Name: Meade EclipseView 60mm f/13 AZ Achro Refractor Telescope with Solar Filter - With Microfiber Cloth
Brand: Meade
SKU: MDEV60MRTA
Price: 99.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.33 (6 reviews)

Meade EclipseView 60mm f/13 AZ Achro Refractor Telescope with Solar Filter - With Microfiber Cloth

Meade EclipseView 60

Meade

Meade 60mm f/13 AZ Achro Refractor Telescope with Solar Filter - Microfiber Clot

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Optics & Binoculars

Telescopes & Astronomy

Telescopes

Meade Telescopes

Meade EclipseView 60 

Top Rated Gear: Meade EclipseView 60mm f/13 AZ Achro Refractor Telescope with Solar Filter - With Microfiber Cloth Type: White Light

This telescope is decent for a casual hobbyist.  It's easy to assemble (although some of the directions referred to parts that weren't where expected.

I found the same annoyance as another reviewer - the focus adjustment mechanism is far too loose or overlubricated, and there's no way to tighten it down.

We were able to view the sun during the solar eclipse, although we've found the red dot and sun finders aren't quite accurate enough on their own.  It gets you started, but there's still a lot of trial and error to actually get an object lined up so it can be viewed through the eyepiece.

For a casual hobby observer, this is a decent telescope.  We've been able to see the sun and the moon, and look at objects on the ground as well (although a good pair of binoculars is likely a better choice for that).

Decent hobby telescope

Bought it for viewing the eclipse...Worked great. 
It has a removable solar filter so can be used as a regular telescope. Great value.

Good Deal

Was great for viewing the 8/21 eclipse.
No expert bus seems well made, and works well.

Was great for viewing the 8/21 eclipse

Great product

Unlike many "department store" telescopes and other beginner's telescopes, this scope offers 1.25" eyepieces (not 0.965"), a nice aluminum tripod, a red-dot viewfinder, and comes with a solar filter and solar viewfinder, and has a vertical slow-motion control.

However, I did find it a bit difficult to use during the eclipse. I never managed to sight the sun in solar viewfinder, and only managed to get the sun lined up in the telescope through repeated attempts at using dead-reckoning and moving the scope about. The mount being alt-azimuth, it also had the downside of not being able to track the sun as it moved, so any successes at getting the sun lined up for viewing were fleeting, although this was to be expected for this type of mount.

The biggest gripe I have with the scope is that the focus adjustment mechanism was lubricated a bit too much - so much that when the telescope is tilted to any reasonably high angle, gravity slowly pulls the focus adjustment all the way down, and there appears to be no mechanism to lock the focus adjustment in place. As the lubrication wears off, I suspect that this issue will right itself. 

I generally found the quality well above that of typical beginner's scopes and found the value for the money to be very high. The optics are of good quality, and setup of the scope and tripod is relatively easy. The vertical slow motion control was a plus, although there was a certain amount of play in the mount that caused the scope to move a bit more than desired when using the slow-motion controls, as they are connected directly to the tube assembly. A slow-motion controls that extends away from the scope would be appreciated, as would a horizontal slow-motion control.