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Just bought Meade QX 4000 20mm
I was up at the Gold Coast on a "conference" and squeezed a bit of time to go to Star Optics. I never get to browse in a telescope shop so it was great to see stuff in the flesh. I came away with a Meade QX 4000 20mm EP. Last night was the first bit of "clear" we've had in ages so unfortunately the sky is pretty bright. I don't have too much experience looking through flash EPs so my impressions are very much the newbie. The whole circle of moon fills the view when 2x barlowed. It is fairly widefield (70 degree) and gives quite an awesome sight. The brightness of the moon (even with a filter) limited the size of my pupil so I had to keep my eye precisely placed to not get the black edge thing happening. I turned the 10" dob to the LMC and was really impressed. I know the edges aren't sharp and it's not good at f/5 and all that, but the view was astounding, despite the bright sky. I could see so many DSOs in the one view. I often like to just scan the sky in interesting areas, and this EP looks like a fantastic way to do this. At $135 it was affordable and undoubtedly, more experienced viewers would give legitimate criticism of its short comings, but hey, I think it's fantastic. Best WOW factor since getting the scope. I know this isn't the right terminolgy to "review" an EP; consider it the impressions of a newb.
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