Meade 114EQ-AR Equatorial Reflector Telescope

Comments about Meade 114EQ-AR Equatorial Reflector Telescope:

I thought I would wait a few weeks after getting this scope so that I could write a more detailed review.

For the price, this is a very good telescope - just don't expect too much of it. The optics themselves are very good and arrived perfectly collimated despite Fed Ex's best attempts to break it.

The mount however is one of the weaker points of the scope. The mesh between the slow motion RA gear and the teeth allow the scope to wobble or sometimes sag a bit after making an adjustment. This is more of an annoyance though and is a minor annoyance. The real problem with the mount is vibration. Between the flimsy tripod and the loose fitting mount the scope itself has a tendency to sway when making even the smallest adjustments, though not using the declination control cable (and rigging a knob on the short part of it) helped quite a bit.

Overall though this is a great scope for the money, far surpassing the other scopes in its price range. The eyepieces included, while not the greatest are much higher quality than I was expecting. I also added a 2x barlow to the mix later and it really brought the scope to life when viewing Jupiter and Saturn.

*One note though: Meade seems to have some QC issues with parts missing from the box. Mine arrived with no RA cable or declination cable, however a call to their support line and the parts were sent out to me no problem.

Comments about Meade 114EQ-AR Equatorial Reflector Telescope:

Easy to use.

Comments about Meade 114EQ-AR Equatorial Reflector Telescope:

This scope is AS ADVERTISED. For [$]I wasn't expecting much compared to what most scopes out there are priced. I just wanted to see the moon and possibly a couple planets (as dots). I have been more than happy viewing Jupiter as this scope is able to resolve the banding of this gas giant as well as four of its moons. Really cool! I can't wait until Saturn comes round next. The moon's craters are incredible through the 9mm lens. I definitely would recommend this scope to a beginner such as myself, as a good one to start with. I am having a blast planning other objects to view through this thing.

Comments about Meade 114EQ-AR Equatorial Reflector Telescope:

Seems to work well as intended

Without really spending some time using a telescope it was hard for me to decide what I wanted. I bought this expecting an entry level scope that would work well enough, but allow me to continue to learn my way around the sky and what I like and don't like in telescopes. I settled on 114mm and looked for a scope with eyepieces that would provide useful mags and be able to be barlowed (not 1:2 ratio). I also stayed away from short tube designs as they seem to incorporate a relay lens system that would detract from the already smallish aperature.

My first impression was that the scope had a lot of plastic. Plastic focuser, tube ends, ect.. The scope also feels quite light, as it should with the mostly plastic and aluminum construction. The scope appeared to be well collimated and later high magnification looks at stars seems to agree, with nice concentric rings.

Upon use, the included eyepieces gave useful magnifications, and the purchase of a barlow provided a nice variety of mags. The scope provides great views of the moon. Jupiter looks good, as should Saturn. The scope also works well for double stars. I was just barely able to split double-double Epsilon Lyrae at 200x under a partial moon, through wispy clouds. I've had good looks at many other easier doubles as well. Many open clusters also look very nice through this scope. However when it comes to other deep sky objects the aperture shows it limitations. Even bright globular clusters aren't much more than smudges. For bright nebula under good conditions you might be able to tell that something is there and maybe discern a bit of shape, but don't expect to be wowed.

Initially I fought with vibrations at high magnification. After some research, I do not believe that these were atypical for this level scope and mount so I can't really fault it. It is worth mentioning that 6 of the 9 leg tubes can be easily filled with sand which seems to help considerably. Three of the tubes (1 per leg) have an internal mechanism for clamping the legs and can't easily be filled. The long declination control cable was also flapping all over the place, so I moved the shorter RA cable to its place and don't use any cable on the RA adjustment. This also helped the vibration.

The EQ mount does not provide for a polar scope, but you don't really need one. A level and compass can get you close enough for visual work. It is really nice to be able to play with eyepieces and filters or look at a book and be able to get back on target with one axis. One the down side, as with any EQ mount, if you unexpectedly decide to use the scope, like: "I thought it was supposed to be cloudy tonight." you can spend ten minutes or so fumbling around in the dark trying to get set up.

All in all I feel that the scope performs pretty much as expected. I would recommend this scope to someone, as long as they have realistic expectations of its capabilities.