ETX CLASSIC FEEDBACK Last updated: 28 February 2009

This page is for comments and user feedback about the "ETX Classic" telescopes. ETX Classic models include the ETX-60/70/80/90/105/125 (EC, AT, BB, Premier Edition). This page also includes comments and feedback of a general nature. Comments on accessories and feedback items appropriate to the ETX-90RA, ETX-LS, DSX, and DS models are posted on other pages. If you have any comments, suggestions, questions or answers to questions posed here, e-mail them to me for posting. Please use an appropriate Subject Line on your message per the Site Email Etiquette. Thanks. Remember, tips described on this site may invalidate the warranty on your telescope or accessories. Neither the submitter nor myself are responsible for any damage caused by using any contributed tips.

Subject:	RE: ETX125PE Finding Level Problem
Sent:	Thursday, February 26, 2009 07:40:19
From:	Geoff Aukett (Geoff@f14help.com)
Changed the battery but still the same problem?

And:

I will contact Meade in the UK and see what they say.

Thanks for all your help.

Regards

Geoff

Subject:	EP adaptor
Sent:	Wednesday, February 25, 2009 20:59:20
From:	Bert Denovan (ngc104tuc@intas.net.au)
I use a 6mm 0.965" EP for collimating my LX90 however I lost the adaptor
for the 1.25" holder one night in the field somwhere.  I asked around
some of the Australian dealers and the only one that I could find cost
AUD$40!  The one that I lost cost AUD$10.  For what it is there was no
value in it and I was pleased to find an answer from a fellow Aussie on
your site, Mike.

Under Telescope Tips > Misc. Martin Lewicki showed how he had used a
35mm film canister to make the adaptor.  This morning I made one based
on his description and photo and it fits perfectly!  Cost?  Nil!  Thanks
Martin for the tip and thanks Mike for this great site.  (I do have a
ETXEC.)  Cheers!  Bert Denovan St Helens Tasmania

Subject:	ETX125PE Finding Level Problem
Sent:	Wednesday, February 25, 2009 12:41:49
From:	Geoff Aukett (Geoff@f14help.com)
Hope you can shed some light on this for me!

For reasons I won't go into our ETX 125PE has been packed in its box for
about 10 months now.  Just got it out and there is a problem. As I'm
sure you're aware, the first part of auto align process says "finding
level" at which point the tube motors down until it hits the base?

I have updated the hand box (43Eg), I have done a full reset but no
change. Apart from this the scope seems to work fine, I guess some
levelling device has got stuck?

Is there anything I can do or do we need to send this somewhere to be
fixed?

Thnaks
 
Geoff Aukett

And:

As soon as I select CALIBRATE SENSORS there is a brief pause and then
the tube motors down and hits the base?

And:

No but I have a spare so I will try that. Have you heard of this before?

Subject:	RE: My ETX125SE has sporadic jerky motion in RA.
Sent:	Wednesday, February 25, 2009 06:44:48
From:	Brian (msa.co@freeuk.com)
I'm feeling guilty at not getting back to you after your prompt and
friendly response to my request for help.

I did the motor calibration but just as I was setting up to do the train
drives the clouds rolled in and they have been here ever since. It must
be three weeks since I last saw the sky. Missed both the stunning
brightest phase of Venus and the conjunction of Lulin with Saturn.
Astronomy and England just don't mix.

Anyway, in frustration at not being able to do the train drives OR to
even use the bloody scope, I took off the DEC clutch cover and was
gobsmacked to find that the DEC worm drive was all over the place. The
three screws were all finger tight or more accurately finger loose and
the worm was flopping around all over the shop. So, having tightened
them and put the cover back on I now await a clear sky to re-do the
motor calibration and then the train drives.

Who knows, the scope might actually get better!

Many thanks again and till the next update

Best regards,

Brian Martindale

Subject:	Information request from a ETX-80 owner
Sent:	Tuesday, February 24, 2009 15:15:07
From:	steve zalewski (zalewski_steve@yahoo.com)
I was wondering if there are any other warnings that I need to be aware
of for my Meade ETX-80 telescope.   In order to cut down on the expense
of AA alkaline or lithium batteries, I was thinking of purchasing the
Meade AC adapter for the ETX-80, but now I'm wondering if that is a wise
thing to do.   I read on your site of some other AC adapter causing
problems with another model Meade telescope, and I would like to know if
you have heard of any problems using an AC adapter with the ETX-80.

I also forgot to mention earlier, is it possible to use a 9volt alkaline
or lithium battery in the scope in place of 6AA batteries?

Thank You for your assistance in answering my questions.
 
Sincerely,
 
Steve Zalewski

And:

Thank You again for your prompt reply on my AC adapter question.   I was
also wondering if you know if a 9 volt alkaline or 9 volt lithium
battery could be used in the ETX 80 in place of the 6 AA batteries.   I
would think that handling that battery holder a lot to change 6
batteries would be more likely a cause for it to fail, or have a
connection go bad in place of just replacing the 6 AA batteries with a 9
Volt.
 
