ASRAS Community

[bmcg]

Meade Instruments has never had a good record for service and now it seems that they have none. Just check the horror stories on the internet and my story below. This company is in severe financial trouble. Their stock price has dropped from a high this year of about $3.10 / share to $1.17 today. They plan on closing their manufacturing facility in California and moving it out of the country. Rumors are they will be moving that part of the company to either Mexico or China. Things are only bound to get worse. Anyway…..

In mid September of this year, my LX750 GEM mount started having a runaway declination drive motor. Meade service people told me to send it to them for repair and gave me the order number to attach to the carton. This cost me $120 for shipping and insurance and, using the UPS tracking number, knew that it was delivered to Meade on September 24th. I waited a week and contacted their service department again ( believe me, getting through to someone who knows what ‘s going on there is a real challenge!) . They finally acknowledged that the mount had arrived and should be back in my hands in a few weeks. Over the next 3 months I contacted any one of 4 service technicians each giving me a different story – the mount was sent to Mexico for repair of the electronics, it was the hand controller, it was the RA drive (?), it was somewhere in transit between southern Calif. and Mexico, delays in the shipping caused by the fires in that part of the state, etc., etc. Finally near the end of December, a call from a Vincent Sanchez, informed me that my mount was no longer supported by their service department and they were sending it back to me and reimbursing me for my shipping costs! This took them 3 months to figure out!! My mount arrived just before Christmas missing the hand controller and 2 cables that I sent with the mount to check out as part of the electronics problem! I’m now in the process of getting those parts back (I hope!) as well as the check they owe me. What an experience!! I will NEVER deal with Meade again! I have a rather expensive mount with no hope of getting it repaired. You still see Meade advertising their expensive Max mounts, etc. but I’d advise anyone who is looking for equipment that they would like to see supported down the road to forget dealing with this company! If you buy anything that costs more than a few hundred dollars and don’t consider it a throw-away, avoid them for a more reputable company. If Meade isn’t dead, it surely is on a respirator! Bob McGovern.
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bmcg

[John Kinane]

Ugh! This is horrible! Thanks for the heads up however. I suppose I will look elsewhere for higher end stuff when the time comes. Sorry you had so much trouble and I hope you get your missing stuff back at least, yikes!
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John Kinane

[lleege]

Thats too bad, Bob. I understand they no longer support the "Classic" either. I have an OTA and that's as far as I will go with Meade. I had my share of Meade woes in the past three years.

[pizwiz]

Just for info:
I talked with the Folks at "Astronomics" about delivery times for the "Max" mount. Their Answer was : " Forget it, there will be no Max mount for the foreseeable future, regardless of what Meade is advertising. Other than Prototypes, there has not been a single delivery of one of these Mounts, nor will Meade even give the dealers an estimate of delivery times."
For those of you not familiar with the business, Astronomics is one of the biggest Dealers in the Country and carries all the top Brands.

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[BSchlein]

I would be very surprised if they sold any. Considering the cost of the Max ($30K?), I can't see anyone (or any institution) taking the risk, in light of all the bad news regarding Meade's financial condition. You want to be very confident in the stability of the company before spending that kind of moolah.

But if they do get some customers, let's try to find how who they are. Then Bob can work his smooth talkin magic and sell them all that junk in the basement at Ionia.


link to Meade's Max page:
http://www.meade.com/maxmount/index.html

[pizwiz]

There are plenty of orders already on the books and paid for.
Believe it or not, but i had a number of enquiries from friends overseas who wanted to install that mount in their Observatories. They were ready to spend the cash. The specs and pictures did look awesome.
I had to actively dissuade them and steer them in the direction of the Bisque Paramount.
The latest announcement I have seen from Meade directly (in the Financial pages) is that their manufacturing facilities will be moved to china, where a lot of their stuff is already being made. ( Of course Orion sells it a lot cheaper and with excellent customer service to Boot.)
BTW, there is a family of mounts made by Mathis Instruments that is in the same league. The smallest mount handles a 250lb payload and prices start at about $11,500.-. You'll hear little about them as they supply their mounts mostly to Colleges and scientific institutions. They come in German EQ and Fork Versions.
Boy, I wish we could afford one of those for the big dome.!!
The C11 and 150mm Refractor look like toys on this mount!


Adolph



Here is the Fork Version


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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[lleege]

That looks like the MI500. They make smaller mounts. Down to the MI250. It has a 70lb capacity and uses the Gemini system. While not main stream, they are fairly common and come up used on AMart fairly often. (Usually in the 4-6k range) One draw back to there system is the cradle used to adjust the altitude. It limits where the mount can be used. Your latitude needs to be specified when ordered. If you move too far N or S, you need to buy another cradle.
As for the Mead Max, there have been several sold and in operation. They are awesome looking, but anyone willing to put up that kind of cash to be a Meade Beta tester should be shot! Especially now that AP has introduced the 3600's. Now that is a thing of beauty and much less cost then the Max.
I went through two RCX's before giving up on Meade. It's sad to see them go in the direction they are.Their QC issues have caused there demise. It's too bad they didn't whip there QC staff into place when they released the RCX. The shipping alone had to eat their profits up. I don't see it getting any better by moving operations out of the country.

