Hello Hugh,I have an ETX 90 RA I use as a spotter.I use it the most to look at 22 cal.>30 cal. bullet holes and it excels at that.I measured close focus and it was something like 7 ft. or so.I also use it to look at wildlife with true colors.The down side of this scope for birds or other animals is the narrow view.I take the OTA off the fork mount when I want to use a tripod and I weighed the OTA with eyepiece and it was 44 oz. if I remember right and it is not that hard to remove from fork mount.I would look for a used ETX 90 RA or what ever instead of buying new as a spotter and you could get the adapter that Meade sells to orient the image.I would buy another one of these if that answers your question about how I like it.I don't have any experience with the Orion Maks but I wouldn't be afraid to buy one for this use.
>>>>>Steve
>>>>>Steve
