Meade ETX-60AT

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Brand and Model:Meade ETX-60AT
Price ($USD):$199.00
Type:Achromatic Refractor
Attributes: checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:60mm (2.4")
f Ratio:f/5.8
Focal Length:348mm
Finder:
Electric Power:12V (8AA)
Mount:
Tripod:
Weight (lbs):lbs.
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:Cloudy Nights' Review
Ed Ting's Review
Weasner's Mighty ETX Website
Vote Highlights Vote
Meade ETX-60AT
I got this scope as many did from Costco at the deeply discounted price. I did not expect much from such a small cheap refractor, but thought it might be fun to paly with the goto capabilities. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the optics, not superb but pretty good. It has been a lot of fun to use and I would not hesitate to suggest it to others even considering its limited aperture. I would suggest strongly that users get or fabricate an extention to the focuser knob, When pointed towards the zenith it is difficult to get your fingers on the focuser and even if you do it will induce vibration.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:7 Mount:7 Ease of Use:8 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By: gabeeg
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=103841

Meade ETX-60AT
I gave this scope a high overall as I think you have to see it as a beginer scope,that is very smart and easy to use once you use it a few times.I have a 12" lx200 as my main scope and bought the etx60-at for HA solar use.I was rather impressed with it as a night scope after putting my better eyepieces in it.I had no trouble seeing the larger planets and thier moons.The moon was wonderfull to view.I left it tracking saturn for 2 hours and it was still in the center of the ep.It does have rather high ambitions when you consider the items in it's goto memory,has some things that you can never see.I think they are there so a youngster could say he or she was looking in the right spot anyway.The goto was excellant once the allingment was done right and it didn't seem too difficult once you did it a few times.The focus knob it silly and I too added a tube to extend it,can't imagine what meade was thinking when that idea came up.All in all a wonderfull value.This is not a toy but the kids can have a ball with it at these prices.Just a note,Coronado used it as one of their test bed scopes for their solar filters,that says a lot to me.I like the little thing!

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Ease of Use:8 Value:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By: tom
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=84712

Meade ETX-60AT
The GOTO gimick on this scope is pretty useless, as you can't see much beyond the planets and the Moon (and if you can't find those yourself, you'd better go back in the house!). Some limited deep sky capability, but overall, your money is much better spent on something like a Short Tube 80, or Orion's StarMax 90. If GOTO is your thing, save up and go for the ETX-90/105/125 EC models. They have better GOTO capability (with upgraded AutoStar) and the larger aperture will make looking at stuff much more interesting. The optics in this scope weren't bad, but noticable false colour around bright objects is distracting. VERDICT: Not recommended.

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:6 Mount:5 Ease of Use:5 Value:5
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By: BBQedIguana
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=142082

Meade ETX-60AT
Spend the extra 100 bucks and buy a dob. This scope's apperature prevents you from using any magnification. No detail on jupiter or saturns rings. Dont even think about deep space objects. what a joke. Will give the optics credit. The moon looks very nice through it but the moon looks very nice through a nice set of binoculars. A waste of my money.

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:7 Mount:0 Ease of Use:0 Value:5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.253.11)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=358494

Meade ETX-60AT
The "ease of use" rating would have been a notch higher except for the focuser knob issue. Even when you can reach it you need to crank it fifty times to focus after switching the eyepieces. Would have been better if they supplied parfocal eyepieces. The goto functions great and the tracking is great. Make sure you keep fresh batteries in it or it will take on a mind of its own! Optics are great, of course considering its small size. It is small enough to take anywhere and anytime. I am happy with this telescope but wouldn't be without my 10" reflector for dark sky weekends.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Mount:8 Ease of Use:8 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.28.1)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=311086

Meade ETX-60AT
The mounting/motor is no good without the special tripod. Optics are OK, but it is well worth its money and features abound.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:5 Mount:2 Ease of Use:9 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.153.15)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=111695

Meade ETX-60AT
Got this scope for ~125.00 at Costco. The optics are good for a cheap refractor. There is a good amount of chromatic fringing of bright objects as would be expected. for the price it is a fun scope and the Autostar alone is worth the price of admission. A good easy to set up a travel with scope. Great for people like me that own larger scopes or for those new to astronomy.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:7 Mount:8 Ease of Use:7 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.61.63)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=47761

Meade ETX-60AT
I found this to be a great starter scope. I can set it up in about 60 seconds, it mounts easily to the tripod without any problems. Using a 2x barlow & a 9mm lens I have no problems viewing Saturn & Jupiter. Also, my kids love it because of the auto tracking. I recommend this for anyone looking for cheap telescope & is not familiar with the sky.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.90.86)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40814

Meade ETX-60AT
Goto software goes berserk close to zenith and takes way too long to startup
and align even for experts; too many turns to re-focus a different eyepiece;
can't reach focus knob in many positions; optics good, but all-in-all a poor
value at $300.

Overall Rating: 4
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.147.227)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40813

Meade ETX-60AT
This is an amazing little scope. First time out it took 60 sec to do an alignment, then every object in the "tour" mode was dead center. I can't comment on the manual because I never read it. The whole alignment process is self explanitory and fool proof.

Optics are good, better than the circa 1958 60mm I started the hobby with. In a very dark sky location, all objects showed very nice.

I bought the scope for it's portability as a travel scope, and for quick views of the Sun. Also, great second scope for friends to fool with while I do other things with my "main" scope.

A great buy. The only reason I am giving it an "8" is the focusing knob is difficult to work, but I even was able to figure out how to make it function better by "rolling" my thumb over it, rather than using thumb and index finger to turn it.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.74.67)
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40812

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