Serious question about Meade Cats.Posted By Tom Bourg |
Hello,
I found out about this forum three weeks ago from a member (Thanks Ron!!) and really like it. The posters here are the politest group I have run across on the Net. Really great.
One of the members of our astrnomy club is a college professor who teaches astronomy and who is in charge of the clubs telescopes. I consider him an expert as he can take most scopes apart blindfolded and tweak them, repair them, or just about anything else he has a mind to do.
I was floored a couple of weeks ago when he began talking about how poorly the Meade cats were made and lousy their quality control is. He told me that just about every Meade he has come across has some problem when he opens them up that would lead to premature wear. He especially mentioned the overtightening of some componants which leads to premature gear failure and the nylon gears themselves which are prone to wear.
He was saying this as he just finished repairing one that had failed. He is, in fact, in the process of replacing the nylon gears on several Meade cats. with metal ones.
He also mentioned that the tripod screw can extend too far into the mount, contact the wiring and wrap it around the screw and pull everything loose.
I own a Meade 10" LX200 and I have to admit that it broke the first night I used it. The other guys there agreed with him and seemed to have the attitude that this was old news.
Now, the kicker to all this is that the Meade scopes are very popular with the members in spite of this. As a matter of fact, one of the members who is a professional astronomer and in the PhD program at the local university is planning to buy a Meade 14" Cat. soon.
So, my question is, "Does your experience bare this out?" Are the Meade scopes prone to breakage and premature wear?
Except for the one problem I had and the silly way the scope mounts to the tripod, I really don't have any complaints. As far as I am concerned it is an excellant scope.
Good luck and good seeing. Sorry this post is so lengthy.
Tom Bourg
I found out about this forum three weeks ago from a member (Thanks Ron!!) and really like it. The posters here are the politest group I have run across on the Net. Really great.
One of the members of our astrnomy club is a college professor who teaches astronomy and who is in charge of the clubs telescopes. I consider him an expert as he can take most scopes apart blindfolded and tweak them, repair them, or just about anything else he has a mind to do.
I was floored a couple of weeks ago when he began talking about how poorly the Meade cats were made and lousy their quality control is. He told me that just about every Meade he has come across has some problem when he opens them up that would lead to premature wear. He especially mentioned the overtightening of some componants which leads to premature gear failure and the nylon gears themselves which are prone to wear.
He was saying this as he just finished repairing one that had failed. He is, in fact, in the process of replacing the nylon gears on several Meade cats. with metal ones.
He also mentioned that the tripod screw can extend too far into the mount, contact the wiring and wrap it around the screw and pull everything loose.
I own a Meade 10" LX200 and I have to admit that it broke the first night I used it. The other guys there agreed with him and seemed to have the attitude that this was old news.
Now, the kicker to all this is that the Meade scopes are very popular with the members in spite of this. As a matter of fact, one of the members who is a professional astronomer and in the PhD program at the local university is planning to buy a Meade 14" Cat. soon.
So, my question is, "Does your experience bare this out?" Are the Meade scopes prone to breakage and premature wear?
Except for the one problem I had and the silly way the scope mounts to the tripod, I really don't have any complaints. As far as I am concerned it is an excellant scope.
Good luck and good seeing. Sorry this post is so lengthy.
Tom Bourg