DS MODELS USER FEEDBACK Last updated: 28 January 2004

Subject: Carrying case
Date: 1/28/04, 17:46
From: David Hinde (doobie420@sbcglobal.net)
I recently bought a meade DS-2114ATS telescope and want to know if there
is a carrying case that would fit this model?  Since Meade does not make
one I would like to find out if I can find one that might fit it.
 
Thanks David

Subject: re: meade ds-114at and vibration
Date: 1/22/04, 22:17
From: Richard Seymour (rseymour@wolfenet.com)
To: seffendy@hotmail.com
The vibration may also be partly caused by the position
of saturn in your sky.. at high angles the two motors have
to move quickly (especially in azimuth) to follow the stars.
That high speed adds to the vibration of the long barrel of
the telescope.

On the 505 cable front: one end of the cable is a standard
9-pin serial connector for a computer. 
The other end is a standard telephone handset cord.

So if your PC store can supply a "serial cable",
you can cut that in half to yield its connector
(and some wire)... then cut the telephone handset
cord in half, and solder the half-telephone and
half-serial-cord together to create one 505 cable.

Use the end-to-end wiring as shown at:
http://www.weasner.com/etx/autostar/as_cable505.html

The DB-9 (COM port connector) is a standard electrical part.
Locate industrial electronic parts suppliers in K.L. ..
given the amount of electronics manufacturer in Malaysia,
i would expect there was a surplus components market district
somewhere in the city (when companies sell their overstock).
Certainly Hong Kong had one (a fun afternoon's visit).

have fun
--dick

Subject: meade ds-114at and vibration
Date: 1/22/04, 08:49
From: Shafiq Effendy (seffendy@hotmail.com)
i'm shafiq effendy from kuala lumpur, malaysia and ive been using
ds-114at for almost 4 months now. i found your site a few weeks ago and
and i think your site is a great source for etx, ds series and autostar
users globally.

i'm having some problems here. hope you can give some solutions to me.

1.    i was watching saturn yesterday and it was high up in the sky,
almost overhead. awesome view of saturn!! but something was wrong...the
image of saturn was blur, so i thought maybe it was caused by poor
seeing. i viewed sirius and it wasnt twinkling too much. i went back to
saturn and now i turned off the motors for a while (holding enter for 2
secs, ENTER to sync.) and i realized that the image of saturn was sharp
at that moment!! i suspect the motors produced vibrations and thus
making the whole OTA vibrate as well, because the same thing happened
when i viewed jupiter. so, from your point of view, is it possible to
reduce the amount of vibration of the motors so that the OTA wont
vibrate too much?

2.    i want to update my autostar and also transfer some orbital
elements of satellites that i want to see (ISS,HST etc) using the ASU
program. But, i dont want to spend so much money on the #505 cable that
is very expensive here in malaysia. ive seen someone building his own
#505 cable on your website. my question is where can i find the serial
rs232 db9 female connector? i went to almost all computer shops in my
area and not even a single shop sells that kind of connector. we dont
have wal-mart or radio shack here. any suggestions on where i can find
it?

3.    i want to view planets with higher magnifications. which one do
you recommend? getting a barlow lens or buying a shorter focal length
eyepiece? i currently have 26mm, 12mm, 9mm and the focal length of the
primary mirror is 910mm which gives me magnification of 35X, 76X and
101X

4.    my autostar's accuracy is like this. 4 out of 10 objects will
appear dead center in the FOV of my 26mm eyepiece and 9 out of 10
objects will be dead center if i turn on the High Precision mode. ive
done everything on training, calibrating, tweaking the mount and the
motors. any idea how to increase the accuracy of my autostar? im using
version 26Ed now.


thank you very much for having such a great website on the web!!!!

shafiq effendy
kuala lumpur, malaysia

Subject: Mauricio Rodriguez
Date: 1/18/04, 12:30
From: SuperPama@aol.com
Estimados Senores :

Les escribo esta nota, para saber si Uds., si me pueden ayudar ,ya que e
intentado por diferentes medios y no e tenido ninguna respuesta
satisfactoria. Resulta que me compre un telescopio Meade y toda la
informacion que sale al respecto es en ingles y yo no lo entiendo, y ya
tengo 3 meses con el telescopio guardado ya que no se usarlo por no
entender las instrucciones en espanol.

Bueno el favor grande que yo les pido es si Uds., me pueden mandar el
manual en espanol, a continuacion les doy los detalles del Telescopio.


Telescopio  MEADE DS-114ATE

Sin mas que escribir y esperando una respuesta favorable les saluda muy
atentamente a Uds., y deseandoles un muy buen ano.
 
MAURICIO RODRIGUEZ
superpama@aol.com
 
Muchas gracias de antemano.

And:

Gracias....

Subject: questions about meade
Date: 1/11/04, 20:42
From: Vic and Shannon Vicari (vicari2@cox.net)
my daughter and i have just recently gotten interested in telescopes and
and we purchased a 114mm bushnell 4.5 objective northstar telescope..
for a few reasons i dont like it,, it sees cheaply built, and the
instruction manual is about as blunt as you can get.. im just not too
impressed with the unit at all..  which leads me to look at more
telescopes,, ive been looking at the meade ds114 ats,, i realize it cost
a few more dollars than the bushnell,, and my question for you is, do
you think the quality of the meade is better than the bushnell,, i once
was looking at the 80 and 114 gt celestron, but ive reading that they
are extreme battery eaters.. the bushnell takes (1) 9 volt battery which
lasted about an hour..  can you give me some guidance please>>
Vic and Shannon Vicari

And:

ive been reading alot of reviews and there are a few good things,, but
nothing great,, they are complainingg about the same issues that im
complaining about  on the bushnell...  im so confused,, i just want a
good quality under 400 dollar computer controlled telescope, thats it,,
im lost...
Vic and Shannon Vicari

And:

ok,, you say, something has to give,, please talk to me, what has to
give,, spend more??  everyone says , that a 70mm is too small.   i need
as much info as i can get..  please help.

And:

im bidding on a meade etx 90 ec on ebay,, what do you think about that
one??

And:

well,, the auction is gonna end here in an hour or so,, im not trying to
put all the blame on you,, and i have looked at your site,, but can you
tell me please,, is the etx 90 a waste of time
Vic and Shannon Vicari

And:

well im gonna try hard to get this one,, you wouldnt happen to or know
anyone who has a decent tripod for sale for this etx90??

Subject: meade DS90AT
Date: 1/5/04, 14:03
From: DREAM20@aol.com
i was just wondering if u knew of a website or a store that sells a case
for this particular model? thanks for your time  Jodie

And:

thanks i'll keep checking. Jodie

Subject: Need help in finfing battery pack
Date: 1/3/04, 12:26
From: Vicki Evans (vjc4life@msn.com)
To whom it may concern:
 
I bought my Mead in 1999.  My battery pack is broken and I need to find
another one.  This is my information. DS-114 D=114MM  F=910MM  F/8
series #0000000.

Would you please send a catolog or email me so I can order the parts I
need.

Thank you very much. 
Tim Young

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