Meade DS-90EC


 Info  Votes  Messages  More Stats  Up One Level
Brand and Model:Meade DS-90EC
Price ($USD):469
Type:Plain Refractor
Attributes: un-checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:90mm (3.5")
f Ratio:f/11.1
Focal Length:1000mm
Finder:
Electric Power:yes
Mount:Alt-Az
Tripod:yes
Weight (lbs):lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:Cloudy Nights' Review

Vote Highlights Vote
Meade DS-90EC
Good beginner scope. Optics show very little false color due to slow focal length (f/11.)

Mount points well when properly aligned and trained. Mine, however, needed some tightening of the worm gears. Easy enough to do - it is done by tightening the brass nuts on the sides of the worm gears. Unfortunately, I Meade does not explain this in the manual.

Great as a grab-and-go type scope for quick peeks of the planets, and the Messiers from dark skies.

Not the sturdiest mount in the world, but no worse than any other telescope with an aluminum tripod.

The electric focuser is a must!

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:8 Mount:5 Ease of Use:5 Value:7
Weight: 8 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=242099


Meade DS-90EC
The 90mm DS scope with its electronic-control mount available for about $200 on Astromart, is a fantastic deal. I have 6 of them and recommend any starting observer to buy one.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Mount:8 Ease of Use:8 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=425368


Meade DS-90EC
Great scope for the beginner. Better optics and light-gathering ability than the 90mm ETX - and it points better as well. The mount is lightweight, and it does take a little time to get used to the Autostar. But it certainly can show you everything in the sky worth seeing. This telescope does particularly well on planets and has very little chromatic abberation. Startests are textbook perfect. The only thing that Meade should have done is made a better tripod - they REALLY need to stop with the cheap aluminum jobs.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:10 Mount:5 Ease of Use:6 Value:10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=138005


Meade DS-90EC
Mount is OK, but the real value is the optics.

I have been in astronomy for over 30 years, and this has to be one of the best 90mm achromats I have ever used. I have pushed this tube to 250x on Jupiter and Saturn for very detailed views and no image breakdown. I used to have a 90mm ETX for a portable scope, and was always disappointed with the dim views and soft image provided by the optics. This scope has replaced it as my grab and go - if you can still find one, but it - they are an excellent bargain!

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Mount:4 Ease of Use:6 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=466852


Meade DS-90EC
Good and cheap telescope for beginers if equiped with autostar system (472 € complete with autostar). The mount is not perfect and needs some adjustements (informations can be found on web sites).

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Mount:6 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=125559


Meade DS-90EC
Optics good for the money. Mount crappy for the money. Numerous mount problems that must be fixed by disassembly and haunting user groups. Polar alignment can take several HOURs and up to a dozen attempts with no success. The very first time I got mine, I aligned it perfectly by accident and I have never, ever been able to do it since, down to less than 10 degrees error. That's a lot of error. I think I must have moved some part that the previous owner bolted down.

These scopes are being blown out for $350 across the country right now (summer 2002). Don't get one unless you like to tinker. Optics do measure up to my ETX-90, though.

I'm donating mine to a school, without AutoStar, so all they need to do is use the speed control to keep the object centered.

Overall Rating: 6
Optics:9 Mount:3 Ease of Use:1 Value:5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=100472

> Polar alignment can take several HOURs and up to a dozen attempts with no success. The very first time I got mine, I aligned it perfectly by accident and I have never, ever been able to do it since, down to less than 10 degrees error. That's a lot of error. I think I must have moved some part that the previous owner bolted down. 
>

These are alt/az scopes, so I am not sure how or why you would be trying to polar align one.  

As for the ten degrees error, it sounds like you need to change the 'daylight savings' setting in the Autostar - the 1 hour difference would account for the 10 degree error.  Honestly, the biggest problem people have with this scope is not reading the manual thoroughly and making silly errors like this, and then claiming - "It doesn't point properly."   They really do point and track quite well, once you know you're way around the autostar.

Meade DS-90EC
The telescope itself is OK, as is the 25mm eyepiece. The 9mm eyepiece is poor. The mount could be better, though fortunately the motors on mine were of a later type and are more reliable. Overall the scope is OK, and by getting better eyepieces can be improved.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40943


Meade DS-90EC
I can't speak for star tests in particular, (though one comment on Mike Weasner's board suggests the star tests for this refractor are often pretty good) or brightness, etc. I can only speak of my experiences with this scope as a beginner getting back into the hobby after a period of time, having used 60 and 70mm scopes at the time and gotten some useful views out of them. I'll also note I have a web site devoted to this scope, which is here: http://www.mindspring.com/~dwmyers/ds90ec.html. Now, to the viewing. I've been able to see markings on Mars and had outstanding views of the Moon with this scope. I've split Mizar, Polaris, and epsilon Lyra with this scope. I've had good views of M4, M6 and M7, M13, and M57 with this scope. In dark skies, M13 has a granular appearance, and is not smooth. Averted vision offers a tantalizing glimpse of some stars. The motors do work, but without completing alignment, you cannot track and I've had some trouble to date with power cords and this scope. The mount is largely made of plastic and has rubber tipped legs. There is some vibration if you tap the OTA but it will damp within a second or two.
In my opinion this is not a scope for someone who wants a purely optical experience and want to just point and look. You have to like playing with the hardware, firmware, and software and be willing to modify and experiment. In the price range of this scope there are non-electronic alternatives for those who don't want to sit on the bleeding edge of the low end motor mount technology and that have excellent optics. But if you're computer literate and experimental and willing to use a tool or two, if you're willing to treat this telescope the way amateurs treated the Radio Shack Color Computers and Commodore VIC-20/C64s and Apples of the 80s, as templates from which to build and explore, then this is a perfectly fine scope.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40942


Meade DS-90EC
Good optics, but ridiculous mount, tripod and electronics. It is a joke. I bought my DS-70EC for $60 used and I thought it was a poor deal.

Overall Rating: 2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40940


Meade DS-90EC
The telescope tube is ok. The problem is the tripod and the electronic system. I used the thelescope like 5 times and after that the locks in the legs were broken, also I received my telescope bad assambled because the nut in the az. axe was not be tight enough, as a consecuence at the beggineng I cuold not alingne the telescope and of course it was impposible finding any thing. The Electronic system is really bad, I think it was designed for smaller telescopes like DS60-EC or DS70-EC because befor to start I have to find an equlibrium point, I mean, if the equilibrium poin is not detected some times the telescope does not go up or down even more if you find the equilibriom point but the focus is compleate in when you take out the focous again you have to find the equilibriom point, I suppouse the problem here is the motors aren't powerfull enough for the weigth of this telescope. An other big problem is the telescope does not have any sensor if the thelescope is in its vertical limit (0deg or 90deg) and the user does not realize this situation and continues presing the control button the telecope could be damaged. Of course what cloud you expect for less than $500?

Overall Rating: 3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40938

[Click Here to Login]
Don't have a login? Register!