Meade NGC-60

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Meade NGC-60
I bought the plain-Jane NG-60A, and here’s the bad news. The accessory tray is so flimsy that I bent it while assembling the telescope. Moreover, you must detach it from two legs before you can close the tripod, using tiny screws and wingnuts guaranteed to lose themselves the first night out. The owner's manual shows a better, optional tray; opt for it if you can, or make your own. When I looked last night at the Beehive, Jupiter lay just outside the field of view and threw a series of bright rings across it; I suspect the cheezy diagonal. And the finderscope is atrocious! I can't see a third-magnitude star through it, but can almost hear its chromatic aberration; that's a blessing of sorts as the cross-hairs are wide enough to hide Jupiter without the color flare. No caps are provided for the finder or diagonal. Finally, the planetarium CD-ROM won’t run with Windows 2000 or XP.
Now the good news. The tripod and mount are improved beyond all recognition. The legs are rigid even at full length, the cam-locks hold them solidly, and the mount moves smoothly without slop in both planes. Each axis has its own tension adjustment. Traces of stiction and backlash remain, but the telescope damps within three seconds and holds still even in a breeze. It's entirely possible to focus on things and keep them in view at 100x. The 25 and 9mm modified-achromatic eyepieces bring out the astonishing quality of the objective, which exhibits near-theoretical resolution and very moderate false color. No useless barlow or 4mm eyepiece is included, and the box avoids specious claims of magnification. The manual is clear, assembly is simple, and the package uses recycled and recyclable materials.
In short, Meade has solved the most serious problems that plagued these little refractors for generations. The eyepieces supplied here serve nicely, and the mount works amazingly well. Out of the box, this is a genuinely usable telescope; with a reflex finder and a better accessory tray it’s a real pleasure. Yet for all the stunning improvements, the price of the battery-free variant has scarcely increased. I call that a deal and a half!

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:8 Mount:7 Ease of Use:5 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=223624

Meade NGC-60
Purchased NG-60 as a novice, based on Meade's reputation, for about $75. I'd say it was about what you'd expect in this price range, but overall a big disappointment. First, the Finderscope was impossible to keep aligned properly, and the Barlow was useless w/ all 3 eyepieces. The 4 mm eyepiece (175X) was obviously extremely poor quality and is a total mismatch. At 175x objects are very difficult to acquire and impossible to track- the view vibrates for a few seconds and objects are only in view for about 10 fuzzy seconds. Viewing at 78x was pretty good. Changing eyepieces was annoying because the scope would often fall due to the imbalance. Not impressed at all with the mount. I returned it for a refund!

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:5 Mount:4 Ease of Use:5 Value:3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=297154 

>Purchased NG-60 as a novice, based on Meade's reputation, for about $75.  I'd say it was about what you'd expect in this price range, but overall a big disappointment.  First, the Finderscope was impossible to keep aligned properly, and the Barlow was useless w/ all 3 eyepieces. The 4 mm eyepiece (175X) was obviously extremely poor quality and is a total mismatch. At 175x objects are very difficult to acquire and impossible to track- the view vibrates for a few seconds and objects are only in view for about 10 fuzzy seconds.  Viewing at 78x was pretty good.  Changing eyepieces was annoying because the scope would often fall due to the imbalance.  Not impressed at all with the mount.  I returned it for a refund!

I agree. I got this telescope as a gift. I didn't get the 4mm eyepiece but I got the Barlow and using this telescope at 156x is useless. And my tripod has broken in 2 places due to cheap aluminum & plastic. But I like the 25mm and 9mm eyepieces and the telescope itself and besides I got it free.
Meade NGC-60
The Meade NGC-60 is a solid telescope with a few problems.

#1-The Mount is EASY to break,but stable under 100x.
#2-The Finderscope is CHEAP Plastic.
#3-The GOTO is nowhere near as good as the ETX or LX GOTOs are.

Still,the NGC-60 is a fine telescope.With mine,I can see many objects.Saturn's rings are stunning at 78x,Jupiter shows 2 cloud belts,the great red spot(sometimes,difficult),and 4 moons,Venus goes through phases,when Mars is near the ice caps and dark regions are visible,and even greenish color on Uranus is noticable.For deep-sky objects,this telescope does fine despite the light pollution in my backyard(my LM is 3.5)as I can see The Pleadies,Double Cluster,Alberio,Sirius,Orion Nebula,Andromeda Galaxy,M15,and much much more fairly easily now that I'm used to it(note:some objects are super-easy).It came with 2 of Meade's MA eyepieces(they good!)and a 2x Barlow(it bad).A very solid buy.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Mount:6 Ease of Use:9 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=477911 

Oh! I rescore the tripod up from a 6 to a 7. Sorry.
>The Meade NGC-60 is a solid telescope with a few problems.
>
>#1-The Mount is EASY to break,but stable under 100x.
>#2-The Finderscope is CHEAP Plastic.
>#3-The GOTO is nowhere near as good as the ETX or LX GOTOs are.
>
>Still,the NGC-60 is a fine telescope.With mine,I can see many objects.Saturn's rings are stunning at 78x,Jupiter shows 2 cloud belts,the great red spot(sometimes,difficult),and 4 moons,Venus goes through phases,when Mars is near the ice caps and dark regions are visible,and even greenish color on Uranus is noticable.For deep-sky objects,this telescope does fine despite the light pollution in my backyard(my LM is 3.5)as I can see The Pleadies,Double Cluster,Alberio,Sirius,Orion Nebula,Andromeda Galaxy,M15,and much much more fairly easily now that I'm used to it(note:some objects are super-easy).It came with 2 of Meade's MA eyepieces(they good!)and a 2x Barlow(it bad).A very solid buy.

Update:
I recentley noticed a "star-test" web site and realized that at 80x in my telescope, the stars look a wee bit fuzzy, and at 156x they are blobs. So the optics are not as good as I originally thought, but they still get the job done(I can split several double stars cleanly and see detail on the planets).Or is it the 9mm eyepiece and Barlow I'm using?

PS:I am still happy with my telescope.
Meade NGC-60
Wonderful goods from you, man. I've bear in mind your stuff previous to and you're silmpy too fantastic. I really like what you've acquired right here, really like what you are stating and the best way during which you assert it. You're making it entertaining and you still care for to keep it sensible. I cant wait to learn far more from you. This is actually a great web site.

Overall Rating: 3
Optics:8 Mount:1 Ease of Use:7 Value:2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=602285

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