Thank You again for your help.
 
Sincerely,
 
Steve Zalewski

Subject:	125
Sent:	Monday, February 23, 2009 20:43:22
From:	shlog@cox.net (shlog@cox.net)
I have searched your website for about 3 hours now.  Im having problems
with my ETX 125.  It stopped moving "up and down"  It will rotate 360
degree on its base,  but for some reason the gears wont engage when I
try to raise it from lets say the horizon to Mizar.  Sorry Im kind of a
rookie at this,  but was hoping your site had my fix,  if not any ideas?
Thanks
Dale

And:

When I lock the vertical axis the tube stays put.  I double checked the
tightness and it was finger tight.  Also last time I did a calibrate
motor and train drives was roughly 2 months ago when I moved from
Phoenix to Surprise AZ
Thanks for your time
Dale

And:

The handbox says "testing motors" and it will only "drop' and turn to
the right

And:

It wont slew at all up, I can change the speed of the slew but it only
works in RA (im thinking)  since DEC is "up and down".........changing
the slew speed has no impact  and im running on straight A/C power with
the cord

And:

I swapped the HBX cable and it works going down,  still no "up".  I dont
have batteries to try tonight,  so I'll drop you a line tomorrow after I
pick some up

And an update:

couldnt wait,  put new batteries in and it started slewing "up"  went
about 1 degree or 2 then stopped

And a further update:

I think I found the problem with my ETX 125.   I slewed all the way
"down" to the base of the scope(without a tripod on it)........I tried
slewing up and it worked about half way up and then stopped.  I believe
the scope is mounted on the forks backwards and its at its slew limit. 
(if this is possible).

And:

I bought it from a friend of mine here in AZ he takes good care of his
scopes.  I repositioned the scope the right way on the fork arm and now
when I slew "up"  the motor kicks in and it grinds alot......there is no
obstruction.  I have a feeling Im gonna have to send it off to get this
fixed.

And:

It moves freely by hand, just seems like the gears wont engage.  I dont
wanna waste your time with this....I think i might contact Meade and see
what it would cost to fix this
Thanks for all your time and help

Subject:	telescopes at Kitts Peak
Sent:	Monday, February 23, 2009 09:22:56
From:	Dennis Holtsberry (dennish@bridgemail.com)
I was enjoying your pictures from your 2008 visit to Kitt Peak. Was
wondering about the building along the road, that looks like an inverted
cone, in your panorama. Do you know anything about it? Thanks
Clear skies,
Dennis Holtsberry

Subject:	Re: #1244 focuser screw too short?
Sent:	Friday, February 20, 2009 18:30:28
From:	Douglas Hornick (hornickd@hotmail.com)
Since it appears that I won't be getting the required screw for my #1244
focuser I decided to try using it without the mounting plate which is
item 2 on the instruction sheet.  I was able to thread the screw and
secure the focuser onto my scope with no problem then.  I've run the
focuser back and forth a number of times and it seems to be stable
without using the mounting plate.  My only problem is remembering which
way the focus is being turned when I push the up/down buttons on the
#497.  Are there mechanical stops in the ETX 90 that prevents the focus
from being turned too far out or too far in?  If there is will the
focuser stop turning if it hit a mechanical stop or will something
break?

Doug

Subject:	12v or 9v for ETX 60 BB?
Sent:	Wednesday, February 18, 2009 15:06:40
From:	Kristine Hicken (khicken@nctelecom.net)
Hello, thanks for your valuable time. I haven't been able to find a
definitive answer whether I can use 12v or should convert to 9v for my
ETX 60 BB.There seems to be two camps. Will it require a minimum of 1
amp?

Thanks again for your time. Kris Hicken

Subject:	ETX-70 ??  -80??
Sent:	Tuesday, February 17, 2009 08:01:44
From:	Rose & Joe Schlatter (rosenjoe@kaballero.com)
Is Meade still producing the ETX-80?  I'm looking for a small scope on
the order of the ETX-70 or -80.

As best I can tell, the ETX-70 is a thing of the past, though some show
up on eBay.

I found an ETX-80 for sale but the Meade site does not list the ETX-80,
and, from the photos of the one I found, it appears to NOT have a finder
scope of any kind -- is this right??

I'm looking for a small go-to scope; I had an ETX-70 years ago and
enjoyed using it -- of course, I had to realize that it was not going to
give me the same views as my 12-inch Dobsonian.
 
Thanks.
 
Joe S.

