Meade DS-114AT Telescope
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- Mount Type: Altazimuth
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Is it really a bargain?
Pros
cheap on ebay, good mirrors, autostar
Cons
poor quality of eyepieces, mount and drives; need for 3rd party advice on setting-up
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
don't get this obsolete scope, there are better options.
I recently saw a DS114AT (update: It was DS-114ATA, same thing, but maybe 1.25 eyepieces). at my local Sam's club for $200.
It was white painted and looked nice, the pictures of planets on the box looked so nice. I almost bought it!
You know, buying a telescope is likely an impulse buy (seasonal, around Christmas). The marketers set up a trap showing beautiful pictures of planets on the box (most likely taken with powerful scopes) and misleading the unassuming public that the colorful pictures of planets will be visible with the displayed model. You fall for a trap. I almost did when I saw a DS114AT.
However, I researched the net and saw reviews of this scope stating that the quality of images was comparable with binoculars and it was totally unreliable. Yet, some people claimed that the optics were superb (for it's price) and the scope was worth the price. Now, which opinion is correct? I was confused.
I spent countless hours on various sites reading about owners of DS scopes complaining about all kinds of problems.
The pattern that emerged is that these scopes (as well as it's bigger brother: 130 mm) have well designed mirrors but are cheaply made in China with poor quality control and only few scopes perform as expected from the box and without calibration and modifications.
Furthermore, the cheapo eyepieces degrade the image and poor mechanical construction of the mount cancels out the theoretical precision of computerized autostar system. In addition, the manual, instructions, and even display on the autostar are confusing and some people are not correctly aligning, calibrating, and training the scope.
In summary, the high expectations of the buyers, poor mechanical quality, and frequent user errors contribute to poor satisfaction of the owners.
Now, note that Meade made some improvements to its DS line and the newer DS-2000 series are better, with improved mount, but still not bulletproof (see my DS-2130AT review). I would not recommended getting the discontinued DS-114AT at all!
They are not worth the detail price; that is for sure.
You can have them for half price at the meade outlet store on ebay, if you desire. But do homework first.
On a side, don't buy one of the short versions of the DS reflectors, designated ATS (and more expensive)! They have additional lenses that ruin the good design of newtonal reflectors! Hard to collimate.
You may want to look at the ETX refractors line from Meade since they are more reliable ($279 for the cheapest ETX80ATTC).
Even some newer DS series refractors are not too bad such as the DS2090ATTC for $198 at Costco.
I personally went for a refurbished DS2130 ($164) and will do some mods.
It was white painted and looked nice, the pictures of planets on the box looked so nice. I almost bought it!
You know, buying a telescope is likely an impulse buy (seasonal, around Christmas). The marketers set up a trap showing beautiful pictures of planets on the box (most likely taken with powerful scopes) and misleading the unassuming public that the colorful pictures of planets will be visible with the displayed model. You fall for a trap. I almost did when I saw a DS114AT.
However, I researched the net and saw reviews of this scope stating that the quality of images was comparable with binoculars and it was totally unreliable. Yet, some people claimed that the optics were superb (for it's price) and the scope was worth the price. Now, which opinion is correct? I was confused.
I spent countless hours on various sites reading about owners of DS scopes complaining about all kinds of problems.
The pattern that emerged is that these scopes (as well as it's bigger brother: 130 mm) have well designed mirrors but are cheaply made in China with poor quality control and only few scopes perform as expected from the box and without calibration and modifications.
Furthermore, the cheapo eyepieces degrade the image and poor mechanical construction of the mount cancels out the theoretical precision of computerized autostar system. In addition, the manual, instructions, and even display on the autostar are confusing and some people are not correctly aligning, calibrating, and training the scope.
In summary, the high expectations of the buyers, poor mechanical quality, and frequent user errors contribute to poor satisfaction of the owners.
Now, note that Meade made some improvements to its DS line and the newer DS-2000 series are better, with improved mount, but still not bulletproof (see my DS-2130AT review). I would not recommended getting the discontinued DS-114AT at all!
They are not worth the detail price; that is for sure.
You can have them for half price at the meade outlet store on ebay, if you desire. But do homework first.
On a side, don't buy one of the short versions of the DS reflectors, designated ATS (and more expensive)! They have additional lenses that ruin the good design of newtonal reflectors! Hard to collimate.
You may want to look at the ETX refractors line from Meade since they are more reliable ($279 for the cheapest ETX80ATTC).
Even some newer DS series refractors are not too bad such as the DS2090ATTC for $198 at Costco.
I personally went for a refurbished DS2130 ($164) and will do some mods.
