Meade 4500


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Brand and Model:Meade 4500
Price ($USD):$399
Type:Newtonian
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:114mm (4.5")
f Ratio:f/7.9
Focal Length:910mm
Finder:6x30
Electric Power:
Mount:GEM
Tripod:Aluminum
Weight (lbs):lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:

Vote Highlights Vote
Meade 4500
I bought one of these telescopes a few years ago. The optics are good. With good eyepieces, I can easily spot some of the dimmer Messier objects. It makes a BIG difference if the optics are just a little bit out of alignment. The supplied 25mm MA eyepiece is fair, but I bought a 20mm Plossl to take its place because the plossl has the same FOV, and the eyepiece quality makes up for the brightness lost due to magnifacation. The 6X30 finder is fair. The focuser is good, and I like the big knobs.
The mount is fairly stable, with vibrations dampening out in 3 seconds. One problem is with the thumb-screws that hold the slow motion cables on, they work themselves out very easily.
It is very easy to set up, and portable enough to take on trips.
I paid $200 for mine (new) and I think it was an excellent deal. At the time, $400 was a good deal, but now that Orion has their SkyView Deluxe 4.5", the 4500 is not such a good deal.
*Update* Ok, I was being a little kind to it in my first post there. After getting my 10" this sat in the closet for a while. A couple of weeks ago I decided to take it out because I didn't have time to take out the 10" and all. I now relize how shakey that mount is. I don't see how I put up with it before. Wood legs would probably help it out. I do not regret getting it because I used it a lot and it served its purpose. But it you come across one, unless it is pretty darn cheap (or is $500 and comes with a few Naglers;-) I wouldn't get it. There are much better beginning scopes out there at the ~$200 dollar range, such as the XT4.5", Orion ST80 and similar scopes.

Overall Rating: 4
Optics:6 Mount:2 Ease of Use:5 Value:5
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=124987


Meade 4500
Tested this thing once and could not get a good focus on the moon (double images). The 10 cent secondary is so bad it was hard to see if anything else was good. Mount vibrates for a week.

Overall Rating: 1
Optics:1 Mount:1 Ease of Use:3 Value:1
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=51239


Meade 4500
I've had it for 5 years. I still like it.
Good deal for the money now. A great deal 5 years ago.
Easy to use.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:7 Mount:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=598529


Meade 4500
Either I have a completely different Meade 4500 or I got one heck of a deal. The scope WAS wobbly on it's mount until I took the time to read
the instruction manual and tighten all the bolts and nuts that were loose per the instruction manual. I also adjusted the tension on both the RA and DEC axis nuts. No wobble now! The whole scope is light weight so there are problems with bumping the scope, but it settles down very quickly. The scope arrived in collimation, but I dissassembled everything to put black flock paper in the tube. Once I had flocked the tube and put it back together it took awhile to get the hang of the bolts on the primary. Even though they are not push-pull, they act like it. The secondary was easy to adjust and stayed fixed in place. The optics are excellent and for a quick look scope I couldn't ask for anything more. There are some problems with the worms, but taking the time to adjust them removed most if not all of the backlash. I don't rate any better simply because I had to spend an afternoon snugging up everything

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:7 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=345951


Meade 4500
I bought the Meade 4500 about 7 or 8 years ago as a starter in the hobby. It has served that purpose well, and overall is a good beginner's scope. However, it does have some quality issues, some that have been previously addressed. Thumbscrews on the motion-control constantly work out. The eyepieces (9mm and 25mm supplied) are of lower quality, and do not have eyeguards. When I first bought the scope lubricant from the focus assembly dripped down inside the scope. Luckily, I cleaned it up before it ended up on the mirrors.

