One night in particular, I had 7 belts/bands visible in moments of good seeing, a fantastic view indeed in the ETX-LS. Jupiter - The ETX-LS obviously needs more cool down time then the Newtonian, but when cool down was achieved, there were sharp views at the eyepiece yielding nice detail when the seeing permitted. So are the ACF optics worth it for the "slight" difference? Yes, if it were me I'd spring the extra cash for ACF anytime, just to have the piece of mind that I have the best possible optics. Were stars more pin-point overall? Yes.īottom line on ACF, there may indeed be a slight visual difference, it did appear that stars were less "bloated" to me then I recall from SCT views in general, and it did appear more pin-point. Were stars pin-points all the way to the edge of the field of view? Depends on eyepiece. When viewing stars close to the edge of the field of view, I wasn't surprised by anything, there was still some sea-gull effects, but using a variety of eyepiece designs, wide-angle vs plossl for instance, reduced those effects. I really need an opportunity to compare the ETX-LS ACF optics to a similar aperture non-ACF SCT optic, I just haven't had that opportunity yet. Stars seemed to hold up very well under different magnifications too, and better than I can recall to my 8" SCT, so this may indeed be an effect of the ACF optics, not really sure. I want to come back and revisit this, since I tested this without ensuring it reached thermal equilibrium, so currents may affect this result as well.ĪCF - The visual impression of the ACF optics were nothing to blow me away, but stars were pin-points and very nice for a SCT. Inside and outside focus did not quite match during my first star test, however from what I read this may or may not affect optical performance when you're talking about the focused image, it only means a degree spherical aberration of the optics, caused by either under or over correction. It appears the ETX-LS arrived in good shape, and as collimated about as good as it can be based my initial star test. Due to personal considerations and sky conditions, a true dark-sky site was not used for these observing sessions. Of the 8 observing sessions I have had with the ETX-LS, 4 of them included a side-by-side comparison to my excellent Orion 6" Intelliscope Dobsonian, on a variety of objects. For the purpose of this review, I am going to give you my impression of the scope's optics, and my experiences with this telescope that I had during my 8 observing sessions so far under the stars.
Part one focused on my initial impressions, which included my opinion on the physical characteristics and the initial go to capabilities of the ETX-LS.
This is a summary of the optical performance of the Meade ETX-LS, and second part of a 3 part review I'm dedicating to the Meade ETX-LS.
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