New Meade Telescope range.

[Dave47tuc]

Hi All,
Hot of the press!
Meade has just released a new range of telescopes.
Go to http://www.meade.com/rcx400/

Now who up for a new scope then:whistle:

Best.

:astron:

[Striker]

Bloody Hell.......Just what I needed.....another scope choice.....

Thanks Dave....grrrrrrrrrrr

[seeker372011]

those scopes are worth a bit more than my car!

knowing Meade it will probably be late 2005 before they actually ship, but gee they sound great!

[[1ponders]]

Boy, everything a techno-astro-photo- geek could want:)

[Dave47tuc]

Well a lot of who ha over on the yahoo groups:o

A new yahoo group is up already:whistle:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RCX400/
120 members already!!!!!!!

This is NOT a newbie scope folks(unless you really have the money to spare!!)

Stuart i agree Meade should have built in dew heaters in all there LX scopes. Also auto collimation. Would really top of a great scope like the LX200 GPS.:cool:

These RCX400 scopes a very expensive:P

Best.

:astron:

[Striker]

I believe all you people with LX200 scopes should and must upgrade to the RCX400.....then I can buy my scope second hand at realistic price.

[Mick]

Nice scope to much muller for me, I'm happy with the lx90. It's turning into a space race. :abduct:

[Starkler]

You have an 8 inch dob. What more could a person want, except a bigger dob :D

[rumples riot]

Now their getting serious, RC designed with built in dew heater, computer controlled focus, and every other great design feature you can think of. Looks like that is going on my next scope list, might have to sell the GPS and spend the 8k on the new RC scope. Hehe. Lucky I am not married.

Wow wow wow. Got to have one.

[mch62]

Pretty impressive package if your into commercial scopes.
Was wondering when either Meade or Celestron were going to go the RC route.
Although there advertising has flooded us with how superior the SC system is why go the RC design??Progress or competition??
I would love to know how big the secondary is in the F8's .
After going the commercial route for many years , I have seen the light so to speak of building my own scope and getting the most bang for your buck possible.
One could build quite a large high quality Newt for those prices, and that's US $ as well.:eyepop:
If your worried about Coma get a Parracor.
But then not everone wants to build ---O well!
I think they will suit the Astro geek who requires portability and the latest thing out and there will be a market for them as Meade are very good at commercialism and would have done the sums.
Has everyone seen Celestrons big one --the 20" corrected Dall system -- more for the professional though.
Interesting to see what Celestron will hit back with.
Sorry to sound cynical , but show me a large home made scope that some one has laboured over and then I can get excited .

Mark

[Dave47tuc]

Mark,
I agree on many things you say:)

I have built 3 telescopes all Newts. They were very good indeed sharp images and cheap.:cool:
I was a bit I will never have one of those "Go To" scopes

I then used a LX90 some time ago. Used this scope for about 3 hours. I was hooked.:P

Images were sharp enough, but the ease of the scope to use and the objects I observed was more than I have ever done over 3 hours:whistle:

So i spent a long time looking at the merits of these "Go To" scopes.
I was never into imaging and still not. I much prefer the view in the eyepiece.

I first brought a 6" LXD55. found this scope ok but the mount was average at best so i sold it.:confused:

Then i got the LX200 10"GPS. I have never looked back. This scope is really a Dob with motors and "Go To" No not a newtonian dob, but who said a dob had to be a newt!

So i find this scope suits me fine. Good size, very nice eyepiece position all the time. Tracks great when i want to look at the solar system objects.

I would never get the RCX400 as i'm not into imaging. For those who are this scope could offer much.

Funny to read the threads on Yahoo. Those people in the US need a drink :cheers:
And to chill a bit:cold:

Makes good reading though:D

Best.

:astron:

[Strgazr27]

"Change the face of astronomy" Yeah for those with DEEP pockets or a real desire just to have the best.

I just don't get it. I'm not saying it is not a REAL nice piece of equipment but lets be honest about a few things.........

1. It's not a TRUE RC. It's a hybrid. A Modified SCT if you want to get technical.

2. An RC type scope is designed primarily for imaging and not visual use. Sure they can be used for visual use but far from it's strong point.

3. $5000 for a 10" scope built primarily for imaging and they go and put it on a fork mount. And a FM that uses the OLD style meade wedge no less. Sure the drive is very nice from what it seems but your still going to suffer from a FM's inherent flaws (Ringing, Hard to balance etc) Problems with the wedge unless you modify it.

4. Why not a GEM? If I'm spending a minimum of $5K on a scope built to image that would be my first choice.

5. all the electronics are great sure but lets think about this. The more there is, the more there is to break. One point I do not like is what happens if you have no power. To me the scope, with electric focus, electric coll. is rendered useless. Again, the features are nice but let's look at past history of Meade here before we all jump on the 400 bandwagon.

Lets look at this realistically for a second. If your looking to build a system to image with your realistically looking at $7-9K. Out of the reach of 75% of us who live in the REAL world. For what? Is it really going to give me that much better images than my 12" LX200 when properly collimated? You'll still need an AG with it for long exposures. You'' still need some sort of focal reducer because f/8 really doesn't cut it for serious imaging. I would love to see the 12" 400 go up against a 12" Classic on a NICE GEM. I don't think the difference would be as great as one thinks. Factor in the ability to image planets better with the Classic I can't see upgrading.

As an owner of a 12" classic LX200 I really hope Meade pulls it off with this one.

JMO's

CS's

Bobby

[[1ponders]]

After having a bit more of a read about the RCX I'm am going to amend my previous post.

Here! Here! Strgazr27.

All the electronics aside, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on their reliability and your access to a power supply (does Meade give a rating as to how long a 12 V 15 or 18 A power pack will last on these beasts)

Why fork mounted on a wedge? And I bet the wedge doesn't come as a standard accessory. It'll be an optional extra (and after a quick peek back at the promo, yep optional extra). Who is their target market? Astro-imagers they say. Is there any talk about bringing out the basic OTA package out on a decent GEM mount (Losmandy G11 capacity minimum maybe with the option of a Smartmount style electronics package or not).

I am very impressed with my LX200 (optically and relative user-friendlines, generally a pleasure to use), but on reflection I now wish I'd gone the Losmandy mount way for photography.

Let me know when meade come around to a more astrophotographic way of thinking.