[sac-forum] Re: Costco OEM Meade DS-2090 AT-TC

First Light Update on my new DS-2090 -
We couldn't have asked for a more stable night. Jupiter was gorgeous at 133x with clear cloud bands and Io and Ganymede played crossover tag (at first, I thought it was a lens aberration because they were so close...) from around 19:45 until 20:20. What a sight! That's the cleanest view of Jupiter that I've ever seen.
Next, we bounced around to the M's - 13 and 31 were gorgeous at both low and high power. Antares was beautiful with no lens flare at 67x. Mizar split easily and sharply, even at 32x.
The unit is lightweight and tight. Once leveled (duh!), the alignment was dead on - but, Polaris isn't listed as an alignment star??? They use a really sticky grease for the focuser, so stay away from the bottom of the extension tube where the teeth are located - it gets on everything - tube body, controller handle, shorts leg, but luckily not the eyepieces or my glasses...
The only thing that I have to "complain" about is the focuser. While it seems tight and smooth to the touch, it was a bit of work to really fine tune at 133x.
I would especially like to thank all of you large aperture viewers for staying indoors this evening (how else can you explain my luck :-) ?).
Looks like tomorrow night is more of the same, so you'll find me somewhere looking up after sunset. If you didn't have a chance to get out yet tonight, the evening's still young, so why are you reading this?
All told, a VERY successful first light! I'm thoroughly impressed with this scope. Don't know if it's the best $199 I've ever spent, but it's pretty darned close. 

Tim


On Sep 2, 2008, at 3:52 PM, Tim Jones wrote:


Hi Folks,
If you're looking for the killer deal on a small aperture Refractor, Costco membership has its perks! 

        OEM DS 2090 AT-TC
        1.25" diagonal and back opening (versus 0.96" on original 2080/2090)
        New tripod - Aluminum - light, very sturdy so far...
Autostar 497 30K objects (versus 494 1.4K objects with current standard Meade versions) 
        Red Dot Finder (OK, so it's not a Telrad)
        5 MA Eyepieces (25mm, 20mm, 17mm, 12mm, 6mm) in case
        Eyepiece tray fits inside the tripod legs
        Handcontroller slot on tray
        Combo Compass/Bubble level
        Focuser feels smooth (but we'll see in low light...)

        Only downside - no Barlow (or upside depending on your inclination).
The unbelievable side of this is a purchase price of $199.99! But wait, if you order in the next twenty minutes - hey, we can't do this all day, Ooops, wrong commercial... 

To keep $199 in perspective:

        Autostar 497 - $249 ($150 on deep sale)
        5 MA Eyepieces - $125
Before you even take the tube, optics, and tripod into account, you're so rightside up it's almost illegal!
I've seen these at the Raintree store in Scottsdale and the Cave Creek/101 store in N. Phoenix. They are in with the seasonal goodies (keyboards, guitars, drums, My Little Pony...).
Even if you don't need one, they may be just the ticket for a budding astronomer. 

Tim

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