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The ETX line is a good line of amateur scopes. All ETX models are not equal, by far! The ETX 60, 70,80 are refractor types and built cheaper than the larger objective ETX 90, 105, 125 models. The latter three are Muskatov design and much better optically and made in the USA. Still they suffer from drive mechanism failures of different sorts. Most common failure is the broken Declination locking knob since it's plastic and snaps. Fix is easy if you know what you are doing to repair it. Worse yet is when the 4 wires that run through the partially hollow RA locking bolt. The wires fray or sever and the entire scope base needs disassembled and depth of repair depends how badly the wires are damaged. That's also a good time to check for broken gear teeth, split screw anchors in the base assembly, end play in the worm drive, and so on. All those issues will cause bad tracking or inaccurate auto-star finder. Mine had all of those issues and has taken mush time to repair albeit I did it myself, made improvements so it wouldn't happen again, and saved spending more $$ on a scope that should have been designed better from the start! People who pay several hundred $$ or more for these used on eBay are crazy! Only do that if it's in pristine, guaranteed working condition. Otherwise pay $150 and fix it yourself to end up with a nice little performer. The views through the ETX 90, 105, 125 are so much better than the smaller 60/70/80 models. I dumped my smaller models quickly after having the USA made one. Meade tripods make a big difference in stability. The cheaper aluminum ones are fair to lousy. The heavy chromed leg ones are better. The focus mechanisms all suck for the most part but mods can be made to the 90/105/125 models that perform nicer and more tolerable. Keep in mind that these are basically grab'n-go scopes. They are not research grade at all yet the USA models give nice views. Just don't spend tons of $$$ like some of the sellers asking $1200 or more for their used scope. Instead, put that amount of money into a Meade LX or Celestron C8 or similar that will surpass these things.Read full review
Good little scope, portable and easy to use. Optics are excellent for the $$ and the GoTo system works OK. It's very important to watch the Meade tutorials so you can perform fast, accurate alignments. You HAVE to have this thing level, pointed as close to North as you can, and on a sturdy tripod. Let it cool down to ambient temperatures for half an hour or so before getting into serious viewing. I suggest using the "Best of the Evening" tours when you first fire it up (if you have the 497 controller). First night out with it, I had fairly good viewing conditions (full moon limited what I could see). VERY COLD, but worth the views of Saturn and 2 of its moons, nebulosity in Orion's Belt, and a weak view of Andromeda. This is not a great scope for viewing galaxies and nebulas: it's just too small and slow. Great for moon and planets, daytime watching birds, and timelapse photography (I mounted a camera on the top and used a slow slew to pan while filming). Perfect first telescope. I plan on using the 90EC to learn astrophotography. The relatively small investment means I can jump right in and make all the beginners mistakes...or even quit if I want and not be in too deep. Pros: Nice optics, GoTo feature helps you learn the sky, portable. Cons: Gear lash in the drive system is annoying while tracking manually, weak motor won't support the weight of large cameras, needs a 90 degree viewer so you don't get a stiff neck after a few hours of star hunting.Read full review
Meade finally brings a serious telescope into thecasual-consumer price range. The ETX-90EC Astro offers extraordinaryoptics at an affordable price. It combines a high-resolution opticaldesign and diffraction-limited imaging with microprocessor-controlled,precise celestial-object tracking, all in a nicely styled, highlyportable package. Improvements to this model include a new forkmount with dual-axis drive system. The ETX-90EC also includes hightorque DC motors on both telescope axes, permitting electronicoperation from the hand-held controller. This push-button electroniccontroller has four dual-axis drive speeds: slow, 8x for imagecentering at high power; medium, 32x for image centering at lowerpower or for pushbutton tracking in altazimuth mode; moderate, 0.75degrees per second for image centering in the viewfinder or forterrestrial tracking; and fast, 5 degrees per second for fast scanningacross the sky. The Meade ETX-90EC is specially designed to beportable and used in the field. It offers cordless operation, allowingyou to use the telescope's dual-axis drive system for more than 40hours on eight AA batteries. At approximately 8 pounds and 15 inchesin length, it packs a lot of power into a compact unit. TheETX-90EC uses a 90mm Maksutov-Cassegrain optical design, and Meadeactually warranties the optics of the ETX-90EC "to equal or exceed theoptical performance and resolution of any Maksutov optics of similaraperture ever manufactured at any price." The ETX-Series optics offersuperb contrast, image brightness, and resolution; Meade claims thetelescope consistently outperforms many instruments of largerapertures. Meade also uses EMC super multicoatings on all opticalsurfaces to maximize light transmission through the corrector lens andreflectance from the primary and secondary mirrors. The flip-mirrorsystem allows for 90-degree observation of land and sky objects,straight-through observation using the optional #932 45-degreeErecting Prism, or photo-ready imaging using the optional #64T-Adapter and your own 35mm camera. Overall, the Meade ETX-90EC isa fine piece of craftsmanship at a surprisingly affordable price. Forthose of us who spent our childhood peering through old-style consumertelescopes, using the ETX-90EC is like getting time in the PalomarObservatory. From shifting cloud belts on Saturn to the glowingfilaments of the Orion Nebula, this instrument lets you observe theheavens in extraordinary detail.Read full review
For the price ( $250) I can't imagine a more powerful scope. It's a great tool for stargazing, and of excellent quality. Downsides are it's dated, and difficult to find parts for. Meade's website is poorly constructed, making many accessories very difficult to find. Software hasn't been updated in years. When you do find them, you'll easily invest more than the cost of the scope in needed accessories.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought the Telescope, for Christmas, to encourage my two Grandsons' interest in star gazing. I like the portability and easy set up. The weather has been below zero, as a result, it will have to wait a few more weeks for extensive use. The only downside is that it does not focus well when calibrating the spotting scope. It may need a more thorough lens cleaning, which should only be done once every two years or so. Overall the quality and availability of accessories are why I chose Meade.
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