Subject:	re: ETX 90EC connector order
Sent:	Monday, February 16, 2009 21:52:51
From:	richard seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com)
Pinouts for all ETX (and LX90) connectors are here:

http://jan.eaglecreekobservatory.org/pinouts.html

good luck
--dick

Subject:	ETX70 OTA Only
Sent:	Monday, February 16, 2009 13:49:12
From:	Tom Mote (pytom@satx.rr.com)
Several years ago at the Texas Star Party I purchased an ETX-70 OTA for
$100.  There is no indication that it had been removed from a standard
ETX drive.  I am curious as to whether Meade used to sell the unmounted
OTA and, if they did, why is it no longer available.  I have it ring
mounted on a larger scope and am quite happy with it.

Thanks,
Tom Mote

And:

I bought it from one of the other TSP attendees who had posted a notice
on the board by the dining hall.  When I went to see it I was surprised
to find that it was only an OTA.  He did not give me any other info but,
at the price he asked, I was happy to buy it  As a matter of fact, I
think I was able to do some swapping.  That is one of the pleasures of
star parties and after two or three years it is difficult to remember
all the details.
:-)
Tom

Subject:	ETX EC
Sent:	Monday, February 16, 2009 06:58:40
From:	Tom Hutchins (THutchins@LSBC.NET)
I just bought an ETX 90 EC (I already have the RA version) .  
Unfortunately it didn't come with any manuals.. DO you know if I can and
an Autostar to this unit?  It have an AUX port so I would think that its
would be compatible.. the Manual on the Meade site is kinda vague as to 
Yes they do sell it but it refers to multiple units so not sure the EC
it compatible.. I wont to buy one but wasted to be sure it was s
compatible..
 
Thanks Mike   and thanks for such a great web site..
Tom Hutchins

Subject:	ETX 90EC connector order
Sent:	Friday, February 13, 2009 21:29:13
From:	Chris Brown (goosesdad@gmail.com)
I've been scouring your site for information on the order to plug in the
two 4-pronged connectors. I was trying to sell my telescope, and we set
it up and got the "motor fault" message on the autostar. After doing all
of the menu related things and reversing the autostar cord, powering on
and off, still the same message, so I decided to take a look inside and
lo and behold the there weren't any connections to the JP3 or JP4
prongs. so my questions are

		which one goes where?
		
		the one in the center gear box fits on the 1st four prongs or
		the 2nd four prongs (from left to right? They are in good shape
		and the wires are colored correctly.

		and then the other one will go in the other 4 prongs that are
		remaining, right?
		
I've looked at "ETX-105EC DEC Wiring" on the Helpful Information:
Telescope Tech Tips page; from an early post. and that didn't
help.Please help! I gotta pay the rent! :)Thank you!!!Chris

And:

Thanks so very much for the quick response. I'll be checking your site
regularly, since it is the best one out there - and it's so hard to find
a picture of the ETX guts...

I appreciate it!
enjoy the new home!
-Chris

Subject:	ETX-90 PE will not turn right.  Only clicking noise.
Sent:	Friday, February 13, 2009 13:51:39
From:	Jeff Johnson (jeff@1scom.net)
You have a great website, thank you.  I have learned so much from
reading the information on this site.

My ETX-90 PE , Autostar 497, has stopped turning to the right.  It just
goes "CLICK, CLICK, CLICK"

The drive was trained immediately before the problem occurred.  So, I
must of trained the drive incorrectly.

I assume it has reached a gear stop and will not go any futher.
 
Should I train the drives again, or do a complete reset?
 
Any advice is appreciated,
 
Jeff Johnson

Subject:	RE: EXT-125EC
Sent:	Friday, February 13, 2009 10:47:23
From:	Ezequiel Lukin (elukin@gate.net)
Thank you very much

Subject:	Re: scratches test of effects
Sent:	Friday, February 13, 2009 06:36:57
From:	GH
Many thanks Mike for your rapid answer.I will try to post a photo ..but
it is difficult because these do not appeared except in one angle very
had to take photos.can you remove my email and my first name from your
12 february update in the site  for my privacy???
best regards

Subject:	AC Adapter
Sent:	Thursday, February 12, 2009 20:09:16
From:	andy blight (aeronca7ccm@gmail.com)
I just fried my daughters telescope.  It was 40 minutes old.......I now
have a very unhappy 5 year old.  DONT use the Meade AC adapter!  Powered
on for the first time and it smoked, we haven't even put an eyepeice
into the telecope yet.  Now it will only move counter clockwise and up.
 
Andy

Subject:	EXT-125EC
Sent:	Thursday, February 12, 2009 16:12:48
From:	Ezequiel Lukin (elukin@gate.net)
I have an EXT-125EC with a broken Azimut gearbox, the bluish plastic
frame is broken but the gears are OK, I called Meade and they do not
sell parts , do you know where I could buy this part or an improved
version?
 
Thank you very much
 
Ezequiel Lukin

Subject:	scratches test of effects
Sent:	Wednesday, February 11, 2009 23:56:32
From:	GH
How to differentiate between scratches in the coating of the corrector
lens and scratches in the corrector glass itself??What is the effect of
each one on the viewing in my etx 90??How to test this scratches???
Waiting for your reply.my best wishes and regards.