All in all, I have a soft-spot for the 4500. It served me well and spurred my interest in astronomy. Quality issues aside I would still recommend this scope to a beginner.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:5 Ease of Use:8 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=288649


Meade 4500
was given this scope as a gift to supplement my 12.5 inch dob. the 4500 needs precise collimation and care should be taken when adjusting the collimating screws behind the mirror cell not to advance them into the back of the primary mirror (this is possible since they are threaded into a tapped hole that is open on both ends making it possible to ram the screws into the back of the mirror). THIS WILL RUIN YOUR IMAGE BY FLEXING THE MIRRORS SURFACE. Instead, feed the screws just into the rear of the cell and make further adjustments using the 3 hex-nut set screws also mounted on the rear of the mirror cell. . .you'll see what I mean.

GOOD CONTRAST.

AIRY DISK AT HIGHER POWERS.

SPLITS DOUBLE STARS EASILY TO DAWES AND RALEIGH LIMIT.

SETS UP QUICKLY.

SETTING CIRCLES ARE SUFFICIENT THAT AN EXPERIENCED AMATEUR ASTRONOMER CAN LOCATE OBJECTS USING THEM FAIRLY QUICKLY. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO PUT THE OBJECT SOUGHT IN THE CENTER OF THE FIELD OF VIEW BUT WILL GET YOU CLOSE ENOUGH THAT WITH A 1 INCH FOCAL LENGTH EYEPIECE YOU WILL FIND IT WITHIN A MINUTE OR SO.

GOOD VALUE AND NICE FOR A QUICK LOOK.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:8 Mount:5 Ease of Use:7 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=52750


Meade 4500
look if you are looking for a entery level scope,this is NOT it....
this scope sux...
i OWN this piece of STUFF....
first , the thing is CHEEPY built...
2. it does NOT hold collomtion at all..!!
3. the mount and tripod is JUNK..
4. the SMA eye pieces are TOTAL crap..!!
5. the focuser i replaced... through the old one away....
6. for how much i spent on this.. i could have bought a toilet and had something i could use with out rebuilding the intire thing...
7. once i replaced the optics. primary and secondary mirrors..new focuser. and
the mount and triod. orion sales the delux mount... that is what I used to replace the meade mount and tripod..
i bought the Orion soundary and primary mirrors and through the meade shit away..
as for the focuser.. Orion 1 1/4 focuser worked will..
it is ALL metal and is smooth operator. it is NOT a great focuser BUT it does a HUGHLY better job than the meade stuff..
what i should have done with this scope was return it... but i was destin to see what the hell it was going to take to FIX it so i could truely enjoy it..
what i have left of the original is the TUBE ...and the mirror mounts and the 3 way secondary mirror holder.....
as for the tube itself...
i had lined it with a flat black fabaric.. glued it in....
then added a 4 inch light sheild as well.... extention ..
as for the primary mirror holder ... i toke it totally apart. found that two of the holes for mirror adjustment were stripped... had to retap that and up size all the bolts..
once i fitted the the primary mirror to the mirror holder i had to do minor work to get it to fit into the holder..
then after that... it fit will into the tube...
as for the spider and the secondard mirror. it went together well...thanks to double sided tape..
NOW i have a great scope... NO friles and it works well...
THANK YOU FOR YOU TIME..
Darrell

Overall Rating: 2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38657


Meade 4500
Good sharp and bright optics on a wobbly mount, but excellent value for money nevertheless. RA drive (optional) was a rip-off at £70 and is prone to "jump" if the scope is not perfectly balanced and the gears perfectly aligned. An excellent all-rounder.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38656


Meade 4500
The Meade 4500 was my first telescope, and I must say it's absolutely perfect for the beginner. You can't beat the cost, I see them selling for $150 all over the place. The telescope is no slacker, either. For the money, you are getting a great piece of equipment. It's portable and easy to use. It's the perfect appetite whetter, to test how interested you are in the hobby, before you go blowing tons of money on more advanced equipment. I agree with the previous reviews, get some decent eyepieces like meade or celestron plossl's. The MA's aren't that great. And yes, the mount isn't super-great, but it works. I've seen plenty worse. I highly recommend this telescope to any beginner.

Clear skies to all!!!!

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38655


Meade 4500
Good optics, fair mount and workmanship.

A very good way (non deceiving) to enter astronomy observation

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38654

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