Meade LightBridge 10”

Since I own the Meade ETX-90EC, I was thinking my next telescope would be Dobsonian.  This was mainly because of the cheap price for the large mirror.  I decided to get the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Plus.  I figured 8” was a good step up and liked the accessories this model had.  So, it was on my purchase list but something else always came up in the budget.

But, I was also monitoring Craigslist for any used telescopes.  Most were cheap models or really expensive ones.  I figured if I was going to spend a few thousand dollars, I might as well purchase new.  But, a used Meade LightBridge 10” went up for sale.  The owner said it was used once and wanted $400.  I confirmed the new price was $700.  I was a little concerned if there might be something wrong with the mirror since used and not sure how to check it out.  But, figured worse the risk.  I meet the seller and everything looked okay through it was still in parts from his last move.  I purchased it.

I got it home and that weekend, unpacked it and reviewed the manual from Meade’s website.  The assemble wasn’t bad and the initial assemble of the device was already done.  In addition to the included accessories, there was a zoom eyepiece and an extension.  There was a moon filter too.  But, the 1.25” to 2” eyepiece adapter was missing along with a cover for the eyepiece holder.  But, in general it all looked fine for a used device.

I did have some issues getting the red dot viewfinder to align.  I had a hard time figuring out how it was supposed to work.  Finally, it starting moving.