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Meade 127mm ED APO Refractor (used) |
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REVIEW ARCHIVES Refractors Barlow
Lenses LINKS FAVORITE LINKS NASA
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The Review The first telescope I owned back in the late 60s was a cheap department store 40mm refractor with a tiny metal tripod. I use to put on the roof on my father’s car and look at the moon. But it wasn’t until about 6 years ago that I started observing in interest. Since then I have owned an 80mm refractor, an 8” DOB, an ETX 90, a couple of 8” SC. Since my main interest is planetary
observation I always wanted to acquire a high quality refractor, so I
looked at the Meade 127 ED F9.3 APO refractor. Not as expensive as the
fluorite Takahashi APOS or Tellevues, the Meade uses a lens made of ED
glass mounted behind a Lens of regular BK4 glass to cut down on chromatic
aberration. The trick of
getting the best out of the Meade is proper collimation and centering of
the lenses. The Telescope
The 127ED sells new for $1700 and is
produced by special order only. I
was able to find one used on Astromart for $1300. I sent a check and good
to the seller’s word the scope arrived VIA UPS in good shape about a
week later. The OTA included with it a 10x50mm finder and the mounting
cradle. The OTA weighed in at approximately 20lbs to include diagonal and
mounting cradle. This scope is very portable.
For the time being I have the scope mounted on a Meade LXD-55 goto
mount (approx. cost of mount $500). This mount is supposed to handle the
30lb AR6 F8 6” refractor that Meade sells as a combo. The 127 mm ED/LXD
55 combination is just sufficient for visual observation. If someone else
decides to try this mount/scope combo, a set of more sturdier wooden legs
to replace the light aluminum ones provided would make observing easier
and cut down on vibration dampening time. The goto works great once
aligned. On the mount the scope looks beautiful. I was ready for first
light. One thing I did notice though was the lens glass being very dirty
and lightly stained. A sign of lots of years of good use. First Light
On the first night of observations I
quickly aligned the mount and played with the goto. My first target was
DSO targets M57. Using a 32MM Meade 4000 EP the target ended up in the
lower end of the FOV. Even though I was not observing from dark skies the
donut smoke ring was there. My next target was M32 that showed up as a
small light smudge. Bumping up the power helped a little bit but I could
not expect too much from a 5” refractor. My next target was M42. Here is
where the refractor shined. Using
an Orion sky block filter and a 32mm EP I marveled at the gas cloud that
filled the FOV. Having never viewed M42 from a quality refractor I was
surprised at the clarity and pin point star images. Not bad as a DSO
instrument, About this time the clouds rolled in and ended my brief
session. The next night I decide to devote to the planets. Pointing the
scope to Jupiter, which was at about 35 degrees relative to the horizon,
and using a 15mm Meade 4000EP I could only detect 2 belts on the planet. I
tried more power but to no avail. I could not bring the planet into fine
focus and all I could see was the atmosphere boiling in the FOV which I
took as atmospheric turbulence. I looked at Saturn, there the image was
slightly better but I could not see Cassini an easy test on any 5”
refractor. I attempted a Star test everything looked okay but the
atmosphere was just too unsteady. The vibration factor was also bad. The
mount had been set up on grass and the flimsy aluminum legs were causing
vibration on the Richter scale at high powers. Wondering if the
collimation was off, the lens being very dirty and wanting the new
adjustable collimatable lens cell that Meade had started using on their
newer APOs a few I paid Meade $100 and sent the scope to the factory for
service. Five weeks later and after a few telephone call and emails to
Meade the scope arrived. The scope lens had been cleaned and the focuser
oiled. I hoped the collimation had withstood. UPS. 2nd
Light A few nights later the skies over
north Florida had cleared and I was ready to put the scope through its
tests. I had spent most of the day doing collimation tests and star tests
with a home made artificial star using a silver Xmas ball set up outside
in bright sun light on top of a bucket about 50 feet away. From what I
could tell everything looked good. As soon as the sun went down I set up
the mount and scope on a cement surface for added stability and was ready
to go. After a quick 2 star
alignment the mount goto slewed to Jupiter which was almost dead center in
a 26mm Meade 400 EP. The atmosphere was rock study viewing condition about
8. I could see the 2 bands very clear. I bumped up the power using a 10.5
Tellevue and put the planet in focus. Here is the 127Ed started to
perform. The planet was a creamy white with no obtrusive color showing
anywhere on the limb. I could clearly see the North and South belts (light
orange hue) and make out the GRS. I could barley see a hint of more
markings. I quickly changed eyepieces and installed a Meade 6.7
4000 EP giving approx. 175X. Now I could clearly see the GRS and
make out some structure inside it. In short periods of good seeing I could
see more marking and belts in the Polar Regions. I decided to see what the
scope could handle so I installed a Celestron barlow with a 10.5 Tellevue
eyepiece for approximately 210X. Just about this time a shadow transit was
in progress across the planet’s surface. The moon showed up as clear
distinct disc. All 4 moons did show up as clear distinct disc. Attempting
to get more power out of the scope I swapped the 10.5mm form the barlow
and installed the 6.7 giving the scope approximately 356X. At this power
the image began to brake down. I could not bring the scope to perfect
focus. At this point I slewed the scope to Saturn. Using the 6.7mm EP I
could clearly see the Cassini division going all around the planet.
Knowing that Saturn could take more power I installed the barlow
with the same eyepiece. The image was a little dim because of the barlow
but the scope focused perfectly to the point where I could clearly see the
rings shadow on the planet and could make out some of the cloud banding
and I though I could make out the Olivine cap on planet’s top pole. I
think if I had another eyepiece or a 3X barlow and a steadier mount I
could have used even more power. Summary Submitted by George Mavromates - USA
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