Chris,

> Reverse polarity on a power brick seems
> to be something that would be apparent
> on pre-shipment testing, apparently Meade
> doesn't do pre-shipment testing.
>
> OK, flame away, I am adamant in my
> condonement of Meade's current QC.

My flamethrower is in the shop for repairs.. ;-)

(BTW - I think you meant "condemnation" rather than "condonement".)

Folks, there's something we need to bear in mind here: when it comes to the
electronics and electrical components in our scopes, do we _really_ believe
that Meade is also making those in addition to the optics, cast and machined
parts like forks and OTA components, etc., etc.??? Do you think that Boeing
makes *all* the parts in their airplanes, or that GM makes *all* the parts
for their cars?

Uh-uh. Meade is subbing some of those out to other vendors - just like any
major manufacturer does. So in part, Meade is reliant on the QC of their
subcontractors for the parts they supply. I will concede that Meade should
do a final overall QC check of the assembled scopes as well as look for
obvious defects in parts used to build them during assembly.

In the case of the reversed-polarity power brick, Meade bears the
responsibility to fix the problem. But they can't shoulder all the blame for
defective product or poor QC - that goes to their sub who makes and boxes
the stuff for them. (In turn, Meade, if they are a responsible purchaser, is
communicating to the sub that their products are not up to snuff if it is a
recurrent problem.) By all appearances though, this is an isolated incident
- I haven't noticed a flood of "My power supply was wired backwards!"
posts...

Much has been posted here in recent months about Meade's QC, mostly to the
negative side. Working in a manufacturing-type business as I do, I know that
there's ALWAYS room to do a better job of QC. The question becomes one of
cost - how much can the company spend doing QC in relation to the cost of
the item while maintaining a price point that's competitive in the market.
Would we (the general public) be willing to spend an additional 10% on
everything for better QC? Not when we're shopping based on a perceived value
of the item relative the market it's sold in. Members of this group have
overwhelmingly said that they would be willing to pay that price for better
QC - but then again, we've already BOUGHT the product and hindsight is
20/20...

It's our responsibility as consumers to let the manufacturer know about our
problems and concerns about their products. Sitting here and bitching and
griping about it won't get the message to Meade - we need to communicate
back to them about what's right and not right with their product. If that
means sitting down and writing a letter - DO IT. Nothing's going to change
otherwise.

I will now get off my $2400 soapbox, which is guaranteed to support two
elephants..

Best,
-Doug

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