Subject:	Quick question for you if you have time
Sent:	Wednesday, February 11, 2009 16:34:00
From:	Jason Baldari (jbal197@yahoo.com)
My name is Jason and I have a quick question if you'd be so kind as to
advise me. I'm about to get my first scope, and I'm limited to the $500
range. My choices are the Meade ETX 90, or I found that Bushnell makes a
Northstar 127mm for the same price. Both are said to have similar
features, but I know well the reliability of Meade.

Should I go for aperture size, or old reliable with less aperture?

I very much appreciate your advise.

Many thanks,
Jason

And:

Duly noted on the Email etiquette; understandable. Just wanted to say
thank you for getting back to me.

Best,
Jason

Subject:	UHTC Upgrade
Sent:	Monday, February 9, 2009 23:38:27
From:	terry3982@charter.net (terry3982@charter.net)
I have an ETX-125 without UHTC. In your professional opinion... Is the
UHTC really that much better then the standard coating?  and 2nd.  I
really use my unit most every night but wish it had more. Would it be
worth sending it back to Meade and having UHTC installed $350. and then
to Dr. Clays $350. to be supercharged. The money isn't an issue. I just
want everything out of it that I can.   Thanks   Terry

And:

I called Meade customer service yesterday and, yes they would upgrade
all optics in an ETX-125  to UHTC for $350.00. I don't know if they
changed but they will now. The only problem I have had is the scope will
shut off as if there is an short or something and I have to start over.
Mirror shift seems to be more then in the past. I don't use internal
power. I also have an electric focuser but I'm going to change back to
manual. It looks nice but I think it could have been made with an manual
control. Anyway have a great day and darker nights.  Thanks  Terry

Subject:	re: ETX-60AT Autostar hangs at daylight savings
Sent:	Monday, February 9, 2009 21:13:45
From:	richard seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com)
That "hangs after DST" point is where the Autostar asks the scope
"what are you?".
So it can be caused by a flakey cable or connector to the scope,
dirt in the handbox socket in the scope base, a loose wire or
connector inside the scope, or a sick motor card.
Or, a sick Autostar.

If you've got a friend (or astro shop) with other Autostars
or Autostar scopes, perhaps you could try the A/B swapping of
your Autostar to their scope and/or their Autostar to your scope.

Even attaching a 494 to an "inappropriate" scope (like an ETX90
or higher) should get the message "Use ETX Autostar with this model".
If you -get- that message, then your 494 is communicating properly.
If you -don't- get that message (and their 497 works on your scope),
then it's your 494 at fault.

good luck
--dick

Subject:	ETX-80AT-TC  service manual
Sent:	Monday, February 9, 2009 12:05:57
From:	michael witwicki (michaelw@chandranmedia.com)
am using a Meade EXT-80AT- TC to do digital time lapse with two nikon
D300 cameras. i have to hack the telescope and make a mount for the
cameras. Wondering  if you know where can get exploded view of service
manual for it. I love all of the information you have put up on your
website a real god send.

Am already using gigapan that is mounted for nikon D300 and d70s cameras

cheers

Michael Witwicki

And:

Your fast on the key board, must be daylight were you are. any ideas for
hacking ETX, or just keep googling and going through blogs, to find
service manuals,  this will be leading to wards HDR "high dynamic  range
time lapse, very few people in the world are doing it. I do have
interest from Google, USC. My weekend projects.
cheers

Michael Witwicki

Subject:	ETX-60AT Autostar hangs at daylight savings
Sent:	Monday, February 9, 2009 08:44:51
From:	Lee Shultz (lshultz1@cox.net)
Your site has a lot of really great information and I have used it in
the past with my Meade DS-2114ATS-LNT. I just picked up a new ETX-60AT
(it is new, but I bought it from someone that never even took it out of
the box after they purchased it).

The problem I am having is with the Autostar. It freezes up after I get
to the Daylight saving option. I tried resetting, but it still goes
through the date - time - daylight savings when I use the Mode button. I
have used my autostar from my other telescope and everything works fine,
but I would really not like to switch the autostar between the two so I
can use them together.

As you know, here in Arizona the night skies are a treat for
observation. My wife and I live in North Phoenix and love the desert
life, however we are having to go further away from home to get away
from the city lights. We have friends down near Green Valley where we
can really get away from the lights, but that is such a long trip to
make.

Any help with my problem would be much appreciated.
 
Thanks,
 
Lee

And:

I was afraid that might be the answer. The only difference between the
two controllers I have is that one is made in China and the other is
made in Taiwan. The one made in China is the one that works. I'm not
sure if that makes a difference or not or if the ones from Taiwan have
been the problem and ones from China are not. Has anyone made this
correlation?

