Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

Discuss telescope eyepieces.
Post Reply
Refractordude
Interdicted
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 1493
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 1:05 am
4
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

#1

Post by Refractordude »


First I noticed Meade copied the Svbony aspherics 4mm, 10mm, and 23mm. Now it looks like they are copying the APM Ultra Flat Field eyepieces. What do you all think? Are these Meade Ultra High Definition eyepieces the same as the APM UFF eyepieces? The prices are lower than the APMs, but the specifications seem to be the same.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... arter.html

https://agenaastro.com/meade-series-500 ... 07034.html
User avatar
smeyer8015
Jupiter Ambassador
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 294
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:40 am
4
Location: Kansas City, MO.
Status:
Offline

Re: Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

#2

Post by smeyer8015 »


I suspect they are not "copying" them, but both are made by the same Chinese manufacturer.
Celestron Classic 8, Old Sears 60mm f/15 refractor, Old Edmund Scientific 6 inch F/8 newt, GSO 2" Diag, ES 30mm/70, ES 25mm/70, Orion 32 Super Plossl, Mead 24mm MA,
X-Cel LX 18mm, Luminos 15mm, F/6.3 reducer, Luminos 2.5x barlow, Telrad, Celestron 9x50 RACI, DIY Baader Solar Filter, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Bresser EXOS-2 Goto, Revolution Imager R1

No trees were killed in the sending of this post. However, a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced
Image
User avatar
Lady Fraktor Slovakia
Co-Administrator
Co-Administrator
Articles: 0
Offline
Posts: 9860
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 9:14 pm
4
Location: Slovakia
Status:
Offline

Re: Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

#3

Post by Lady Fraktor »


Not copying just re-branding which is a common practice.
The Agena Starguider is an example, how many companies sell their own version of the Long Perng ''SWAN' eyepiece line that Williams Optics originally sold.
There are many more examples of this.

The APM eyepiece is a copy of a design as well, not the original.
See Far Sticks: Antares Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser BV 127/1200, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885
EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, AXJ, AXD
Az/Alt: AYO Digi II/ Argo Navis, Stellarvue M2C/ Argo Navis
Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102
Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Takahashi prism, TAL, Vixen flip mirror
Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss
The only culture I have is from yogurt
My day was going well until... people
Image
User avatar
kt4hx United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 4
Offline
Posts: 3489
Joined: Sun May 12, 2019 12:18 am
4
Location: Virginia, USA
Status:
Offline

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

#4

Post by kt4hx »


As Gabrielle mentioned the Agena Starguider Dual ED eyepiece, I will use those as an example of what is going on here. In the world of "Dual ED" eyepieces, there are multiple so-called brand names. However, they are all in fact the same eyepiece originating from Barsta in China. If one is willing to order a sufficient volume of them, then Barsta will put whatever "name" you wish to use on them. So to that end, they have appeared under various labels such as:

Astro-Tech Paradigm Dual ED
Agena Starguider Dual ED
BST Starguider Dual ED

I have also seen them sold on Ebay from time to time as nothing more than Dual ED eyepieces. But they are all the same, only the label changes. If one looks at them closely, they always appear in the same focal length points - 3.2mm, 5mm, 8mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm and 25mm. Each step has a specific color band on the barrel and that is always the same, no matter the brand name stamped on them. Here is an example of a dealer in Oz selling them with no specific name on them:

https://proastroz.com/products/6-x-dual ... -astronomy

So that is what is going on with Meade in this case. They are merely buying a stock eyepiece line from a manufacturer in sufficient quantity to have their name placed on them. In the same way other distributors have done. Nothing sneaky about it, just business as usual for some lines of lower cost eyepieces. Where there is money to be made, companies will play the game.
Alan

Scopes: Astro Sky 17.5 f/4.5 Dob || Apertura AD12 f/5 Dob || Zhumell Z10 f/4.9 Dob ||
ES AR127 f/6.5 || ES ED80 f/6 || Apertura 6" f/5 Newtonian
Mounts: ES Twilight-II and Twilight-I
EPs: AT 82° 28mm UWA || TV Ethos 100° 21mm and 13mm || Vixen LVW 65° 22mm ||
ES 82° 18mm || Pentax XW 70° 10mm, 7mm and 5mm || barlows
Filters (2 inch): DGM NPB || Orion Ultra Block, O-III and Sky Glow || Baader HaB
Primary Field Atlases: Uranometria All-Sky Edition and Interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Astronomers, we look into the past to see our future." (me)
"Seeing is in some respect an art, which must be learnt." (William Herschel)
"What we know is a drop, what we don't know is an ocean." (Sir Isaac Newton)
"No good deed goes unpunished." (various)
Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?” (Scarecrow, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
User avatar
Bigzmey United States of America
Moderator
Moderator
Articles: 8
Online
Posts: 7549
Joined: Sat May 11, 2019 7:55 pm
4
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Status:
Online

TSS Awards Badges

Re: Meade Pulls A Fast One Again

#5

Post by Bigzmey »


It looks like most of Meade EP offerings are either discontinued or out of stock. It could be that they are experiencing supply issues and are forced t look for what's available from other manufacturers.
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

Return to “Eyepieces”