Meade DS-2130AT Telescope
Out of stock |
Similar in Telescopes
- Optical Diameter: 130 mm
- Finderscope: Optical
- Mount Type: Altazimuth
- Motorized: Yes
- Focal Length: 1020 mm
- Optical Design: Newtonians
- Overview
-
Reviews
-
Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Read this before buying Meade DS series telescopes!
Pros
5" reflector quality newtonian mirrors. Ways to improve. TOGO autostar. Cheap if refurbished.
Cons
Poor quality of the eyepieces. Meade refractors may be better. Not reliable at all.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Avoid this unless you like modding and fixing things all the time.
For most buyers, buying a telescope is a seasonal, likely Christmas, impulse buy.
You know, you walk down a dept store and there is stack of glistening scopes with pictures of planets on the box.
Your inner child screams for one, who didn't want to have a scope as a child.
You make the mistake of assuming that the colorful pictures planets will be visible with the model. You fall for a trap.
I almost did that when I saw a DS114AT at Sams club for $200.
However, I researched the net and saw reviews of this scope stating that the quality of images was comparable with binoculars. WTF? Is it possible?
Well, it is. I spent countless hours on these following 2 sites reading about owners of DS scopes complaining about all kinds of problems:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-DS-Telescopes/
http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html
The pattern that emerged is that these scopes are cheaply made in China with nobody checking the quality at the door and only few scopes perform as expected from the box and without calibration and modifications. They are not worth the detail price!
The design is American and not too bad, mirrors are good (if not damaged in shipping) and the autostar TOGO usually works, if helped with modifications.
The good new is that the countless returned scopes can be had for half price at the meade outlet store on ebay.
I ordered my DS2130AT for $164 shipped (detail price of $299) and braced myself for all kinds of problems. It came with slightly banged tube (purely cosmetic), can't put one on the mount: mounting screw is missing (had to call to get one), had to request the 1.25" eyepiece adapter (free), have to get a decent set of eyepieces (since the stock 0.965" is garbage; I'm looking at least $100-130 to get quality 1.25" eyepieces), who knows if electronics are working (but have the 1 year warranty)?
Hopefully with new set of eyepieces and a few modification to the drive and battery source, it should be a good performing 5" reflector (I will keep you posted). I saw quality pictures made with mod 2310. However, it's a lot of hassle and not for a faint of hart. Also, don't expect to see images like on the box !!!
BTW, I quickly looked at Mars last night even though the scope was still not mounted (waiting for the screw). The optics work but the image was not that much better (in details or lack thereof) that my 8-25x/25mm binoculars. So much for the crap stock eyepieces!
One more thing, don't buy one of the short versions of the DS reflectors, designated ATS or DTS (and more expensive)! They have additional lenses that ruin the perfect design of newtonal reflectors! Hard to collimate.
After buying this one, someone pointed out to me that some Meade refractors may be better value than reflectors. I looked at the ETX line and they are more reliable ($279 for the cheapest ETX80ATTC). Even some DS series refractors may not be bad.
I just looked up the specs and sounds like the newer DS2090ATTC is a good rig. It comes with 2 1.25" quality Plossl eyepieces vs 0.965" trash on the DS2130, and with autostar 497 vs lower 494 version on DS2130. The optics specs are somewhat lower (f/8.8 vs 8.0 and 800mm vs 1020mm) but close and refractors definitively tend to give nicer images in smaller scopes. Someone saw it for $198. It is a good deal for someone not wanting to do a lot of mods and settling on lower max magnification.
Update: The electronics initially worked but failed on the third viewing night: motor unit failure. Disappointing as I babied this and did everything by the books. Took an hour to reach the customer service and I need to send the mount back for repair (at least 2 weaks turn around time). Suffice to say that my rating goes from 3 stars to 1 star.
You know, you walk down a dept store and there is stack of glistening scopes with pictures of planets on the box.
Your inner child screams for one, who didn't want to have a scope as a child.
You make the mistake of assuming that the colorful pictures planets will be visible with the model. You fall for a trap.
I almost did that when I saw a DS114AT at Sams club for $200.
However, I researched the net and saw reviews of this scope stating that the quality of images was comparable with binoculars. WTF? Is it possible?
Well, it is. I spent countless hours on these following 2 sites reading about owners of DS scopes complaining about all kinds of problems:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meade-DS-Telescopes/
http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html
The pattern that emerged is that these scopes are cheaply made in China with nobody checking the quality at the door and only few scopes perform as expected from the box and without calibration and modifications. They are not worth the detail price!
The design is American and not too bad, mirrors are good (if not damaged in shipping) and the autostar TOGO usually works, if helped with modifications.
The good new is that the countless returned scopes can be had for half price at the meade outlet store on ebay.
I ordered my DS2130AT for $164 shipped (detail price of $299) and braced myself for all kinds of problems. It came with slightly banged tube (purely cosmetic), can't put one on the mount: mounting screw is missing (had to call to get one), had to request the 1.25" eyepiece adapter (free), have to get a decent set of eyepieces (since the stock 0.965" is garbage; I'm looking at least $100-130 to get quality 1.25" eyepieces), who knows if electronics are working (but have the 1 year warranty)?
Hopefully with new set of eyepieces and a few modification to the drive and battery source, it should be a good performing 5" reflector (I will keep you posted). I saw quality pictures made with mod 2310. However, it's a lot of hassle and not for a faint of hart. Also, don't expect to see images like on the box !!!
BTW, I quickly looked at Mars last night even though the scope was still not mounted (waiting for the screw). The optics work but the image was not that much better (in details or lack thereof) that my 8-25x/25mm binoculars. So much for the crap stock eyepieces!
One more thing, don't buy one of the short versions of the DS reflectors, designated ATS or DTS (and more expensive)! They have additional lenses that ruin the perfect design of newtonal reflectors! Hard to collimate.
After buying this one, someone pointed out to me that some Meade refractors may be better value than reflectors. I looked at the ETX line and they are more reliable ($279 for the cheapest ETX80ATTC). Even some DS series refractors may not be bad.
I just looked up the specs and sounds like the newer DS2090ATTC is a good rig. It comes with 2 1.25" quality Plossl eyepieces vs 0.965" trash on the DS2130, and with autostar 497 vs lower 494 version on DS2130. The optics specs are somewhat lower (f/8.8 vs 8.0 and 800mm vs 1020mm) but close and refractors definitively tend to give nicer images in smaller scopes. Someone saw it for $198. It is a good deal for someone not wanting to do a lot of mods and settling on lower max magnification.
Update: The electronics initially worked but failed on the third viewing night: motor unit failure. Disappointing as I babied this and did everything by the books. Took an hour to reach the customer service and I need to send the mount back for repair (at least 2 weaks turn around time). Suffice to say that my rating goes from 3 stars to 1 star.
