Meade Tech Service-- Policy,
Contacting Suggestions, &
Operating Manual URLs & PDFs

 

       

 

Meade Tech Service:

Meade Tech Support Contact for the LX200-- John Piper at extension 277.

Because I almost always got a "I'm busy and will get back to you.", I eventually took to calling and leaving a message in my cheap phone time after 11 PM my time. They always called the next day and paid for the lengthy discussion if one was necessary. New as of Dec., 1997, use their 800 number below.

Subject: Meade's Address   

From: John Downs
To all Mapuggers, here is the address for Meade:

Meade Instruments Corp.
6001 Oak Canyon
Irvine, CA. 92620-4205

Phone:  1-800-626-3233  or 949.451.1450
Fax: 949-451-1460

Subject: Meade's Email Addresses --part 1 of 2

Scott Roberts <scottrobertsmeade.com> Vice President - Brand Community & Consumer Solutions
Andrew Corkill <Andrew.Corkillmeade.com> 949.451.1450, ext. 331, Associate Product Manager

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Subject: Meade's Email Address --part 2 of 2

From: Jason

I was able to get a reply from Meade using: <infomeade.com> I just asked a question and a week or so later they replied with the info.

Subject: Meade Warranty Policy  

Warranty statement: <http://www.meade.com/support/wrty.html> Note: should open in a new browser window.

Subject: Meade Extended Warranty? --part 1 of 2  

From: Doc G, Date: Mar 2004

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Woods <Rick.WoodsAD.STATE.AZ.US>
> I was looking over the info about the extended warranty offer on the
> Astronomics web site. Any opinions about this offer? The three-year
> option seems a lot better than the five-year. Think it's worth it? Or is
> it like those cheesy extended warranties that stereo shops offer?
> How soon do most LX200 problems surface, if they're going to? If you
> make it a year without problems, are you likely to be OK?

I have followed only the LX classic problems over a period of almost 10 years. While the LX200 classic telescopes suffer some amount of infant mortality, they are not highly robust and suffer over the years as well. Very often the fault is user fault. But equally I think the failures are expected because of the design. They seem, from mapug records, to be well distributed of many years.

I see no reason to believe that the warranty is "cheesy" or anything but honest. However, a company issuing warranty does expect to find it a profit center. Meade certainly knows the time distribution of warranty repairs. The individual telescope may fall anywhere on that time curve. The individual owner generally purchases insurance for peace of mind. One hopes to not use it.

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Subject: Meade Extended Warranty? --part 2 of 2

From: John Mahony <jmmahonyhotmail.com>

Most extended warranties on appliances aren't worth it. But Meade has been getting picky lately about no longer sending out replacement parts for user-repairs, and now usually require you to send the whole scope in for anything but the simplest fixes. Shipped at your expense if it's not under warranty. So the "shipping included" version of the extended warranty sounds interesting.

Subject: Meade LX200 Manual URL  

<http://www.meade.com/manuals/lx200/>
  Note: should open a new browser window.

Subject: LX50 PDF Manuals

From: Bryan Tobias

I have a small assortment of manuals for the LX50 that I converted to PDF for my own personal use. They are listed on my website at:
   <http://www.solar-system.com/Astronomy/Technical/Manual.pdf>

Also for the SuperWedge at:
   <http://www.solar-system.com/Astronomy/Technical/Wedge.pdf>
     Note: should open a new browser windows over this one.

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Subject: LX200 Classic Owner's Manual -- PDF Download  

From: Doug Carroll <voxrattbi.com> Date: Sept 2002

Mine is a scanned and OCR read from the actual manual that came with my LX200 purchased in Nov 2000. It is not a web-based version or a PDF of the Web-based version as I have seen. Please check it out and you'll be very happy with it.

  <http://www.ccdguy.com/lx200/lx200.htm>
    Note: should open a new browser window over this one.

Subject: LX200GPS Owner's Manual -- PDF Download  

   <http://www.sciencecompany.com/manuals/manuals.cfm?manual_id=88> or
   <http://www.optcorp.com/lx200gps_images/LX200GPSmanual.pdf> or
   <http://www.meadelx200gps.com/files/documentation/lx200gps_manual_smt.pdf>

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Subject: LX200 16" PDF Manual

From: Joe Hartley

I have a PDF manual for the 16" LX200 at
   <http://www.frostydrew.org/transfer/lx200.pdf>
     Note: should open a new browser window over this one.

Subject: Meade Repair Service Suggestions --part 1 of 3  

From: Michael Dziak <crowsnestobservatoryyahoo.com> Date: Nov 2002

My experience with Meade over a chronic faulty electronics malfunction when attempting polar alignment with my 12" classic, taught me that insisting on satisfaction from the start to preserve positive public perception of their product and customer support is essential .