Thanks again,

Lee 

Subject:	ETX-125EC and the #1244 Electric Focuser
Sent:	Sunday, February 8, 2009 18:53:02
From:	Jan M. Hollis (jan.mike.hollis@verizon.net)
Do you recall anyone modifying a #1244 electric focuser to work on an
ETX-125EC ?  I have not been able to find anything about this on your
site.

Cheers,
Jan M. Hollis

Subject:	Question about non-illuminated reticle eyepiece.
Sent:	Sunday, February 8, 2009 17:24:53
From:	Todd and Abbie Ausenbaugh (toddandabbie@bellsouth.net)
Will a Non-illuminated reticle eyepiece be useful in a dark sky at
night?I have found they are cheaper than the illuminated variety but am
concerned about seeing the crosshairs in the dark.I do thank you for
your continued advise and help!

Subject:	meade 125 pe gps?
Sent:	Saturday, February 7, 2009 13:03:55
From:	Alexander kolusk (akolusk@ameritech.net)
any way a cn16 celestron gps be hooked up on a 125PE? 

TANKS AL

And:

no it has a PHONE TYPE HOOK UP RJ11 OR SOMETHING

Subject:	Varying Motor Speeds on EXT-70AT
Sent:	Saturday, February 7, 2009 12:21:20
From:	Robert M (smata671@yahoo.com)
My scope has never GOTO'ed properly.  I recently put in fresh batteries
and have observed it while slewing up and down and around.  For up and
down slewing, the sound of the motor is not consistent and every so
often it will stop for an instant.  I do have the locks properly
tightened.  This may or may not be happening when turning, it is harder
to tell.  This explains why the scope always fell short, but was on its
way, when slewing to the alignment stars.

Is this a known issue?  It may be a power problem.  Is there a thread on
the site with disassembly of the bottom section?

Thanks!

And:

Thanks for the quick reply.  I was moving in only one axis at a time
manually.  Seemed to me the altitude gave a varying sound and paused for
an instant at some point.  I think the azimuth movement may have been
more steady and without pausing, but its a bit tougher to tell.

I have trained the drive, but did not calibrate.  I'm probably going to
do a RESET, CALIBRATE, AND TRAIN and see how it performs tonight.

And an update:

I was able to finally get the thing aligned by being able to pick the
two stars, which I knew their location.  I think my biggest problem is
identifying true north.  I have a compass and I'm in Alexandria,
Virgina, with a declination of 10 degrees.  I was identifying magnetic
north and aiming the scope 10 degrees to the right (clockwise) of the
needle indication.  Upon beginning alignment, the scope would look for
Sirius and fall way short.  At that point, I manually centered on Sirius
and picked Capella which it then found on its own.  From then on, I was
in good shape.

Subject:	degree wheel not correct
Sent:	Saturday, February 7, 2009 09:03:44
From:	Douglas Hornick (hornickd@hotmail.com)
This doesn't look right.  With the declination degree wheel at 0 degrees
this is the angle of the tube.  Also, I realize that the fork is
designed to release the dec lock when slewing downward too close to the
tripod base but in my situation it is beginning to release near tube
level.  If the tube is slewed slightly below level it will not come back
up on it's own.  I would understand if it was close to the base but this
happens a few degrees below level.  It seems the tube was installed
mechanically misaligned with the dec clutch.

On another note the guy I got the focuser from is going to look for a
longer screw for me.  All the screws at the hardware stores around here
are metric.

Doug Hornick 

Subject:	Trouble with telescope, needs repair
Sent:	Friday, February 6, 2009 17:19:26
From:	William Lee (freelance508@live.com)
Does anyone know where i can send a ETX 70AT for repair. I see i can
purchase another one on Ebay for about $150.00, i am sure its the
electronics inside the housing of the telescope. I heard it pop, then
sizzling! What should i do, fix or ditch?
                    Thank you.
                                 Bill

Subject:	[none]
Sent:	Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:46:20
From:	madso.hennes@free.fr (madso.hennes@free.fr)
Problems, problems, a couple of years ago i wrote you and got good
advise about the  use of battery eliminator for my telescope. Since then
I've been extremely busy, moved to the south of France ( The Pyrenees)
and have had no time for star watching.  Finally established in my new
abode I dug out the telescope, bought new batteries ( no time yet  to
find the eliminator), but while trying to align it I got the message
there was a faulty motor. Contacted the seller only to find out that he
did not sell it any longer, got a new address to someone who could do
nothing. They said they could get me a new motor from Germany, but I
would have to change it myself.  And this is less than two years into
the five year guarantee period.

Information I get on the internet here in France is that many are facing
the same problem, and no one seems to know where to look for proper
instructions as to how to install the motor.

Any suggestions? Perhaps a link directly to Meade?

Hope to hear from you
Ole Bendik Madso

And:

Thank you for your prompt answer.  I did put in a subject line, but had
problems getting through to you.  In one of my repeated effort perhaps
the subject line fell out. Sorry.

