Meade introduced their Deep-Space telescopes in about the early 1980’s which caught my eye in magazine advertisements.

I was looking for something larger than my 4.5-inch reflector which I was using at that time. The Deep-Space series consisted of two telescopes: A 10-inch and 16-inch f/4.5 telescopes with equatorial mounts.

This was at a time when Meade was building their serious Newtonian’s in their Costa Mesa, facility, which included grinding and polishing mirrors. All of the hardware, bolts and Allen heads on these telescopes and mounts are SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and not metric.

Meade, at about this time had just built a state of the art facility in Irvine, California. They were building their Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes (complete) including the mirrors, coring and the mounts. And at this time they began to make their full line of high-quality refractors with ED glass. This included their German EQ style GoTo mounts, and also the Meade ETX Astro 90mm Maksutov-Newtonian telescopes.

The ETX 90 was a novel idea: To build an incredibly low priced high-performance telescope with all the money and effort going into the optics. The base and arms were made of plastic, but the optical tube was beautiful anodized aluminum.

The ETX 90’s (the ones built in California) indeed had excellent optics. I purchased one shortly after they were introduced, and can attest to the quality of the optics. The later ones that were built in China and Mexico might have been equally as good, but never had the opportunity to test one.

Meade would later send all manufacturing to China and Mexico. Meade, began having quality issues and customer service became nonexistent. However, as a disclaimer (this information is from hearsay) or from online, or other articles. This might be considered the beginning of the end for a former great American company that was started in 1972 on a kitchen table. Orion Telescopes and Binoculars, would later purchase Meade, but would declare banruptcy a few years later.

The following is a Meade advertisement from almost 40 years ago as of 2024:

My local astronomy club (at that time) had a DS-16 which was a two-person job to set up.  I could take the 16-inch and use at any time. However, this thing was a monster, and where would I store this behemoth of a telescope? I didn’t and still don’t have a permanent observatory, and how would I set it up by myself? The 16-inch was definitely not for me!  The 10-inch seemed to be the perfect larger aperture telescope and with an equatorial mount. I had always liked the simplicity of a Newtonian, and an equatorial mount was a must.

Astronomy Magazine test and evaluation:

Astronomy Magazine tested a 10-inch DS-10A (The 10A was an updated version with a 2-inch focuser, setting circles and RA drive) with Astronomy Magazine giving the test mirror a rating of a B+.  

So, in February 1992, I purchased the 10-inch from Pauli’s Wholesale Optics, in Danbury Connecticut. It was Fred (the owner of Pauli’s) that recommended this telescope.

And now with over ~2,000 hours under the night sky and over 1,500 deep-sky pencil sketches and even more observing notes. I made the right decision and 33 years later as of 2025, I continue to use and enjoy this telescope, which is still in pristine condition. (See the photo below)

I have spent over ~2,000 hours at the eyepiece as of 2025. This would be the equivalent to 50 weeks working a job at 40 hours per week, which makes for a good prospective or comparison.

My other telescopes include a 102 mm refractor, 6-inch f/6 reflector, 80 mm f/5 refractor, Celestron 76 mm reflector First Scope (anniversary edition) and a couple others.

Shown below is the original mount, which I use when observing deep-sky objects that can’t be observed from my back deck. Only objects greater than +05º north declination (my house gets in the way) and allows me to use the Celestron CGE-Pro mount. It’s just not portable enough to use beyond my deck. Southern objects require that I use the original Meade mount, which I consider very portable.

The original medium-duty EQ mount:

For efficiency, I use both the RA and Declination circles to get me within ~1/2º degree of my target. At this point, I use a star atlas to zero in on my deep-sky object. Note the 6-inch Parks Optical declination circle and a fabricated index pointer.

The low pedestal mount is perfect for use with an astro-chair, when making observing notes and pencil sketches at the eyepiece. As for me, it’s impossible to observe and sketch while standing.

The original mount as pictured below is a medium duty mount, but is remarkably sturdy, due in-part to the very short pedestal. After spending so many years star-hopping to locate deep-sky objects, my favorite mount to use is the Celestron Pro mount, which I’ve had for only eight or so years. Again, can only be used for objects +05º north declination and greater, due to my house.

Both mounts, side by side for a comparison:

The Celestron mount is too large and heavy to take in and out of the house, so this Rubbermaid shed on my deck works well for storage. I also cover (inside the shed) the mount with a soft blanket and a piece of auto-marine fabric for extra protection.

The original mount is fairly easy to carry in-and-out, and can be stored in the corner of an extra bedroom.

A sample of a few of my sketches, using only a pencil, and a 5 x 8 blank notecard. My “humble sketches” are all raw sketches, as they appear to me through the eyepiece, without any computer enhancements. I try to make my sketches as accurate as possible, with any embellishing.

IC 5146 “The Cocoon Nebula” In Cygnus

NGC 2024 Nebula in Orion

M42: Orion Nebula Complex

M106 Galaxy in Canes Venatici

NGC 3079 Galaxy in Ursa Major

Messier 20 In Sagittarius

Messier 85 and NGC 4394

Comet Hale-Bopp: Charcoal pencil on black card stock, showing all three-tales; the gas tail, dust and anti-tail. April 1997

Messier 81 with spiral arms

NGC 7479 Galaxy in Pegasus

The Rosette Nebula

NGC 5689 Galaxy in Bootes

Messier 33

My wife (on occasion) uses the 10-inch to take photos of the moon:

Explore posts in the same categories: Roger's Articles

This entry was posted on October 16, 2023 at 5:01 pm and is filed under Roger's Articles. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.