[bmcg]

Yesterday I reached one of the few remaining technicians working at the CA facility. He informed me that all of their machine shops, optical and mechanical were being moved to Mexico. They're really going through rough times there but he was kind enough to locate a LX200 hand controller and the 2 cables they lost of mine and will send them to me. Nice but it still doesn't get my problem solved of the mount not working. I would like to have a GEM capable of carrying 65-70 lbs, especially if I want to piggyback my solar telescope on the main OTA and use a camera. Losmandy makes one able to handle 60lbs. total but I wonder if an occassional overload of 5 or so pounds would harm it especially if I carefully balanced it? We're off to NEAF in April so I think I'll just wait and see what's there and talk with the manufacturers. Wasn't Meade in a lawsuit a few years about claims of their RC scopes. Apparently they are not true RC's. They really streach it when they claim they sell APO scopes as well. I'm satisified with my Meade optics although it is not a
TAK or AP! Bob.
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bmcg

[lleege]

The case RCOS had against Meade was pretty much thrown out of court. I just received one of the last 10" OTA's made in the US. As for a GEM, I have had both the Losmandy G11 and a CGE. I would vote for the CGE. It is rated for 70lbs. (visual) Big, but portable. I have never seen an LX750. What exactly isn't it doing? Maybe you can see if Dr. Clay can fix it?

[pizwiz]

Seems you just can't get a straight answer when it comes to Meade. I guess Mexico it is then. Probably just the rumour mills working. I am just glad I never bought any of their products.
I am a member of several forums where they have separate categories for the "Big Three", Orion, Meade and Celestron.
The Meade postings are full of Horror stories, while celestron and Orion postings are usually full of favourable comments.
Most of my stuff is from Orion. While Orion equipment is not considered to be very prestigious by many folks, Their equipment is of very good quality, without a lot of the bells and whistles,but it works!! And if I ever have a problem, it is solved immediately. I once asked them if their diagonals could be collimated. They could not. The tech i spoke to assumed that there was something wrong with mine and i received three new diagonals in the mail within a few days. They have also answered questions for me that had nothing to do with their equipment.
I just hope that they keep up their great service, now that they have been taken over by a larger company. So far, so good.
BTW, the MI mounts come with different machined wedges if you live south or north of their normal range, which i believe is 12 deg to 52 deg.
I never realized that mountain Instruments and Mathis were connected.!
Looks like i need to pay a little closer attention.

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[lleege]

You may be interested in this, Adolph.
http://www.mountaininstruments.com/pages/About%20MI.html

[pizwiz]

Thanks Luke !!
I guess since i couldn't afford them anyway, I never looked far enough into the company. Which is really strange, because I usually gnaw on this stuff like an old bone.
Live and learn.

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[klyons]

Hi,
I saw this site on the web -
http://www.astronomy-shoppe.com/repairs.htm

It lookis like they repair LX200 electronics. Maybe they can help?

Kevin

[UFO290]

That's a great find, Kevin...Really it is!!!

[The Penguin]

I am sorry to hear of your troubles with Meade, Bob. It really sounds like they are well on their way down the drain. Fortunately my telescope is a Celestron/Orion hybrid. The optical tubes are Orion and Celestron and the mount is from Celestron. Other accessories are either from Celestron or Orion or Televue. All of these companies are fine. I will be sure to avoid Meade in the future. Thanks for telling us about the situation. On the other hand, I do have one good Meade product. I have a 14mm Meade Series 4000 UWA eyepiece that I won in the club raffle years ago, and it is excellent. I call it the Swarzenagler. And I have a 5mm Celestron X-Cel eyepiece that was inexpensive and is worth nothing. It's total junk. Caveat Emptor. Mike N

[bmcg]

I just made contact with the Astronomy Shoppe in NH and they are checking to see if they have or can get the schematics and parts for my repair. They are, according to them, the largest Meade LX200 repair shops in the country but are mainly Celestron people. There is still hope and I should know my situation soon. They do not handle GPS units. Again, the address is: http://www.astronomy-shoppe.com/binoculars.htm . I'll keep you informed of my progres and dealings with them. Thanks again! Bob.
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bmcg

[lleege]

Good luck, Bob.

[klyons]

Bob,
I hope this works out for you - you have such a nice scope that should have many more years of use!