No, nothing to do with the batteries,they are brand new, but I will go
through the recommended procedures proposed by you. Get beck to in a few
days ti9me

Regards and thanks Ole Bendik

Subject:	Re: ETX-125PE Problems/Alternatives
Sent:	Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:46:03
From:	dbodish@comcast.net (dbodish@comcast.net)
Well, here's my latest update.  Telescopes.com refunded my original
purchase, true to their word.  I have no complaints about them.  They
were out of stock on the ETX125PE, so I ordered one from OPT.  I also
purchased their PAT inspection (only $69) to avoid another problem.  The
scope was shipped promptly and appeared good physically, but had a
similar motor drive issue to the first unit I bought.  The only
direction it would slew was up.  It was completely dead in all other
directions.  Any attempt to align resulted in MUF errors.  Resets and
calibrations did nothing to change this.  According to the PAT
checklist, it was working at the shop, but it didn't work for me, and
the PC connection cable was left out of the box, so I'm not sure what to
think of the PAT.  They also failed to include a couple of free EPs that
were supposed to come bundled, but I guess that's a moot point now.  I
will say OPT's customer service was great when I called them.  They
immediately gave me an RMA and emailed a return shipping label.  I
shipped it back Jan 16th and went to Costa Rica on vacation for two
weeks (Man, talk about clear skies.  Would I have loved to have a
telescope down there!).  Yesterday, OPT confirmed in an email that the
return had been processed, and I should be getting a refund shortly.  I
asked for a refund on the PAT as well.

So now I'm pondering the next move, and I'm determined to be more
deliberate.  Almost every online vendor, including OPT, seems to be out
of stock on the ETX125PE.  One shop (Astronomics.com) told me he had
heard the model was soon to be discontinued and doubted he would get
more in.  I'm strongly leaning toward other options.  The motor drives
just seem too unreliable, based on my limited experience and the more
thorough research I've done since my initial order.  I'm willing to
spend more to get a scope that actually works, and am strongly
considering upgrading my budget to the 8" LX90, but I just read your
odyssey from last year about your futile attempts to get a working LX90.
Was the motor control issue Meade had with this model ever fully
resolved, or are people still getting bad units out of the box?  I
continue to hear great things about Meade optics, but I'm appalled that
they apparently can't produce a working motor drive on any scope costing
less than $3000.   Maybe I should start researching Celestron scopes in
earnest.

At this point I'm willing to stick with OPT as a supplier.  I have also
requested RMA for some ETX accessories I bought from them, in
anticipation of buying another model.  I was told on the phone at least
that they would do what it took to make me happy, and I appreciate that.
If they honor their word, they will continue to get my business. 
Everyone I have interacted with there has been polite and helpful.  I
can't recommend their PAT check though.

Any thoughts on options?

Thanks as always for your time and your great forum.
Donovan

And:

Yes, I feel fairly treated by everybody but Meade.  I originally ordered
from telescopes.com because they were a large dealer and had a nice
holiday promotion on the ETX, but I'd really like to have a go-to dealer
that I have a good relationship with.  I'm pretty new to telescopes, but
have many years of experience with photo equipment, and I know how rare
top shelf service is in this trade.  OPT seems to be at or near the top
of everybody's list, and their west coast location means less shipping
time for me.  My troubles seem to be primarily Meade problems, not
dealer problems.

Coincidentally, I just got an email from OPT confirming that they can
get me a replacement ETX 125PE (though none is in stock) or apply the
purchase price to another model.  I think I'm going to go with the LX90.
Already, I feel my feet on the slippery upgrade slope.  I did read with
interest your LX200 reports, but I think I can live with the LX90 (if it
works).  I have to have some money left for accessories.  They are
optically the same, are they not?  Do you really think the vibration
issue ultimately was software addressable?  I was getting the impression
from your posts and other Meade forum posts that it was likely a
mechanical component and/or assembly issue.

I'm curious how you feel about the LX200 electronic focuser after using
it for a while.  Beyond the heavy duty mount and drive, that seems to be
the main upgrade from the LX90.

Cheers,
Donovan

Subject:	My ETX125SE has sporadic jerky motion in RA.
Sent:	Thursday, February 5, 2009 07:51:12
From:	Brian (msa.co@freeuk.com)
Great site, but I'm glad my ETX is smaller than the one you seem to
use?.

I have an LX200GPS that I have used for the past five years, as well as
my ETX125SE, which I have had for two. I purchased the ETX second hand
but it was in great condition and had been well looked after.

There are two (perhaps even three) problems with the scope which may, or
may not, be related.

Cross-feed Problem

The first problem, which I can live with and may even be an
'undocumented feature' of this model is as follows. When I am trying to
move to centre a star, e.g. when aligning the scope, there seems to be
cross-feed between the RA and Dec channels (more truthfully, Alt and Az
commands; I only use it in Alt/Az mode).

