Posts Made By: Tom Vervaeke

Hello:

Was into astronomy just a little bit about 3-4 years ago
and had a close friend who assisted me with getting up to
speed, etc.. He assisted me with the purchase of a used
Meade LX50 10" unit. My friend moved away and I eventually
sold my scope. I loved to observe but never spent the time
to learn how to do the setup, etc.. (i.e. I have no idea how to collimate, etc.. )

Have felt the urge again and wish to re-enter and learn a lot more and get serious about star gazing, etc.. Would like to invest in a new serious unit that will most likely be my last purchase (I'm 46).

After doing a bit of research I'm pretty sure I'd like to purchase a Meade 10 or 12" LX200GPS. With the current Meade 'special' pricing on the telescope, lenses, and even the UTC coatings, I'm almost ready to bite.

Now the question is: Where to go for a new one? I've checked the Meade pages and also Anacortes but everyone seems to have the same price for both the telescope and the shipping. Thus, is there a difference? Can I buy direct from Meade or must I use a dealer? Is there a difference in the level of support I would get from one dealer over another? I'm guessing whomever I buy from will simply have Meade dropship the telescope directly to me after I wait for one to be available.

Any recommendations on which dealer is the best in terms of price and after-sales support would be great.

Thanks,

Tom

All:

I'm a novice. Just bought a used Intes M500 from a member here. Gonna mount it on a heavy photo tripod to start. But, no diag or eyepieces came with it. It does come with a 2" back (pic enclosed of back of scope) and want to purchase, new or used, a decent diag and a few eyepieces.

Initial observing will be: terrestrial and moon/planets. I think I may need 2 different diags in order to handle the terrestrial, right? Any recommendations on diags as they seem to vary in price and quality a lot both new and used. Same for eyepiecs. I am going to go the 2" route so that if/when I move to a bigger scope I can use my good eyepieces.

Thanks,

Tom

All:

Found a nice 2" William Optics 90 diagonal (non-dialectric) here today and made a deal with the seller. It should be good enough for me to get started and was $95 to my door.

Tom