Kevin

[UFO290]

I am really sorry to hear your situations, Bob..
To be honest with you, I was going to buy Meade LX90 GPS, but someone turned me around and looked into a different direction. I have to say very big thanks to the three of our members of our club who they steered me into other way. I don't want to give their names because they knew who I am referring to.
I hope that all things would go well and I pray that you'll find a way to get things to be resolve. Take heed from your friends' advices.

[lleege]

For the record, my LX90 was great! It got me into this CRAZY hobby! Nope, no regrets on that scope. Well, I guess the fact that it cost me $$$$$ .....Nope, I would do it all over again. I do hope Meade can turn it around....

[pizwiz]

Bob,
I have been looking around a little amongst the Meade crowd on the east coast.
One suggestion was to try "Company 7"
Another tip if nothing else works out: the LX750 has the same circuit boards as the 650. If you can find a used one with good electronics, you could simply swap the boards.
Strangely enough there is a member of one of my forums who has one in good condition for a very reasonable price. he'll be in Syracuse soon, where you could save a ton on shipping if you picked it up there.
Let me know if you're interested and I'll get you in touch with him.
Not knowing anything about Meade Mounts, I'm afraid that's all the help i can give you.

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[bmcg]

Well, today I got a call from Tony Costanza (sp?) of the Astronomy Shoppe asking me to pack up all of the electronics (controller, hand box, motors, cables, etc.) and ship them to him. This saves a lot on shipping as Meade wanted the entire mount weighing 50 plus pounds to be sent. My problem is that MEADE STILL HASN'T RETURNED ALL OF THE PARTS THAT I SENT THEM AND THEY LOST! I now have a call into Meade asking that they please rush them to me so perhaps another party could solve my problem.

At least the electronics technician at the Astronomy Shoppe thinks that he can repair my drive so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Once again Meade is the big bottleneck!
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bmcg

[pizwiz]

I am glad to hear that there is some hope on the horizon.!
Good Luck

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[bmcg]

Well one of the remaining folks at Meade sent me a new hand controller and 2 cables to replace the ones I sent them and they lost! Now I'm at the exact same point that I was at when I sent the mount to them in mid September. This person again told me that all of their fabrication shops, mechanical and optical were moving to Mexico and their location in CA will be the main offices, sales and distribution center. Almost all fo the service techs and all of their engineers are gone! Forget service!

Anyway, this mouning my electronics were sent to The Astronomy Shoppe in NH where I hope the problem can be fixed. We'll see. It's really sad in this country today where few companies think that service after the sale is important. I'll keep you posted as to my experience with The Astronomy Shoppe. It could be a real find! Bob.
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bmcg

[lleege]

Might want to check this out, Bob
http://www.astromart.com/classifieds/details.asp?classified_id=544403

[bmcg]

Well, I waited a month for my $120 shipping refund promise from Meade before sending them an email this last week. Vincent did reply saying that he can't figure out why I hadn't received it yet and would check into it. Nightmare of an organization!

I'm now waiting for a verdict from The Astronomy Shoppe with my fingers crossed..............Wow! What luck! Just had a call from Tony as I'm writing this and they found the problem with my electronics! Two chips were blown.........cost of repair is $300!! Also, its done with a 90 day warranty. Great guy to talk with. He made my day!! Should get it back next week. Check these guys out if you Celestron/Meade owners have a problem. http://www.astronomy-shoppe.com/repairs.htm

Have you noticed the lack of telescope advertizing by Meade in the latest S&T? They have 2 full pages, one for the Coronado PST and one for their DSI II camera. The price of the PST is up $100 since Meade bought them.
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bmcg

[bmcg]

Well, I hope it's the final story! I got my electronics from The Astronomy Shoppe in NH today and reassembled them into my mount. Upon powering it up however, the dec motor went into runaway again just like when I first had the problem! I called Tony Costanzo who advised me to make sure none of the wires came detatched when I was working them through the various parts of the mount. He said that it sounded like the encoders on the dec motor were not doing their job. Sure enough, I found one small wire that broke off at a solder joint on one of the LED's. I carved off some of the epoxy holding the LED in the assembly and was able to resolder it. The LED leg was only a mm long but it worked. I put it all together and it's working!! I still have to try all of the other functions but both motors work as they should from the hand controller. These guys are good and I'd recommend them to anyone! Great customer service! Meade can count on never seeing me again!
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bmcg

[lleege]

Great new, Bob. Now if the clouds would ever clear..... I am just dying to get out under some clear skies.

[BSchlein]

I'm Glad it worked out for you Bob! You picked a good time to have it repaired tho... didn't miss much in the way of clear skies. Maybe the weather was waiting for you, and now that you are ready, we'll get some clear nights!

[bmcg]

Well, I've had only 3 occassions to test drive my repaired LX750 mount and it seems to work great! Thanks again to The Astronomy Shoppe! I would recommend this place to anyone for Meade or Celestron repair work or looking to buy new stuff. Very reputable IMO. They can't get replacement parts from Meade but if it's electronic in nature, they are good at those repairs. Motors, however, are a problem for them as they can buy them from China but only in lots of 300! Now for some good weather!