Frustratingly, when I am trying to centre an object, the scope will
often move in a curving, diagonal motion, as though I am putting both
Alt AND Az commands in to the handset at the same time. Trying to centre
the object when the scope behaves like this is a bit like trying to ride
a bicycle with the handlebars crossed, like you get at funfairs; you can
do it eventually, it just takes some mind-bending drugs or advanced
mental gymnastics to accomplish it! This does NOT happen every time I
try to centre an object, perhaps it only happens at high levels of
Altitude. It drives me so mad I can't think straight to document the
problem accurately.

Drive Backlash

Also, there seems to be quite a bit of backlash in the drives, between
me entering a command to move and the scope actually beginning to move.
Sometimes the scope actually moves in the opposite direction before
coming back to move in the correct direction. This seems to happen at
all angles of Altitude and in both Alt and Az.

Jerky Motion in Azimuth

Now for the killer problem. I don't use the scope for imaging very
often, but a friend sometimes comes round with his digital camera and we
see what we can see. Also, I have seen this problem occur when using the
LPI with the ETX; Images appear to be fine sometimes, but other times
there is a distinct 'jump' in the image, in Az, as though you got the
image correct for part of the exposure, then nudged the scope and got a
second correct image for the rest of the exposure. Neither of us uses
long exposures, typically less than a minute, but the jerk is sometimes
there and sometimes not, depending, I guess, on where it happens in the
drive cycle and the length of the exposure.

I have spent ages with my eye to the eyepiece and I can definitely 'see'
the object begin to drift off centre slightly before the scope suddenly
jumps the image back the middle. This movement is very slight and wasn't
even noticed by eye until we noticed the jerky images and then went
looking for it. Also, this doesn't happen 'all the time'. You can watch
for ages before you see it happen. However, it is always there, like an
itch I can't scratch.

Summary

So, three problems; firstly the cross-feed between Alt and Az when
moving the scope, perhaps only at high Alt angles; secondly the backlash
which is annoying but not life threatening and thirdly, the jerky motion
of the drive in Az

As I say, I also use an LX200GPS and I realise that the plastic
clockwork mechanism of the ETX is a little 'crude' by comparison but I
am dismayed by the less than acceptable motion of the drives on the ETX
compared with the LX.

Any light you can shed on any of my scope's problems will be greatly
appreciated.

Best regards,

Brian Martindale, Newbury, England.

And:

Thanks for such a prompt reply and I now realise that I owe you some
apologies.

Firstly, I trawled the FAQ but found nothing that relates to my
problems. It was only after I wasted half an hour writing the mail and
wasted your time to boot that I found all the Doc Clay articles which
seem to address most, if not all of my problems.

Secondly, yes I have updated to 4.3Eg and I did calibrate motor, but not
train drives (from memory, it was about 1 months ago when I updated).
Lastly, my scope is NOT an ETX125SE, I don't think they ever made one,
it is the ETX125PE.

Now, I have been trawling through Doc's articles and I have the same
problem that Lorenzo Rota had, do Doc's tips apply to MY scope? I have
no idea of the year of manufacture and Meade only puts 'ETX' on the
bottom, no mention of specific model designation.

Is PE a specific model and do Doc's tips apply? Or is mine a different
model? It came with LNT and Smartfinder (the original 'eyeglass' one,
not the latest version).

How many questions can one man have?????

I am off to do a full Calibrate and Train, but I now realise that my OTA
slop in Dec is not a feature, but a problem. Mine moves so much it
scares me to death until I realise that I am using the lil ole' ETX, not
the mammoth LX.

So, how many of Doc's tips are applicable to my scope? I am quite
competent mechanically (strip and rebuild car engines and transmissions,
but then again, Meade don't make them!) and happy to do it all, but not
if mine is a later version where he advises caution.

Thanks again Mike. 

Subject:	RE: ETX 125 PE shuts down after a few seconds.
Sent:	Thursday, February 5, 2009 03:07:45
From:	Koen Bertels (bertels_koen_@hotmail.com)
I tried regular batteries, reset, motor calibration and train drives.
Unfortunatly it still shuts down/resets when using the autostar..
 
Kind Regards
 
Koen Bertels

Subject:	#1244 focuser screw too short?
Sent:	Wednesday, February 4, 2009 19:46:21
From:	Douglas Hornick (hornickd@hotmail.com)
Has anyone ever had a problem with the Meade #1244 screw being too
short? I've got everything seated properly but it doesn't seem to be
reaching the hole.  The instructions say the screw is supposed to be
1.75" long but here's a couple of pictures that says this screw is
otherwise.  Looks like I'll need to run to the hardware store today.

And:

It's on my ETX 90 PE.  I did find a statement on an eBay auction for
this focuser that the person was including a longer screw since the one
from Meade is too short.  You can see from one of my pictures that the
screw I have is 1 1/2 inches long and Meade says the screw should be 1
3/4 inches.

