Meade 4000 QX 20mm


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Brand and Model:Meade 4000 QX 20mm
Price ($USD):79
Type:Ultra Wide Angle
Focal Length:20 mm
Barrel Size:1.25
Apparent FOV:70.0 degrees
Field Stop Dia.:0.0 mm
Eye Relief:0 mm
Elements:5
Weight (lbs):
Description:Meade series 4000 QX 20mm Eyepiece.70 degree F.O.V.

Vote Highlights Vote
Meade 4000 QX 20mm
Tested the 20mm QX in only two dobs. Did not test in refractor or SCT.

I stuck 20mm QX in the 12.5 f5 Starmaster and noticed that the middle half to two thirds of this eyepiece was pinpoint sharp and good contrast. Moving past the center or two thirds portion, the stars were no longer pinpoint, not only were they larger, they also sprouted little wings, like a v. Attempts to defocus the central portion and thus bring the outer portion into focus were not useful, all of the eyepiece was now out of focus. This area of out of focus was consistent the entire circumference of the eyepiece. For grins and giggles, I put the eyepiece into our f6 8 inch scope to see if there was any difference in a little slower scope, there was not. We did not bring the refractor or the SCT, so I cannot comment on the performance in those arenas.

With these flaws apparent, I felt it would only be fair to compare this eyepiece to another in the same price range. I just happened to have a Televue 20mm Plossl with us this trip and as I recall, this is about the same price. The Plossl is pinpoint sharp in the entire field of view. The QX seemed to get fuzzy around the edges at about a little bit less than the field of view of the Plossl. As the evening was quite good for contrast, I compared the contrast on M51, the Lagoon and the Trifid. The QX has good contrast, but I feel that the Plossl beat it slightly. In total, I spent an hour and a half comparing the two eyepieces in two different dobs. And the following evening I spent another 20 minutes or so with the QX to double check my findings.

My conclusion is that the QX has a greater eye relief than the Plossl and the QX does have a wider field than the Plossl, but because the wider field area is not sharp, if I had a choice between the two, I would take the Plossl. The Plossl is pinpoint sharp in the entire field of view and has what seems to be a slight edge on providing better contrast. For those not concerned with edge sharpness, but like the wider field to help locate objects, and then only view the objects within the central portion of the eyepiece, this QX could make a nice addition.

On the other side of the fence, my better half wears eyeglasses when observing. She is 100% pleased with this eyepiece and does not find any of the faults I have mentioned. Upon close questioning it would seem that with the combination of the eyeglasses and eye relief she does not see anywhere near the field stop as I do bare eye. Her description is that she can move her head and eye around to see the edges (reminds me of ‘space walk’) so it could be that in her normal view with the eyeglasses she is only hitting the sweet spot of the is eyepiece.

Hope this will be of some use to those interested in the 20mm.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:7 Value:6
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=443980


Meade 4000 QX 20mm
The meade 4000 QX 20mm is a very good super wide angle eyepiece .Bright clear wide views of deep space objects.Great contrast .Pin point stars except a little elongation at the very edges.This is a fantastic value for the price.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=418912

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