This was my first 'scope. I paid about $400 for it in 2002. It came with a 25mm Sirius Plössl Eyepiece and a 9mm MA Eyepiece. It took me about an hour to set it set it up the first time. Now, when I tear it down, I leave the mount and the tripod together which I have gotten a travel bag for. I would suggest to anyone that they keep the boxes the 'scope came in for transporting the OTA in. It only takes about 10 minutes to assemble to two parts. The 'scope weighs about 38 lbs assembled.

The plastic OTA cap fits on tightly. I have put a little piece of Velcro on the inside surface and another piece on one of the tripod legs. When I take the cap off, it can stick to the tripod and won't fall on the ground.

As you can see, I made a home-made "dew" shield. Of course the Newtonian doesn't really need a dew shield but it does need something to block out stray light when observing from "Urban" locations. It's just made out of black poster board. Every little bit counts!

I'm hoping this picture is pretty self-explanatory. The red-dot (EZ finder) could have been put in a better spot. From this view you can see all the good stuff inside!

I would avoid messing with the secondary mirror unless the 'scope is severely mishandled. The factory does a good job of setting this before shipping. More on the Primary mirror later.

There is one thing I discovered about equatorial Newtonians that I didn't really care for: a lot of the time when you change viewing directions, you have to loosen the O-ring Retaining screws and rotate the whole scope so the eyepiece is in a convenient place to see through. Otherwise, it may be pointing straight down!

I also found out early on to make sure the O-ring screws are secured firmly and to recheck them as the night goes on. One night when I was viewing the evening had started out rather warm and cooled down as it got later. I had taken a break to come inside and had pointed the 'scope straight up. When I came back, I found the 'scope had slid in the O-rings! If the screws had been any looser, the tube would have smacked the ground...not good. You can see where I have put clear tape on the tube with red marks on them. This is so I can keep the tube in relatively the same place within the O-rings so I don't throw the 'scope off balance.

Balancing the 'scope is another important thing. The best way I found was to center the tube in the O-rings. Then, move it around in various positions making sure that it stays put. The idea is for it to remain where you set it without having to lock it down every time. If it won't stay balanced, move the counter-weight up or down on the shaft until the tube stays put. Make sure the weight is secure and ALWAYS re-check both the counter-weight bolt and the retaining screw at the bottom of the shaft. The weight is about 4.5 lbs. The 'scope came with two of them but I've found one works fine.

The finderscope is adequate but is a pain to align. I try to never take it off. In the event that I have to take the finder off, I've put pieces of clear tape on the tube and marked on the tape in red, the general area the finder should rest. Of course, the finderscope is of Achromatic design.

The focuser is what I think is Meade's weak-spot. I'm not sure why they put plastic focusers on their 'scopes. But...they do. It's not a bad focuser and in the year I've had it, it has not developed any "backlash": the assembly still remains pretty solid.

I did try once to use a 2" eyepiece in it though. I would not really recommend this. The adapter came off fairly easy but it was a bear trying to get it back on without stripping the plastic threads. The 1.25 adapter is made out of metal and it only has one eyepiece retaining screw (not shown).

There is a plate between the two focusing knobs that can be removed if you feel the need to re-lube the gears.

This is where you collimate the Primary Mirror. I'm not going to get into how to do that here. I just wanted to point out which screws to use. It should take much less the one "turn" of the screws to move the mirror in the direction you need to adjust for. The ones I've indicated have Phillips/slotted heads while the others have hex heads.

There is a space between the mirror housing to aid in the "cooling down" of the mirrors. I've found that 1/2 an hour is plenty. I've also found the mirrors cool better when the 'scope is pointed upwards and with the cap removed. But, don't forget to make sure your O-ring retaining screws are tight!

Ah...now for the all important mount. I must say, I've seen worse for sure. This one is pretty solid. It does have the capability to add a tracking motor. That's one reason I chose this package. The OTA is about 44" long and with a steady wind (which is not good for viewing anyway) the image in the eyepiece will shake with this mount, but mostly due to the tripod I believe. I've only really noticed shaking under these conditions when trying to view objects at medium to high powers: something in the range of 140x.

The "slow-motion" gears have become a little stiff over the past year and will also cause the object in the eyepiece to shudder when trying to manually track at medium to high powers.

Only one "Lock-down" handle is shown in the picture. The other one is on the other side. These have also lost a lot of their firmness in the last year.

The 'scope does come with setting circles but as of yet I have not learned how use them. I find things by star-hoping.

A hole through the mount is provided for a polar-alignment 'scope but one is not included with the package I got. Unless your using the setting circles or doing astrophotography, a polar-alignment is not that important.

So, what can I see with this 'scope you ask! One thing I learned right off the bat...I can't see the objects like they are pictured in magazines, books or even on websites from the manufacturer.

The moon is awesome in any 'scope...this one included. The maximum useful magnification I have found is in the vicinity of 275x. Beyond that, the image breaks down. Not really in viewing of the planets or moon but in deep-sky objects. The down-side of planets and the moon is that with high magnification, when tracking, the 'scope cannot maintain its steadiness.

The 'scope is capable of seeing all the Messier Objects very clearly. I've even seen the Veil Nebula in dark skies. I've seen the Cat's Eye Nebula but not in any detail. Mostly it is a blue ball with a faint yellow central star. The Ring Nebula on the other hand is very nice. The Cassini division of Saturn is crisp and clear with distinct separation although I have not been able to catch the Giant Red Spot of Jupiter. The Polar Ice Caps of Mars were visible with a slight hint of surface features on the planet. In the brighter globular clusters, individual stars can be resolved but only a few of the NGC galaxies are visible.

The 'scope was made in Taiwan for the Meade Corporation of Irvine, California. Others will talk about "fringing", "coma" and "star tests" in order to degrade this type of scope. The 'scope does have its limitations. I can tell you this is a fine starter 'scope and well worth the money. For some, they may find this 'scope the only one they would ever need. It is capable of a life-time of observing the heavens.