BTW, it's been 20 days today that Meade told me that a check for $120 would be in the mail for my shipping costs. How many pesos would that be?
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bmcg

[pizwiz]

Unfortunately with today's weak Dollar that would be only 1200 Pesos.
Or, as it's often referred to in Mexico $1200.- de Plata, as opposed to $120,- de Oro.
But i guesss that wasn't your real question, was it ??


Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[bmcg]

Well, according to Vincent Sanchez, a check for the reimbursement of my shipping costs was put in the mail around February 14th. Their billing department must be run part-time by there service crew. Avoid this company if you want to keep your sanity!
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bmcg

[bmcg]

Got my check finally from Meade, The Astronomy Shoppe got my scope running and the Meade Saga is over! I thank everyone for their help with this problem.
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bmcg

[cfuehrer]

WOW! I don't know what to think now. I just began saving for a Meade ETX-125PE. What do you all suggest instead?
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Peace,

Carl Fuehrer

[UFO290]

Carl,

Do you have any interest in astrophotography?? If you're interesting in. Then you're in the right place. Most guys would go for 8" LX-200, but they are the top of the line scope. Maybe LX-90 depending on your budget.
If you're not into astrophotography, then I suggest to go into tube or truss dobsonians.
The choices are yours to make a decision.

[lleege]

Lets not put the cart in front of the horse. The LX90's are NOT s good choice for AP. The LX200 may be a better choice for AP, but not for someone starting out. The long FL makes it very difficult for AP. Especially fork mounted.
One must consider targets of choice, location, portability and budget before a good choice can be made. Sure, a dob may be a good choice if you want big aperture and a tight budget, but not if you live on the third floor of an apartment.
Carl, what are your viewing interests? Budget? Location? Could be the ETX might not be such a bad choice..

[UFO290]

Good grief, I am sorry Carl, I didn't know you live in a third story apartments. ETX-125, like Luke asked.

[pizwiz]

Hello Carl!

Luke is dead right, as usual. There are tons of things to consider before you plunk your money on the Table.Here is the very best piece of advice any of us can give you: " Get thee to an observing night at the club before doing anything else" You'll get a chance to look through lots of different scopes and get a good idea what to expect from the different types of Telescopes. You'll also get an idea of what's involved in rigging a scope for imaging.
As for the rest of it, you have a whole forum here where you can get answers from people with tons of observing and imaging experience that can explain things and get you started in the right direction.
So, ask away. Just remember: " The only dumb question is the one you DIDN"T ask" !!!!!

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[UFO290]

Carl, these guys are absolutely correct! Take their advices.

Thanks,
Ken

[cfuehrer]

Hi guys, sorry it took me a bit to write back. I will eventually like to take photos but I am looking for a go to scope I can pack and move. I am actually very new to astronomy. I have been out a number of nights the past few months exploring with Starry Night and World Wide Telescope. I have been a few times to the Planetarium's telescope recently. I have been reading all I can in Astronomy and Sky & Telescope mags. I plan to buy a set of binoculars next month to learn my way around. I am looking forward to coming out to North Hampton park tomorrow night too. I do need some guidance. I have been looking around at the options and the ETX-125PE and Meade 4000 eyepiece kit seemed like the right fit for me. I wouldn't be purchasing it until Feb so I have some time to learn.

Any of you going to be at North Hampton that I could met you?
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Peace,

Carl Fuehrer

[cfuehrer]

[pizwiz]

Carl,

You've got the right idea. The stars have been up there for a few billion years and they'll still be there whenever you buy your scope.
For the budget you have outlined, there are tons of Excellent quality telescopes available.
Here is a simple hypathetical question for you:
Do you rather to spend your money on fancy electronics or a better Telescope?
(I personally consider things like goto and GPS etc. "Nice to have"
With the right choice most of this stuff can be added later if you want it.)
With the same money you could buy a more simple (NOT less quality ) scope several times that size. Remember, light gathering power (which is the REAL purpose of a Telescope ) goes up as the SQUARE of the objective diameter.
This is just ONE of the types of things to consider when purchasing a Telescope.
So, keep reading and asking questions and we can sort this stuff out for you.
After all, the best Telescope in the world is the one that gets USED most often. Even the most beautiful and expensive Telescope is worth exactly
$ 0.00 sitting in a closet.

Adolph
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The most UN common thing in the universe is common sense !

[cfuehrer]

Here was another thought for my scope. Celestron C9.25 SGT XLT computerized telescope and the Celestron eye piece and filter kit. I has the CG-5 tripod. Would that be a better investment into optics and still get a tracking mount?
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Peace,

Carl Fuehrer

[mepierrelouis]