Meade Instruments 228001 Lx65 5" Maksutov-Cassegrain Computerized Telescope with AudioStar

I sold my home and observatory, and was looking for a telescope for visual observing. I purchased the LX65, and have been very impressed and pleased with the instrument.I bought the LX65 primarily because I wanted a telescope that wasn’t too heavy. Many telescopes are heavy because the OTA is permanently attached to the mount. But the LX65 mount weighs only 18 lbs, and the 11 lb OTA easily attaches to the standard Vixen dovetail bar. The mount is also easy to carry because it has a built-in handle.The LX65 also appealed to me because the second Vixen dovetail saddle can handle a second telescope. The second mount is rated for 7 lbs, so will handle most 80 mm refractors.On my first night out with my nephew joining me, we mounted the 8-inch ACF Meade OTA with an 80 mm Refractor. I used a Televue Panoptic 24mm eyepiece on the 8-inch scope, providing a field of view of 0.8 degrees. I paired the 80 mm Refractor with a Televue Nagler 13 mm eyepiece, resulting in an FOV of almost 3 degrees.The second telescope did double-duty acting as a finderscope to facilitate alignment and as a rich-field scope for viewing wider objects such as star clusters. The second OTA is very easy to adjust to point at the same field as the primary OTA. (The mounts are always closely aligned, and there are convenient adjustment screws to closely align the FOV’s in just a minute or two.) My nephew and I were able to look through both instruments at the same time, and compare notes on each object that we saw. We’re both pretty big guys, but there was plenty of room for simultaneous observing.I found it very easy to align the LX65 in just a few minutes. I entered the time, date and zip code; put the telescope in the Level-North home position (using the handy bubble level compass that comes with the LX65) and did a two star alignment, all in about 3 minutes. Thereafter, the telescope stayed aligned for the entire 4 hour observing session with about 50 celestial objects.The Meade AudioStar (included) has a very good “Tonight’s Best” tour, with an audio program on each item. After we completed the tour, I used the Meade STELLA device to provide an RS232 to WIFI link, and connected the LX65 to SkySafari wirelessly on my iPhone. We continued observing with the SkySafari tour.The LX65 operates seamlessly with SkySafari, so on my next observing session I’ll probably just pan around in SkySafari to GOTO objects of interest.The LX65 doesn’t have the bells and whistles that some people might need for alignment (GPS, Level-North sensors, CCD camera). But those features add complexity, weight and cost to the telescope, sometimes at the cost of reliability. If you can enter the time, date, put the telescope in the home position, and center two stars in the field of view, you can align this telescope in less than 5 minutes without those accessories.So, in a nutshell, here are the things that I really like about the LX65:-Lightweight (OTA separates from mount). Mount has a convenient carry handle.-Second saddle for a second OTA. Finderscope and rich-field instrument.-Excellent hour-after-hour tracking-Excellent ACF optics-Simple alignmentVery easy to give this product a 5-star rating!

First thing I noticed was the eye piece or red dot finder sight did not come in their own Meade box, other unboxing videos they came in their own box and being Meade items they come in a Meade box with part numbers?! There is obvious water marks all over the LX65 mount as seen in pictures I posted and in the YouTube video I found them on the tripod stabilizer bracket aswel. The hook that is supposed to keep the hand controller secure on the LX65 mount is brutally bent out of shape, where that hook mounts into the LX65 mount is cracked with tons of scratches where the controller would rest on the LX65 mount(easily seen in pictures), and a few scratches on the controller itself. There is a large white scuff on the right side of mount. There are 2 hold down screws side by side where you are supposed to mount the scope and the one I'm pointing at in the picture is seized so the scope can't even mount onto the LX65 mount. There is even scuffs and scratches on the scope it self...This thing was sold to me as new but is definitely 100% used!I made a unboxing video cause Amazon sent some bogus emails to me in the past about returns being in not new condition but I get them used and this is proof. The video is on YouTube and the title is " Meade LX65 5" maksutov cassegrain from Amazon unboxing ". It has 70 minutes left to upload but it will be there shortly. Today is 7/21/2020 at 7:32pm Central Time.

