Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope Review

If you are looking for an awesome beginner telescope, then the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope is the scope for you! This Meade scope will fascinate you with its sleek design, smooth curves, and the promise of all the celestial objects it will reveal.

The Meade Infinity series is the best non-computerized refracting telescope range suitable for all entry-level astronomers, families, and astronomy fans. The scope can also be used as a nature or sitting scope, allowing you to explore mountains, hills, forests, and different settlements, as well as the celestial bodies of outer space. In this article, we review the Meade 209001 telescope, exploring its pros and cons, features, accessories, and warranty information.

What is the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope?

The Meade 209001 telescope was designed to become the perfect way of exploring the universe, from the comfort of your room or of your backyard. Meade’s optic experts developed this tool to show good images of celestial objects, and we think that they did quite an extraordinary job. As a plus, this scope can be used with great results to explore your surroundings at daytime (mountains, hills, and land), and the outer space at nighttime. Land and sky viewing, this telescope has it all.

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This is not exactly a telescope for pros, but it is suitable for entry-level, amateur astronomers. With it, you will be able to see the Moon’s craters, Saturn and its rings, Jupiter, star clusters, and more, depending on the clarity of the sky. This is a great leisure activity for the entire family. The telescope comes with a very useful software that will help you learn more about celestial bodies.

A rather inexpensive telescope, the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope would make a great gift for a kid, or for a friend who has started to learn more about astronomy.

Product Information

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Pros & Cons of Using the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope

Pros

• Eyepieces – this scope comes with 3 1.25-inch eyepieces (H12, H20 & SR4 mm), allowing you to magnify images to an incredible extent.
• Solid tripod – it can maintain the scope in position on almost all surfaces, and comes with an accessory tray where you can put the eyepieces or whatever small piece you may have with you.
• The Lens diameter is 50mm, with a focal length of 600mm, f/12, meaning you’ll be able to get some remarkable images with this scope.
• Comes with AutoStar Suite, a PC-compatible astronomy software DVD to chart the night sky.
• It is quite simple to put it in position and start tracking stars. It takes less than ten minutes to set it and start exploring.
• With a lot of plastic components, this scope is quite lightweight, making it simple to change the observation point.
• A refracting telescope, this piece delivers bright, excellent images.
• Good price-quality ratio. Being a rather cheap telescope, you wouldn’t expect such good quality images, but they are nice and clear.

Cons

• Color fringing – this is a normal problem for almost all refracting telescopes. You may see a purple or blue halo around the object you’re watching, especially in the case of bright objects.
• In time, you will need to add some eyepieces to your telescope if you want to obtain better quality images.
• The scope is a bit fragile, due to all the plastic components.

Where to Find the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope?

The Meade 209001 telescope can be found both online and at an authorized retailer. Prices start from $39.05. Amazon offers free shipping in the States for each purchase, so you may want to take advantage of that.

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Extra Info

Maintenance Advice

Do not over-clean the telescope. As with any other optical instrument, the lens should be cleaned only when exceptionally needed. Even if there is a bit of dust on the lens, usually this will not cause a degradation of the image’s quality. When cleaning becomes necessary, use a camel’s hair brush or compressed air to remove dust or any particle that is covering your lens. Do it as gently as possible!

If wiping is necessary, do it with a soft, clean cloth. Apply little pressure to none, and avoid scratching, as this will destroy the piece.

Accessories

This telescope comes with everything you need to start exploring the wonders of the Universe and of the Earth. The package contains 3 eyepieces of 4, 12, and 20mm that will allow you to magnify the image, and obtain clearer images. Besides the eyepieces, you will also get an adjustable but quite steady aluminum tripod, with an accessory tray. Also, the telescope comes with an instructional DVD that features a bonus astronomical software, which will help you learn more about space and celestial bodies.

Warranty and Guarantee Information

This telescope comes with a limited one year warranty, starting from the date of purchase. If or when the telescope has technical problems, the piece must be sent to Meade with the proof of purchase. The warranty is not valid in the case of mishandling or abuse. Also, any unauthorized repairs, be them attempted or performed, will imply the warranty’s cancellation.

Our Verdict

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From a technical point of view, this telescope is quite amazing. Excellent for camping, it offers remarkable field views, but also great celestial views. This telescope is pretty lightweight, and it will fit in the back of your car perfectly. Also, once you get to the observation point or the camping place, the whole assembling procedure will take less than five minutes, which is a huge plus.

The telescope gets so minus points for the chromatic aberrations. We were quite excited about this scope’s quality-price ratio, until we’ve noticed this small detail. It’s true that these flaws are normal for refractor telescopes, but there are similar products on the market, with almost the same price, but with fewer errors to correct.

In itself, this telescope is a bargain, and it certainly works well enough for a beginner’s needs, so it could be an incredible gift for anyone interested in astronomy, or an amazing asset for yourself. If you have any experience with the Meade 209001 Infinity 50 AZ Refractor Telescope, let us know about in the comments section.

Recommended Read: Meade Instruments Infinity 70mm Telescope Review

Last update on 2023-06-08 at 08:03 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API