And:

I guess I'm out of luck for now.  Japan seems to only carry metric sizes
in the hardware places I know of.  I'll have to drop Meade an email and
see if they can do the right thing and send me the proper size as stated
in the parts list in the instructions.

Subject:	Hardstops and Software
Sent:	Wednesday, February 4, 2009 17:32:16
From:	Jan M. Hollis (jan.mike.hollis@verizon.net)
When placing an ETX in the Home  position, one is directed to loosen the
Az lock and rotate  CCW to the hardstop; then rotate CW by about 3/8
turn until the DEC scale is over the control panel.  Is this necessary
to synch to Autostar system to the hardstops?  Or, does Autostar have
some hardware means of its own for knowing where the hardstops are?

Cheers,

Jan M. Hollis

Subject:	ETX90EC Polar tracking not working
Sent:	Wednesday, February 4, 2009 17:15:08
From:	Bert Denovan (ngc104tuc@intas.net.au)
I have a second hand ETC90EC that I bought for a 'grab and go' scope
about a year ago.  The weather has not been kind to us in Tasmania and
so I have not had a lot of opportunities to use it.  But I know that
when I first bought it and got it up and running I could hear the
tracking motor going in both Alt/Az and Polar.

I have just cleaned it up and went out to try it out and find that the
motors only move in Az when the power is turned on.  Sometimes I get the
Alt motor to move very sluggishly after a few seconds grace from the
time that the Az motor has ceased.

I have set it into polar mode using the Electonic Controller but the
tracking motor does not work.  (I used to hear it plainly when I first
bought it and I have had an RA and an EC in a past life.)  In fact I
cannot get it to move using the arrow keys once set in polar mode for
the Southern Hemisphere! I have just tried it out with the 12v battery
that I use for the LX90 and that did not make any difference.

However if I use the scope in Alt/Az both motors are very robust and
slew readily.

At one stage I did put the AutoStar from my LX90 onto the scope
(selecting ETX90 of course,) and that worked but it was a bit of a
hassle getting the AS to work on the LX90 for a while afterwards so I
would rather leave it off and use the scope for what I bought it for -
and in polar mode.

I can't see how using the AS would have affected the motors as surely
the progamme would be in the AS Handbox and not in the ETX.

Any ideas?
Cheers!
Bert

And:

I just did ..... and it doesn't.  :o(

And:

Ahhhh, Shoot!  As you Americans tend to say - and I hope that I have not
transgressed any cultural taboos by saying that.

I was sitting and re-reading the instructions for polar aligning and
kept on reading past the part that I stopped at recently and found 'and
finally press the 'Mode' button.

With my wife standing there with my afternoon cup of coffee I have just
rushed out to the shed and tried it out.  Voila!  It works.

How can I express my apoligies enough?

Thanks for your help, Mike and I will make sure that I read ALL
instructions from now on.

(Now how to get rid of this red face?
Cheers!
Bert

Subject:	ETX Diagram
Sent:	Monday, February 2, 2009 19:34:52
From:	Cynthis (cynthiajovalle@yahoo.es)
Excuse me,

By chance do you have the ETX 90 EC Circuit Diagram or do you know where
can I find it?

Thank you
Greetings
 
Cynthia 

Subject:	RSS Feedback
Sent:	Sunday, February 1, 2009 20:01:28
From:	Tim Brown (tbrown@timobrown.com)
I just subscribed.
 
Tim Brown

Subject:	Importance of Calibration
Sent:	Sunday, February 1, 2009 13:12:59
From:	Steve Hollar (sjhollar@dslextreme.com)
I've had some frustrating nights where every object I would slew to
would be way off by as much as 15 degrees. I did the usual Calibrate
Motors, Train Drives, even Calibrate Sensors. It would still be way off.
I'm sure this was affecting tracking as an object would only stay within
the field of view for a few minutes.

Last night I decided to do a Calibrate Sensors again. Just to be sure, I
checked my Latitude and Longitude to be sure they were correct. They
were, but, I went ahead and re-entered them again. Daylight savings was
off and the time was correct.

I leveled the tripod to make the automatic leveling work far less. When
it slewed to Polaris, it was off by maybe 2 or 3 degrees. I centered it
and let it calibrate.

I moved the scope back to my usual observing spot, where I can not see
Polaris, and decided to do an Automatic Alignment. Both alignment stars
were well within the field of view. When I slewed to my first object,
the Orion Nebula, it was almost in the center. What a relief. Also, even
using Alt/Az it stayed very steady.

The moral of the story is calibrate, calibrate, calibrate. If someone is
having problems with accuracy while slewing, don't just assume there is
some major problem in the scope because you already did a sensor
calibration. I certainly learned you have to stay with it. Maybe the
leveling was the key. Maybe re-entering my coordinates. It's hard to
say, but, whatever it was, systematically going through the steps
worked.

I might add, I just about had given up on Polar Alignment because I just
could not keep a proper track. This may have solved it, so, I'll be
trying it again some other night.

Steve Hollar 

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