I bought this LX65 5" Mak to replace a very aged Meade DS70 refractor. To say it is an upgrade would be an understatement. Here's my quick review (also posted over at CloudyNights.com):Arrival and UnpackingTwo boxes arrived via UPS - both with gashes in them. Luckily, as I discovered, there was no damage. As an aside, I'm amazed how often that occurs with optics! The smaller box contains the 5" OTA, and visual parts and was nicely packed. You can keep the foam and use it to build your own storage container if you so choose, which I might do later. The larger box contained the tripod and the LX65, mount, AudioStar, and some other items. Again, nicely packaged.AssemblyVery straight forward. I didn't have any issues with finding the star detent as others have had between the tripod and the mount. I was very careful screwing things together as it is new after all! But it went together beautifully. AudioStar had the latest firmware and the battery box had the white sticker on it.The OTA slips on easily as does the red dot finder. Everything went together in about 5 to 10 minutes. One thing I'll say is loading batteries is a bit of a pain but not unworkable. I just need to get a system figured out. I have two sets of NIMH C cells so I should be good to go for a while. Another thing I noticed is if you have batteries loaded it seems you can't use an external 12V power supply at the same time. Not sure if I am supposed to be able to use both but it also might be my external supply that I use to launch my composite motor model rockets is not the correct type to use, even though it comes with a cigarette lighter. But I digress. I do have an old battery booster I may try.Fit and FinishThis is a quality telescope and mount. Very sturdy and the mount has some heft. Others have complained about the tripod - I actually like it. Meade has put together a good quality beginner or advanced beginner telescope system.OutsideI zeroed in the red dot sight and then let the tube acclimate while we ate dinner. Close to dusk, I took it down to my backyard and leveled it with my torpedo level. The included compass/level is garbage to put it bluntly. It sort of works but is meh. As it was getting near dusk I used my sky app on the iPhone to find Polaris and leveled the scope on True North so I could align it. I may try tonight with Magnetic North just for shizzles and gits; I know what people have said on here about that, but I want to try it. Before that though, I looked at the sliver of the moon before it disappeared at twilight. Wow! A great view through the Mak and my Celestron Omni 32mm eyepiece.AlignmentA piece of cake. I've never used a GOTO ever so I had to play around with getting the alignment stars in the eyepiece but managed it. Tracking on this first time was okay. I'm sure I'll train the drives soon (supposed to rain tomorrow) and as I use it more I'll get more used to it.ViewingAfter successful alignment I slewed first to Jupiter. A good sight through the Omni. Switched power to the 26mm and then a 15mm and it was very very good. Not much color but it wasn't fully dark yet either. Still a big step up from my DS70! Focusing on the Mak was smooth, unlike my DS70. Not much jumping around even at 9mm, although that FOV is so narrow it is difficult finding the target if it is out of view - but that may be to me just needing to learn the use of the AudioStar.Next on to Saturn - using my 9mm I could make out the Cassini division slightly; never seen it before! Best views were with the 32mm and the 15mm. My wife and youngest daughter loved seeing it and they thought it was cool how the Disney sounding AudioStar worked (have you ever listened to it? It sounds like you are on the Mission to Mars ride lol).Most of the Tour sites were obscured by a house (mine) and a very large oak tree (also mine). However, I could see the faint wisp of the Dumbbell Nebula which I'd not seen before - fam couldn't see it but they really didn't know what hey were looking for in their defense. Finally viewed some star clusters, again, not seen as well through the DS70 so I was awestruck by the sight. Given it was a work night, I called it quits at 9:45.... But it was a good first session. I'll go out again tonight.Not much new in this review I know, but wanted to post my thoughts on this. The LX65 gets some knocks about the Aux issue, which I think have caused some to shy away from this mount. Note though that currently sourced LX65s most likely will have the Aux wiring issue solved - simply look for the white dot on the battery holder. If it doesn't have that, there are work-arounds or you can send it back and get a new one. Great optics and a great mount. Overall, this is a very good system and I am pleased with my purchase.

Very good. Just wish it had an automated micro focuser. Micro focuser and wifi control adapter no longer available on Amazon

I prefer Celestron for whatever reasons when it comes to these type of telescopes, whether it is easier to align, slightly better views. I had owned both so that is my preference, to each their own. One aspect of the Meade I liked was the audio presentation of the sky.

Fácil de armar y desarmar. Sencillo en su utilización. Características ópticas buenas (soy novato) y permite ver con buena definición una variedad de estrellas, un par de nebulosas (no tengo muchos lentes aún) y de cajón, la luna. Recomiendo mejorar los lentes que trae, ya que con el paso de las observaciones, se descubre que son de calidad promedio. En definitiva, una compra excelente, te dará muchas horas de entretenimiento!!!

Sono passato da un dobson da 20cm a questo mak per avere uno strumento più adatto alle mie riprese planetarie e lunari. Purtroppo il deep sky dalla mia abitazione è poco praticabile causa inquinamento luminoso e lampioni tutto intorno. E ne sono soddisfatto anche l'osservazione di qualche oggetto deep non appare sostanzialmente diversa da quella che avevo prima..anche se il campo inquadrato è decisamente più stretto .il mak arriva ad un grado scarso...comunque buon rapporto qualità prezzo ed apprezzo la possibilità di montare un piccolo telescopio a fianco di quello principale. La stabilità della montatura è discreta anche se lo smorzamento delle vibrazioni non è così immediato come sul dobson. La precisione di inseguimento e di puntamento sono sufficienti all'utilizzo che ne faccio. Bisogna comunque fare l'allenamento con estrema cura per ottenere unpuntamento automatico affidabile. Purtroppo nella confezione mancavano gli accessori di serie prontamente rispediti da astroshop che ringrazio per la disponibilità dimostrata. Buone osservazioni!

Es un telescopio que lo tiene todo y a un excelente PRESIO y si cambiará por uno mas potente escogería otro MEADE

Puntamento con nord magnetico inpreciso e difficoltoso ma...... tutto il resto è ok. Soprattutto grande supporto da chat online.