My scope didn't let out "the magic smoke" as yours , yet the bitter experience of no scope for the better part of year through 2 electronic switch outs by me and the mounting expenses of 2 returns to Meade, (by this time the scope was out of warranty) was not one I would care to go through again.

In the end , it was a defective chip (from day one), that caused it to malfunction in polar mode and not Alt - AZ on a tripod. Meade's position was that I some how damaged it during the 1st switch out of the electronics for the same malfunction it continued to suffer , until I got Eagle Optics, ( the company that sold me the scope) involved in my frustrated dealings with Meade.

I always kept Meade aware that I was a repeat customer, having owned a 10" 2120 LX5 for 11 years, before I bought my 12" LX200, almost 2 1/2 years ago. Today, 7 months later, it works in polar alignment mode, as it should have when I purchased it.

My advice is: don't let Meade bog you down with dialog to the point that you find your scope out of warranty due to their policy that they will send you a new set of electronics which may or may not solve the problem.

Insist that THEY solve it PROMPTLY, CORRECTLY, and TO YOUR SATISFACTION.

From my experience any inference of your scope being a lemon in your dialog with Meade will not meet with a positive, supportive response. They tend to be less eager to meat your requests as a result.

When calling Meade Customer Service, I found that dealing with one person keeps the frustration of needless repetition of the issue to a minimum. I suggest that you deal with Ozzie. He seems to carry the most weight at Meade Customer Service. Also, documentation of all correspondence will be important if you need to press the issue with the company that sold you the scope.

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Subject: Meade Repair Service Suggestions --part 2  

From: Joe Shuster <jshuster42earthlink.net> Date: Mar 2003

If you decide to send the telescope to Meade for repair, be ready for them to substitute a refurb -- OTA and all. I lost some collimation knobs in the replacement of my LX200 (burned out boards). The replacement is fine otherwise. The worst problem was some mildly rusty screws. The tracking and optics are identical to the scope I sent in (except for the burned out board stuff.

Be sure to remove EVERYTHING that's removable before you send it. That would include collimation knobs, weight and piggyback holders, etc.

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Subject: Meade Repair Service Suggestions --part 3 of 3  

From: Al

I can give you some general information...
First you need to get in touch with the Meade tech dept. Explain your problem to them and they will schedule your scope for work. You will need to send the entire scope to them at your expense. Once they have received the scope, it takes 4 to 5 weeks to ship it back to you (I got mine back in 4 weeks). The cost is $500 and that includes shipping back to you.

By way of further information...I had a major problem when shipping my scope with UPS. I learned, after a day lost, that UPS will not accept an expensive item with parts made of glass. They will allow you to ship it, but they will not allow you to buy insurance. I solved that problem by using Federal Express and also found that the cost was more than 10% less. BTW, I have a hard case for my scope, so I mailed it with the case. Good luck!

Subject: Replacement Parts Now Available from Meade

From: Richard Harris <rharriselvis.com> Date: Dec 2005

Well since my remote 10" GPS was popped by lighting, I called Meade and ordered a new GPS mainboard for $160. I thought I would let everyone here know they they informed me they are now selling replacement parts on most of their scopes - FINALLY.

Subject: Current Service Options for the LX200 Classic  

From: Kal Krishnan <kkrishnanbravolabs.com> May 2004

> ------------Original Message------------
> From: Kal Krishnan
> There are currently 2 service options available for the LX200:
>
> 1. Pack up the WHOLE scope and ship to Meade at your expense. They will repair and send back to you at their expense. Flat fee of $395 + 1 way shipping, probably comes to around $440. If the OTA is damaged in shipment, you get to deal with the shipping company.

> 2. Telescopeservice.com. He will let you send him the electronics only, thereby not exposing your OTA to danger.
Repair cost is a minimum of $150; more if the problem is "more difficult" + shipping charges (this should be much
smaller, since you are shipping electronics only).

So, I chose to go with Option #2: less cost, don't have to bite my fingernails wondering whether FedEx broke my scope, don't have to forever wonder if I got my own OTA back, and had full use of my scope at all times, since I had the old board for a backup.

I am happy to report that Tim does good work, and he fixed my motherboard. He said both the timer chips were off (one was completely stopped, and the other was flaky), so he replaced both chips and both crystals, just to be sure.

The board is back in the scope now, and now I have the mandatory 30 days of cloudy weather. I did turn it on, and verified that the sidereal time was now tracking with real time, and the RA was staying constant. So, I am sure it is fine.

The repair cost was $150. So, anyone that is looking for an alternative to the Meade's "ship & pray", I am a satisfied telescopeservice.com customer...