Meade 127ED/APO EMC

Aloha
Planning to buy a Meade 127ED/APO EMC with 650 mount, just want to know if this is a good decision for a second scope to move around and to go star parties...Does it have good optics for an APO ??
Freddy

Hi Freddy,

I owned a Meade 127 ED and the optics were absolutely excellent. Extremely sharp and only a small amount of false color on the brightest stars and Venus. Otherwise, it was a wonderful scope.

Meade had some issues with the lens cell and ultimately offered a newer cell with three screws for centering the lens elements in addition to the normal collimation screws. That cured many of the problems folks complained about.

A lot of folks are negative about Meade ED scopes. Many of those have never owned one. I have had two- the 127 ED and the 178ED. I have also owned six Takahashi APOs including my current FS-152, an Astro-Physic 6" F/12 Superplanetary, a TEC 140 and various 4" APOs including a wonderful Showa 4" F/10 Fluorite. I compared the Meades side-by-side with various APOs and found- as did others present- that they ran quite well in such fast company.

I may have some of the obseving notes comparing the 127 ED to an excellent MN-76 I owned. And I know I still have the notes on the Meade 178ED and AP 6" and I think my 8" F/12 D&G as well. If you are interested, e-mail me at this address and I will send them to you:

[email protected]

A 127ED and 650 mount is a very nice combo and often show up for $2000 plus or minus a bit. I can tell you from experience that a good example of the 127ED Meade shows a lot more planetary detail than any 4" APO I have ever used.

Aloha

Thanks everybody for a quick response, you guys on Atromart are the best.
Thanks again for helping me out.

Freddy