I had been on an order list for the Meade 127mm Triplet Refractor beginning when it was first announced. After waiting for two years, Meade announced the scope was "discontinued" although it had never even made it to market.
When I first arrived at the 2008 NEAF Telescope Show on opening day, I was surprised to see Astro-Tech with a very similar (probably the same) scope being sold as a 127mm ED Triplet Refractor. I learned that two of the telescopes had already been sold and only the Astro-Tech demo was available. It had some very minor cosmetic paint nicks from use as a demo and a focuser with some issues. I purchased the scope through the friendly staff at High Point Scientific at a discounted price.
Some specifications of the never-released Meade Series 5000 127mm Triplet Refractor from sales ads:
Meade still has PDF files online that include the 127mm Series 5000 APO Triplet Refractor HERE and HERE.
As the Sun was setting I took these photos of the scope on an Orion Atlas mount set up on my deck observatory:
Scope with 31mm Televue Type 5 Nagler:
Close-up of illuminated reticle image correct finder scope. Note the blue rotating collar. At first glance it looks like the focuser is rotatable but it is not. The blue ring is for mounting the finder bracket and the finder can be rotated to different positions.
Drawtube has two inch brass compression ring. Focuser is dual speed with tension and lock down screws. I made a graduations template for the focuser tube and printed it on clear label stock. If your drawtube has no graduations you can use the template HERE.
Note blank space with no text on front ring......waiting to be branded:
OTA baffled well:
:Dew Shield retracted:
Dew shield fully extended:
Close up of 99% coated 2 inch diagonal:
Using a self-modified Canon 450D DSLR, I imaged a house on a mountain ridge 1.81 miles away:
Live view display of the Canon 450D, framed area will be magnified for focusing:
Camera live view is set to 5X for focusing:
Camera live view is set to 10X for fine focusing:
Image taken of the house on the ridge above with the Canon 450D and Astro-Tech 127mm Triplet Refractor at prime:
Set up with Canon 450D (XSi) for star testing and imaging but the clouds never cleared::
A very sturdy case was provided with the scope along with a screw-on metal dust cap, rings with dovetail and carry handle, two inch diagonal, finder scope and two eyepieces.
Telescope case closed:
Focuser components:
IMAGES WITH SCOPE:
Click here for gallery of Modified Canon 450D (XSi) DSLR astro images using the Astro-Tech 127mm Triplet Refractor.
On April 28, 2008 took first deep sky images with the Astro Tech 127mm Triplet using a modified Canon 450D camera and images of M51, M13 and the Virgo Core of Galaxies can be seen HERE.
I am now using both the Astro-Tech 127mm and the Orion ED 80 for imaging on the Atlas EQ-G mount using an ADM side-by-side system and a photo of the setup can be seen HERE.
Lunar images using the Astro-Tech 127mm at prime and also with a Televue 2X Big Barlow along with star testing results and video can be seen HERE.
Comparison 127mm Triplet test images using .8X and f/6.3 Focal Reducers can be seen HERE.