Meade Refractors

More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Recommended Accessories  · Images of Some Features Price $749.00 Highest Useful Magnification 160x Focal Length 480mm Focal Ratio f/6 Resolution 1.45 arc seconds Visual Limiting Magnitude 12.0 Aperture 3.1" Weight 7.2 lbs. Heaviest Single Component 6.2 lbs. Warranty 1 year

Thanks to a two-year design process and an objective lens that uses a three-lens ED design, however, this Meade Series 5000 80mm f/6 ED triplet apo is virtually free of chromatic aberration (color fringing). This means it outperforms the most expensive of the “semi-apos" at a fraction of their cost. Expert observers will be delighted by the total absence of color fringing and the scope’s textbook-perfect pinpoint star images. Even beginners will notice the breathtaking high contrast and resolution of this Series 5000 triplet apo.

The Meade 80mm ED triplet refractor has the right balance of aperture (80mm) and focal length (480mm) to use as a low-power rich field star-sweeping telescope, as a medium-power planetary telescope, or as any kind of telescope in between. Its compact size, light weight, and convenient L-shaped mounting dovetail (with 1/4"-20 thread mounting holes that fit any photographic tripod) also make it an excellent wide-field terrestrial spotting scope for vacations, birding, or nature studies. In addition, optional camera adapters turn the ED optics of the Meade 80mm triplet into an excellent 480mm (9.6x) f/6 telephoto lens.

The three-element optical system of the Meade 80mm triplet includes a lens of high quality Japanese FCD1 ED (Extra Low Dispersion) glass for razor-sharp images that are virtually free of spurious color across the entire visible spectrum. This special glass is noted for achieving a very small change in refractive index with different wavelengths of light. This makes it the perfect choice for a fast, high performance optical design like the Series 5000 triplet apo. The objective lens has an adjustable lens cell that allows precision collimation of the lenses if necessary to tweak the performance. All air-to-glass surfaces are fully broadband multicoated for maximum light transmission. Contrast-enhancing light baffles in the optical tube assure truly dark sky backgrounds and high terrestrial contrast.

The Meade 80mm triplet has a smooth 2" Crayford-style focuser for minimal image shift, an important consideration for keeping images centered on the small imaging chip of a CCD camera during critical astrophotography. The 2" focuser drawtube uses a soft brass compression ring eyepiece holder. This design won’t scratch the barrel of your star diagonal as an ordinary thumbscrew can. For astrophotography, a thumbscrew locks the focuser drawtube in place once you have your camera focused.

This special package includes a Meade 2" dielectric star diagonal with 1.25" eyepiece adapter at a savings of $99 over the cost of buying the 80mm optical tube and 2" star diagonal separately. The 2" dielectric diagonal first surface mirror has special ion-deposited 99% reflectivity multicoatings instead of ordinary 88% reflectivity aluminum for the brightest images and highest contrast. As with the focuser drawtube, both the 2" diagonal and the 1.25" adapter use soft brass compression ring eyepiece holders that won’t scratch the barrels of your eyepieces as ordinary thumbscrew eyepiece holders can.

The precision-machined Meade 80mm triplet has a retractable dew cap/lens shade for dew prevention at night and improved daytime contrast during viewing or photography. A slip-on metal dust cap is standard. The scope comes in a foam-fitted aluminum-frame hard carrying case that has a cutout for a 2" star diagonal.

For serious astronomy and astrophotography, the scope’s L-shaped dovetail mounting shoe is shaped to fit directly into the dovetail slot on the head of the Meade LXD-75 equatorial mount with no other adapter needed. The mounting shoe also fits the dovetail slots of Celestron Advanced Series and Vixen Sphinx and Great Polaris Deluxe mounts. In addition, the mounting shoe has a 1/4"-20 thread hole that allow you to mount the 6.2 pound scope directly onto any good photo tripod for casual astronomy or daytime terrestrial observing. Eyepieces and a terrestrial image erector are optional.

An optional and economical Meade 2" 36mm Series 4000 QX eyepiece will give you a bright 6mm exit pupil at 13x magnification, with a 5.25° field (ten and a half times the diameter of the full Moon). With an eyepiece in this focal length range, the Meade 80mm triplet is its own best finderscope and a true rich field telescope, capable of scanning wide scenic vistas by day and revealing multitudes of large, faint deep space objects by night.

For observing somewhat more distant objects, optional eyepieces and/or Barlow lenses will provide high powers to let you examine details in the storm belts of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the mountains of the Moon, and much more – all of it free from the annoying haze and violet halos of chromatic aberration. And the resolution of those details will be crisp and detailed, often visibly superior to larger telescopes that more easily affected by atmospheric conditions. Maximum usable power is 180x, achievable with a 3mm focal length eyepiece and very good seeing conditions. A more reasonable maximum under so-so seeing conditions would be in the 100-120x neighborhood.

There are few optical systems that combine into one compact and inexpensive body a serious astronomical telescope, a terrestrial spotting scope, and a top-quality telephoto lens or astronomical astrograph – but the Meade 80mm triplet does it all beautifully. Whether you want to observe the skies from your back yard on the spur of the moment, or travel round the world with a very portable telescope that will reveal and photograph everything nearby and distant, you’ll find it hard to beat this truly exceptional and very economical Meade ED triplet apochromatic refractor and its truly excellent 2" dielectric star diagonal.