I just stumbled across a news flash stating that Orion Telescopes and Binoculars has bought Meade Instruments last June after Meade filed bankruptcy due to being sued by Orion for price fixing against the American market. Orion is an American owned company though they sell mostly imported products from Synta Optics of Taiwan.
Now what does that mean for us observers, especially us solar observers? Coronado is a Meade product. Could it lead to better quality? Better etalons? Better customer service? Synta, the parent company of Celestron and Sky-Watcher in my opinion puts out better quality optics than Ningbo Sunny, Meade's former parent company does. If Orion has Synta to start producing optics then quality may improve. It would be nice to see Orion move Coronado back to the US side of the border. They of course could also move it to Taiwan or China for production or leave it where it is in Mexico.
Do you think the Orion purchase of Meade Instruments will make a positive difference in Coronado products?
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-n ... ses-meade/
James
Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
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Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
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Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
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Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
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Re: Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
Thanks Montana. Somehow I missed this post. I just hope Orion does something to better Meade and Coronado. Some don't like Orion but I have never had an issue with them and have two of their scopes. A Short Tube 90 and my 70mm WL solar telescope. I also have a couple of Orion eyepieces. One on the other post doubted their customer service. I have always thought theirs was decent. Meade always has has customer service issues. Lunt and Celestron/Skywatcher have been good for me so far I have used Skywatcher's twice!
Best luck to Orion/Meade! Move forward and make good products! Make Coronado comparable to Lunt again!!
James
Best luck to Orion/Meade! Move forward and make good products! Make Coronado comparable to Lunt again!!
James
Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
Visual Observer
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Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
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Re: Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
Thanks James for the reminder about the Orion/Meade scenario.
As said in my previous reply in the June'21 post, it remains to be seen if products and service will improve to the point where customer-satisfaction is guaranteed, which sadly has been lacking over the last two or three years - or so...
COVID will still dictate to a large extent, as to the availability and prices from not just the above-mentioned companies, but many other firms too and for how long any delays in supplying whatever - is simply unknown at present...
Terry
As said in my previous reply in the June'21 post, it remains to be seen if products and service will improve to the point where customer-satisfaction is guaranteed, which sadly has been lacking over the last two or three years - or so...
COVID will still dictate to a large extent, as to the availability and prices from not just the above-mentioned companies, but many other firms too and for how long any delays in supplying whatever - is simply unknown at present...
Terry
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Re: Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
Fingers crossed, Terry. This potentially improve Meade. Even though they are not American owned I feel that Meade almost certainly would fare better if Synta/Celestron/Sky-Watcher would have bought them.
I wish Celestron would come out with a solar line of scopes to compete with Lunt and Coronado. Meade has Coronado only because they bought David Lunt's existing company.
James
I wish Celestron would come out with a solar line of scopes to compete with Lunt and Coronado. Meade has Coronado only because they bought David Lunt's existing company.
James
Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
Visual Observer
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Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
Visual Observer
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Re: Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
I have been an old Orion and Celestron fan for years...actually did some beta testing for Celestron early Fastar setups and the Celestron GPS SCT fork mount scopes. Not a fan of Meade due to their poor customer support and questionable business practices (which now came back to haunt them).
Synta owns Celestron and SkyWatcher and is a Chinese company. When I was involved with Celestron it was when it was still an American company.
Bottom line....I hope this works out as a benefit for the owners with better products and customer support. Will see where this goes. I am not happy with further dilution of American technology to China though.
Synta owns Celestron and SkyWatcher and is a Chinese company. When I was involved with Celestron it was when it was still an American company.
Bottom line....I hope this works out as a benefit for the owners with better products and customer support. Will see where this goes. I am not happy with further dilution of American technology to China though.
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Astro Physics 900 and 1100 mounts, Ioptron MINI Tower Pro ALT/AZ mount, ZWO AM5 mount,
Lunt 60mm Ha single stack, Coronado 60mm Ha single stack with BF 30
Day Star Quark Chromosphere
Player One Neptune mono with 178 chip, 256mm DDR, tilt plane for solar imaging
ASI 071 Pro cooled color for DS imaging
ATIK 490 EX OSC for DS imaging
SBIG STL 6303e mono with RGBL and Ha, SII, OIII filters for DS imaging
ASI AIR Plus
JPL/NASA Solar System Ambassador
Michigan Scout observatory manager
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Re: Orion Telescopes buys Meade Instruments!
Ditto!! And this certainly includes far more than optical technology!I am not happy with further dilution of American technology to China though._RKBerta.
James
Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces
Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "