binoculars

We had our new ETX 105 inspected and tuned by the astronomer at the Arkansas Observatory. The optics were measure at 1/8th wave and were rated as A++. Only slight tub alignment was necessary to optimize optical performance. Meade has a reputation for excellent optics - especially with the UHTC coating. This is probably the biggest reason to choose this brand! The optics are all made in the USA at Meades Irvine California factory. Most other scopes in this price range are made in China and have inferior optics.

If the previous reviewer has experienced poor optical performance he should contact Meade as this is not what most owners report. That said, at lot of factors affect your ability to view distant objects, such as Saturn, clearly. Not the least of which is the atmospheric conditions where you are viewing from. I have viewed the moon through this telescope using a 6mm objective and found the image to be very sharp. The same night I viewed Saturn and found it to be somewhat fuzzy.

For a good idea of what the capability's of this scope are see the pictures taken through it at:
http://www.thedirks.org/astro/

The biggest problem with these scopes is there Vertical and, to a lesser extent, Horizontal gears used for tracking objects. Often they have a lot of backlash and can easily become stripped as one tends to over-tighten the Vertical locking mechanism to compensate. Instead the Astronomer rebuilt the gears in our scope so that they now work perfectly. The Arkansas Observatory, which houses a large Meade Telescope of its own, offers this tune-up service for around $250 per scope.

An excellent source of information about these scopes along with pictures taken through them can be found at: http://www.weasner.com/etx/menu.html.

For information on haveing a Meade or other brand of telescope tune-up by the Observatory click on "Services" at: http://www.arksky.org/

They claim a maximum magnification of 420. I have the following accessories: UWA 4.7mm eyepiece, SP 6.4mm eyepiece, Barlow 2x and the erecting prism.

Due to the poor quality of the mirror/reflector I can only magnify up to 114x (the standard 26mm with the 2x Barlow).

I do not get a clearer nor a better image with the Ultra Wide 4.7mm eyepiece and the 6.4mm eyepiece also has the same effect: a larger image but with very poor clarity.