Editorial Reviews : Meade's DS-114EC reflecting telescope offers a large aperture, high-quality optics, and easy push-button electronic operation, making it a perfect instrument for the serious beginner or intermediate observer. It features improved mounting for precise, smooth altitude and azimuth movements. Its high-resolution, multicoated primary and secondary mirrors are free of the optical zones and irregularities often found on optics of lesser quality. It includes the Meade handheld electronic controller, which allows for four-speed push-button operation and easy object location and tracking. It also includes Meade's StarNavigator software, which displays more than 10,000 celestial objects for help in locating galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, stars, and planets. It comes with a full-length adjustable heavy-duty aluminum tripod with accessory shelf. The DS-114EC exhibits Meade's fine attention to detail and quality. It offers a resolving power of 1.5 arcseconds, a limiting visual magnitude of 11.6, a 275x maximum practical visual power, and a 6mm by 30mm viewfinder. Its large 114mm aperture allows you to observe celestial objects like the rings of Saturn, Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, the moon-like phases of Venus, and hundreds of deep-space phenomena like galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters.
The DS-114EC is also built to be fully compatible with Meade's Autostar computer controller, for automatic location and tracking of celestial objects.
Buyer Reviews : This telescope is an excelent buy at the moment for [amt]. The review that states you should save yourself the trouble by buying a Newtonian/Dobsonian telescope did not meantion that the average price is around [amt] for a cheap telescope. Dobsonians ARE quality telescopes for their price, but if you just want to get started and don't care too much about all the tecnical stuff (but eventually want to know what it's all about) you should start with this telescope. I am happy with mine, although, I bought it a year ago near the price Amazon lists at above [amt], but I've been happy with it because of its nice electronic control, which is necessary to keep track of objects you are viewing at high magnification (adjusting the telescope by hand is difficult). The scope comes with TWO eyepieces instead of one. Each eyepiece has a magnification of 36X and 101X for the 25mm and 9mm pieces respectively. Add a 2X or 3X Barlow lens and you can double or triple those magnifications. Note that Meade suggests a maximum of 325X magnification is the limit of the scope.
(by Shawn Pottorf)
Features/Technical Specs : * Newtonian reflector telescope with 114mm aperture * 910mm objective lens focal length * Includes electronic controller for easy push-button object location and tracking * Smooth, precise tracking with altazimuth mounting * Includes full-length, adjustable heavy-duty aluminum tripod
