, than buying it here in this country. No Scope shop in US is allowed to send these scopes abroad due to licensing restrictions

Recently i come across a Meade 14" f/8 ACF SCT for sale for $5,500AUD and i'm really tempted. However, i am not familiar with Meade and have not seen any planetary images taken with this scope to fully convince me to buy it.

So, does anyone here have any experience with either of these scopes or both? Does anyone here have any planetary images taken with a 14" Meade?

Any advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Googaliser (Marc) · #2 13-08-2021, 02:14 AM

I purchased Martin Pugh's Meade 14" f/10 recently. The use case for this scope is pure planetary. So the longer focal length mattered more to me than the flat field of the C14 Edge. f/20 was my goal (5x pixel pitch of the camera) - so I use an AP 2x Barlow. At f/8 - you would just need to add another spacer behind the Barlow to get 2.5x. Early results are very encouraging.
I think 5.5K for the f/8 Meade is a bargain. Large SCT's are virtually impossible to get new anywhere on the planet right now. Grab it fast and enjoy the amazing views of Jupiter and Saturn that we have down here at the moment (once the weather starts to co-operate a bit more).

cyberblitz · #3 13-08-2021, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Googaliser

I purchased Martin Pugh's Meade 14" f/10 recently. The use case for this scope is pure planetary. So the longer focal length mattered more to me than the flat field of the C14 Edge. f/20 was my goal (5x pixel pitch of the camera) - so I use an AP 2x Barlow. At f/8 - you would just need to add another spacer behind the Barlow to get 2.5x. Early results are very encouraging.
I think 5.5K for the f/8 Meade is a bargain. Large SCT's are virtually impossible to get new anywhere on the planet right now. Grab it fast and enjoy the amazing views of Jupiter and Saturn that we have down here at the moment (once the weather starts to co-operate a bit more).

Thanks. Would love to see some images

Camelopardalis (Dunk) · #4 13-08-2021, 08:31 PM

Kinda what Marc said…for planetary, you’re using less than an arc minute of the FOV, which is nothing.

TBH I’ve not heard a lot of good things said about the Meade f/8 scopes…they seemed to be quite problematic in the early days, so if you had the opportunity to check it out first I would do that. Look out for astigmatism, for example.

FWIW, it wasn’t all that long ago that we saw C14 ota for not much more, you know before this whole global stuff we’re going through which forced prices on some items crazy

Googaliser (Marc) · #5 25-08-2021, 03:15 PM

Here is a sample image from the Meade 14" f/10. AP BARADV, ASI533MC & Gutekunst ADC. 2minute video stacked. This is only my third planetary imaging session (thank you Perth weather....) - and haven't yet played with de-rotating and stacking multiple videos. So the potential of this scope is far greater than this image would suggest. But anyways - I'm happy with my Meade!

multiweb (Marc) · #6 25-08-2021, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Googaliser

Here is a sample image from the Meade 14" f/10. AP BARADV, ASI533MC & Gutekunst ADC. 2minute video stacked. This is only my third planetary imaging session (thank you Perth weather....) - and haven't yet played with de-rotating and stacking multiple videos. So the potential of this scope is far greater than this image would suggest. But anyways - I'm happy with my Meade!

We must have been out at exactly the same time.

Googaliser (Marc) · #7 25-08-2021, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by multiweb

We must have been out at exactly the same time.

More like the 'only' time in the past 2 months

We could do a group 'stack'

john guy (John) · #8 25-08-2021, 05:18 PM

I have a meade 14'' sct and found great for planetary work, added a pic of Saturn from last week. My processing skills are very basic but hobby give a lot of enjoyment.
cheers

astro744 · #9 25-08-2021, 05:57 PM

I found some info on the Meade UK site. See https://www.meadeuk.com/Meade-LX850-14-inch-ACF.html

Note the 13.8% sec obstruction is by area not by diameter. Makes little difference photographically but visually the larger secondary will affect contrast a bit more than with an f11 C14. Obstruction by diameter is used to measure contrast. The Meade f8 has 37% and the Celestron f11 EdgeHD 14 has 32%. Photographically little difference and the native f8 of the Meade will give 2800mm focal length as opposed to 3900mm of the C14.

Googaliser (Marc) · #10 25-08-2021, 10:42 PM

While I didn't buy the Meade 14" for visual - it has given me my favourite views to date of the moon and planets through both Binoviewers and single eyepieces. I wasn't left wanting for additional contrast despite the central obstruction.
My interest in astronomy really kicked-off 20 years ago with a Meade ETX125. Although mass produced - all the Meades I have owned to date have been robust and trouble-free and of terrific optical quality despite being mass produced. I am a fan.
That said, if I didn't own a dedicated astrograph - I would have chosen an Edge 14" since it can fulfil both roles (long and short focal length). Good luck finding one at the moment though - and the Australian mark-up on them feels like robbery

Googaliser (Marc) · #11 25-08-2021, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by john guy

I have a meade 14'' sct and found great for planetary work, added a pic of Saturn from last week. My processing skills are very basic but hobby give a lot of enjoyment.
cheers

Hi John - I hear you on the processing skills front - am trying to get up that particular curve myself as quickly as time will permit. I found focusing on Saturn hard for some reason. Another Meade 14" shot attached - 2nd attempt at Saturn

toc (Tim) · #12 29-08-2021, 09:40 AM

This is from my Meade 12" ACF

aliceiii (Alice Harper) · #13 01-04-2022, 04:35 PM

I hope this helps.

I was hunting for a telescope recently. Spoiler alert: I found it at https://theoptics.org/best-portable-telescopes/.
I needed something portable and light because I intend to travel with it. The ability to connect to the phone was also very vital to me. So I ordered a Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 satellite dish.

Please offer your thoughts if you have any knowledge of it.