ETX125 Multiple Drive Failures
Publisher
posted...
"If you are one of the lucky buyers of a Meade ETX telescope and are
enjoying night after night of skywatching let me say that I envy you- simply
ignore this feedback. If you are contemplating a new purchase, read on...
I purchased a Meade ETX 125 PE Blue Tube from OPT on Monday Aug. 4 of 2008.
It arrived Friday Aug. 8 and within an hour burned out a R.A. drive. Called
OPT Friday evening and they told me to call back Monday, which I did. It
was only when I offered to pay return postage on the brandy-new (now broken)
'scope did OPT agree to exchange it for a new replacent. 'Scope #2 arrives
Aug. 20 and operates for less than two hours before a declination drive
burns out. A call to OPT the next day gets me shuffled off to Meade
warranty repair... I mean, how many favors do I expect OPT to do on such a
low profit margin? An understanding Meade customer tech Frank. D exceeded
his authority (accorning to one supervisor at Meade) by issuing me a prepaid
RMA shipping label for the second broken telescope... see, I'm supposed to
pay the
shipping again! Anyway, ETX12PE telescope #3 arrives from Meade on Sept. 4
and it's obviously a poorly repaired and re-packaged 'scope. Not only does
the telescope's electronics break WITHIN 10 MINUTES but "as a bonus"
(someone at Meade obviously felt I haven't suffered enough) it's obvious
that the main mirror has a mechanical problem.
So back to OPT- After much discussion (prompted IMHO solely by the hold I
had placed on the credit card funds due to OPT's inability to sell me a
functioning optical instrument) and probably enabled by some sort of mental
aberration of mine, I have agreed to have OPT pick up my broken 'scope and
possibly faulty Meade 541 AC adapter at no charge to me, and have their
in-house tech "burn in" as many telescopes as he needs in order to find one
that will last 10 hours. The AC adapter will be replaced with a
rechargeable battery pack, and along with the proven functional Telescope #4
both will be shipped to me. If the telescope works properly for a week I
have agreed to release the hold on OPT's funds.
There you have it, folks... as honest and straightforward as I can write it.
Unless you are buying yourself a 60th birthday present and have your heart
set on a Meade, do yourself a favor and don't let what should be an exciting
occasion get ruined- buy a Celestron. Yes, the optics in the ETX are Meade
clear- Unfortunately, the rest is simply MADE IN CHINA JUNK. Wish me luck,
I will certainly need it."
BTW- I posted this same feedback on Meade's ows 4M forum... looks like this
last paragraph was heavily edited out. I doubt the "Last American-Owned
Telecscope Company" wants you to know the thing's made in China.
Publisher
OPT has not honored any of the verbal promises that were made to me. In
fact, I feel as tho I was played like a banjo until 30 days elapsed from the
time of purchase... thus negating any chance of a refund. Bummer.
Telescope #3 received by Meade Sept. 19 and their promise to call me when it
arrived has also not been kept. Calls to customer support are fruitless;
eleven days later they don't know if the thing has even been looked at yet.
My hunch is that they have piles of these all awaiting repair and that they
are awash in red ink from all the demands for warranty work. No one at
Meade seems to know anything, it's just one big bureauticratic CYA
shuffle... or is that "hustle"?
And you say you were thinking of getting your child a Meade 'scope for
Christmas? Save the potential hassle and lots of $$$, buy him/her a train
set. My many telephone conversations leave me with the distinct impression
that this is a once-great company in BIG trouble.
Jim
ETX125. In my case I found it necessary to return my 1st ETX 125 to
the dealer due to axis motor/controller failures. These failures
occurred within the 1st 30 days. The second ETX, purchased from
anotheer dealer, failed after the 30 day return and is now at Meade
for repair. It should be returned from these repairs within 2 weeks.
So far the return shipping to dealer and retun to Meade has cost about
$130. Meade and the dealers have told me that the UPS shipping will
cost $15. I guess UPS doesn't know that.
The problems I have seen with both scopes have been, at best, similar
and, at worst, the same. The similar problems were the failure in the
declination axis motors/controls. Both scopes exhibited the same
problems with their GOTO functions and Setup. During setup I would
input my Zip code since the nearest database city is 20 miles away.
When I would check the coordinates after inputing the Zip code I would
find that they were a degree North and a degree and a quarter West of
my location. This is an error of more than 60 miles. Both scopes
also exhibited errors in alignment. Whenever I would use the
automatic alignment the scope would stop about 10 - 15 degrees from
the alignment star. I would make the corrections to bring the star
within the eyepiece FOV and select the star. The scope would then
move to the second alignment star and stop about 10 - 15 degrees away
once more. I would go through the centering routine once more and the
process would be complete. The GOTO function would work after this.
The selected targets were usually within a 26 MM eyepiece FOV.
However, there would be nagging errors with the GOTO function when
selecting Solar system targets. I would be looking at the moon while
it is due south. I would select the moon as a target and the
controller would return a statement that the moon was not due to rise
for some period of time afterwards. The time given was usually close
to the time the object was to set. I checked my actual time settings
and UTC offsets and they were correct. I finally got a book with the
formulas for various time conversions and will see if this is where
the problem lies. I will have to go through this routine before the
scope arrives.
The errors in alignment would occur each time I would run the
automatic alignment. The offsets were the same on each alignment.
I have the feeling that Meade has a timing error in their software.
The constant offsets give me that impression. I am hoping that thew
company has a plan B for this problem.
One more thing with the Meade product. The packaging is barely
adequate for careful transport. It will work for container transport
because when the boxes are placed in the container I am sure that the
whole of the container will support the individual box and the
individual box is necessary for the strength of the whole container.
However, when the individual box is removed gfrom the container all
bets are off. For one, The box can be accelerated much quicker than a
container full of boxes. If something should get in the way damage
will occur. I have talked to dealers that say that they have seen
possible damage with Meade products all the time. I think that they
would give these possible damaged products a visual inspection before
shipping to the customer. That is a guess though.
The Meade ETX 125s I received were made in China. The quality of the
2 scopes were the same mechanically (Poor) and different optically
(one excllent, one so so). Meade has to get a grip on their quality
control problem. I don't envy them. The products I have seen so far
are poorly made overall. Meade, in it's drive to increase profits,
has put the whole company at risk. That is poor management and it
should be addressed. The next problem then will be to get the
contracts in place to specify the proper quality product. Finally
they will have to have inspection procedures in place to prove the
products are per specification. I get the impression that meade sent
a bunch of drawings to china and said build it. Then they sat back
and expected everything to go as expected. If that isn't the case
then they don't care what has happened and are relying on marketing
and advertising to overcome the shortcomings of their products. Look
at Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines. This will result in
failure in the long run.
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