DS 2114 Meade 4.5 Autostar Computer Telescope

My Personal Thoughts On This Telescope

The DS 2114 Meade Newtonian Telescope is such a great little scope! And here is why I like it.

There is an old saying in astronomy. "Telescope you like best is the one you find yourself using the most." How true. The DS 2114 Meade Newtonian Telescope is one that you will find yourself using over and over again.

First, the DS 2114 Meade is lightweight. Since it tips the scales at a mere 16 pounds, it is not a struggle to take outside and to move around. Plus, it is small enough to easily be put in your car if you need to transport it to a darker viewing location.

You might just read reviews claiming that the Meade DS 2114 uses old or inferior optical design technology. This just is not true. The reason this telescope occasionally receives less than sterling comments is the fact that Meade uses a spherical mirror for the heart of this system and corrector lens to compensate for this. But take heart because these comments are misguided.

Excellent Celestial Viewing

Here is one more old saying. "One test is worth a thousand expert opinions." And it applies here. Anyone who has ever used the DS 2114 Meade will tell you the same thing. The views are superb! And you do not even need to take my word for it. (Please read the reviews below.)

Computer Controlled

The DS 2114 Meade has installed its famous 494 AutoStar controller on the mount included with this system. But what does that mean? Whether you are a more advanced amateur astronomer or a complete novice, finding objects in the sky can sometimes be a difficult task. It is no fun to spend all of your time trying to find objects in the sky. You want to spend your time observing, right?

This fully computerized mount allows you to quickly and easily find interesting objects to look at. Simply align the mount (and it is easy) and select the object from the AutoStar database that you want to look at and the telescope will find it for you!

But I Don't Know Anything About Using A Telescope!

Relax. We all have to start somewhere and the DS 2114 is a great place! Meade has put together a series of excellent videos on how to use this telescope... start to finish. It just doesn't get any easier than this. Click this link if you would like to see these videos.

Nightfire Points To DS 2114 Meade

But You Can't Take Astrophotographs With This Telescope

Wrong again! While it's true that the drive system is not suitable for really long duration astrophotography, Meade once again saves the day! Any astrophotographer (who is any good at it) will tell you the same thing. If you want to take high quality astrophotographs, you are going to need to autoguide your telescope. And the AutoStar 494 will allow you to do just that.

You will need a small guidescope, an interface cable, a laptop and some free autoguiding software to do this. But you are going to need this equipment regardless which telescope you will be using for your astrophotography.

This Is A Great All-Round Telescope... At A Price That's Hard To Pass Up.

Check out the unsolicited reviews below.

Here's a few words..if you are a novice like me and never used a telescope before, and you think this is the time that you have to have one...let me tell you!

I bought this telescope after reading reviews of every telescope on earth. With not so much money, you will have a reflector telescope with clear aperture of 114 mm and after reading the manual and going over the included software in the box, (if you are as lucky as I was) you will find a brilliant Jupiter (with its four moons) and a very well defined Saturn (with its ring) in your first night of observation using the included 9mm eyepiece .

The hardest part...to align the telescope using Autostar...the clue...align very well your view finder and don't be afraid to investigate by your own. I recommend this telescope for you, if you are a beginner like me and want to enjoy the pleasure of using a good telescope and learn about planet, stars and constellations without paying to much. When you buy this telescope, you will find the answer about if you need to buy a more expensive telescope in the future and if astronomy is the hobby for you.

Skillfully observing the many visible stars and planets can be very daunting for the beginner and trying for even the intermediate amateur astronomer, but the Meade DS-2114ATS telescope makes it easy thanks to the Autostar computer controller system. You can locate any astronomical object by entering it into the keypad; electric motors then align the telescope to display the object. The Autostar's catalog includes 74 galaxies, 135 star clusters, 26 asteroids, and the 8 major planets, for a total of 1,586 viewable objects.

You can store up to 200 objects in the memory for an immediate go-to function. Digital readouts display the telescope’s position in both radians and decimal form. Oversize bearings and locks on both of the telescope’s axes eliminate imprecisions of movement that are common to lesser telescopes.

Since it is a Newtonian reflector, the DS-2114ATS's aluminized primary mirror and elliptical secondary mirror provide sharp and bright images at a relatively low price. This optical system has a 114mm aperture and a focal length of 1000mm. The 6x30mm viewfinder and eyepiece, with a diameter of 1.25 inches, makes viewing comfortable and free of any eye strain. Also included are an aluminum tripod with a fold-up accessory shelf and astronomy software on CD-ROM.

DS 2114 Meade

Meade DS 2114 ATS Reflecting Telescope Reviews