What can I expect from my Meade DS-114?

[John D. McGauchie]

I was given a Meade DS-114 and has been somewhat dissapointed with the
results. Shoul I expect to see the rings of Saturn and a focused image of
Mars? All I can see are fuzzy blobs with no sharp focusing with the 4mm
and 2.5mm eyepieces. I tried using a 10x eyepiece from my Bosch & Lomb
microscope and did not get much improvement. I am located out in the
country and see little pollution.

I have heard that Meade has had some quality issues and wondered if I am
stuck with a lemon.

John

[W.M.]

You should be able to see Saturn's rings. Mars won't be too exciting. You
should also be able to see the "Medicean Stars" of Jupiter (the four famous
moons; Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io) and maybe some features of
Jupiter. Other features you might be able to see are globular clusters,
some galaxies (very, very faint in view), and possibly some nebulae.

I'm not sure how swapable the lenses are from your Bausch and Lomb
microscope to your telescope. *shrugs*

The bluriness sounds strange - you might need lower magnification. Its
worth a try. Do you have any higher mm lenses? Possibly 10mm or 12mm?

Here is some reviews on that scope from the discovery channel stor:
http://shopping.discovery.com/product/1109-1417-142885.html

It sounds like a good beginner scope.

W.M.

"John D. McGauchie" <jmcg...@nospam.ev1.net> wrote in message
news:jmcgauch-180...@eli-208-187-66-193.ev1.net...

[L.C.]

I'm no apologist for Meade, but I think there
may be some hope,

First, the 2.5 mm eyepiece seems a little strong
for this scope. It corresponds to about 365X.
Using the old rule of thumb of 50 power per
inch of aperture, your practical max is around
225X.

Secondly, this is a reflecting scope. It may
require some collimation. Consult the
accompanying literature for instructions.

Luck and Regards,
-Larry Curcio

[Charlie Buscher]

I'm new to astronomy and just purchased the XT4.5 as a first scope. :)
I'm wondering for the difference in price how does the Orion XT4.5 Dob.
match up to the DS-114 as far as image? Yes they are different type of
mount, features (tracking) etc.. I'm just wondering about when I put my eye
up to each telescopes eyepiece. After the simple fixes to the XT ofcourse
<g> (
http://www.skypub.com/resources/testreports/telescopes/0104littledob2.html )
I see that Orion includes a 9mm eyepiece for max. of 101x, I assume this is
Orion choosing not to lay false claims on their products, would a 6mm
eyepiece be going too far? If I bought higher quality eyepieces would higher
magnification look better than the same magnification with lower spec
eyepieces, or does the quality of the primary mirror limit things?
Thanks in advance..
Charlie Buscher

"L.C." <lcu...@bellatlantic.net> wrote in message
news:3B7FAE4E...@bellatlantic.net...

[Hilton Evans]

"L.C." <lcu...@bellatlantic.net> wrote in message
news:3B7FAE4E...@bellatlantic.net...

> > I have heard that Meade has had some quality issues and wondered if I am
> > stuck with a lemon.

> I'm no apologist for Meade, but I think there
> may be some hope,
>
> First, the 2.5 mm eyepiece seems a little strong
> for this scope. It corresponds to about 365X.
> Using the old rule of thumb of 50 power per
> inch of aperture, your practical max is around
> 225X.

In addition to the above
1. Atmospheric seeing will degrade your view

2. Diffraction spikes from the mirror and mirror
holder will reduce sharpness and contrast.

3. Mars has shrunk from its maximum apparent size
in June. Mars is already a difficult target for a newbie.
Add to that, there has been a dust storm on Mars
that has obscured the surface.

4. Finally, planetary details are subtle and low in
contrast. The eye must be trained to pull these out.
--
Hilton Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon 71°02'58.2" W
Lat 42°10'24.0" N

[Herman Giesker]

Go to www.eagleoptics.com this site should help out a lot. Basics of
telescopes is small scope, small view. I went through the same thing
when I bought my 4.5" newtonian. They can still do a great job on the
moon!
Ernie

[John McGauchie]

Thanks everybody, looks like an alignment is in order.

John

In article <e2k0ots9kdr3urdpd...@4ax.com>, Herman Giesker

[John McGauchie]

I called Meade today, they are sending both the 2" and the 1.2" eyepiece
adapters for free.

John

In article <mid2ot4ch4m408etf...@4ax.com>,
spamm...@spamminator.com wrote:

> Sorry - brain fart. I meant 1.25" eyepieces and adapter.
>
>
> On Sun, 19 Aug 2001 20:38:46 -0700 Ike <spamm...@spamminator.com>
> wrote :
>
> >I have the same scope and it's the stock eyepieces that are the
> >biggest problem with this scope. Call, fax or write to Meade and ask
> >them for the 2" eyepiece adapter. They will send it to you for free.
> >While you wait for it to arrive, order yourself some better eyepieces
> >and a barlow from:
> >
> >http://www.handsonoptics.com/astronomy/GTO_series/gto_series.html
> >
> >They will make a *huge* difference in what you can see.
> >
> >
> >On Sat, 18 Aug 2001 22:36:52 -0500 jmcg...@nospam.ev1.net (John D.
> >McGauchie) wrote :
> >