Meade 385 Refractor

[Felix L. Barndt]

A friend of mine recently noticed a Meade model 385 refractor telescope
for sale in one of these closeout catalogs (Damark, etc.). He would
like to hear any comments from anyone who has used one/owns one
about the quality, etc, etc. Thanks for the info in advance.

Felix

[SHOWSOL]

In <3bi2u4$i...@qualcomm.com> FBa...@qualcomm.com writes:

I saw that too. Are you sure it wasn't the 395 refractor? Did Meade make
a 385 with a 90mm objective?

Damark was selling it for $399 which I think is an excellent price for an
equatorial 90mm refractor. Astronomics in Oklahoma gave me a strong
recommendation for the 395 about 6 months ago, and Pocono Mountain Optics
told me it was a decent scope on a fairly good mount.

The 395 routinely sold for $599.

But if it is a 385, whatever that is, then perhaps the mount isn't quite
as good. When Meade updated their low-end refractor line about 12-18 months
ago, one of the improvements was the mount. So if it is an old model that
predates the upgrade, it could have the cheaper mechanics.

Dana

[SHOWSOL]

In <3bilva$h...@news.doit.wisc.edu> BUN...@MACC.WISC.EDU writes:

> I saw that too. Are you sure it wasn't the 395 refractor? Did Meade make
> a 385 with a 90mm objective?

> But if it is a 385, whatever that is, then perhaps the mount isn't quite

> as good. When Meade updated their low-end refractor line about 12-18 months
> ago, one of the improvements was the mount. So if it is an old model that
> predates the upgrade, it could have the cheaper mechanics.

Replying to my own posts.

I took a second look at the Damark catalog and confirmed that it said it
was a 385. And I looked at two Meade catalogs, along with several ads from
mail order firms, and could not find such a thing as a 385 refractor. I found
the 285, which is a 60mm. And the 312 & 323, which were 80mm. But the only
90mm's I've seen from Meade were the 390 alt-az and 395 equatorial.

Looking at the included accessories and picture was also confusing. Meade
was bundling 4 eyepieces and a 3X barlow. Typical of their low-end 60mm
packages. But again, they never did this with the 395. The picture showing
the equatorial mount didn't exactly match another picture I had of the 395.
The mount on the "385" looked cheaper.

So I suspect Meade has taken the 90mm optical tube of the 395 and repackaged
it with a cheaper tripod/mount and some cheaper eyepieces and is calling
it a 385. Much as they frequently did with their 60mm scopes.

The ad did not mention the size of the eyepieces. One of the nicer upgrades
of the Meade 395 was in using 1.25" eyepieces. Before purchasing a 385,
I would inquire as to the size of the eyepieces and diagonal.

Dana

[Claude D. Sapp]

SHOWSOL (BUN...@MACC.WISC.EDU) wrote:
: In <3bilva$h...@news.doit.wisc.edu> BUN...@MACC.WISC.EDU writes:

: Dana

--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Claude Douglas Sapp Proteus Technologies, Inc.
cs...@unix.cc.emory.edu Atlanta, Georgia USA
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