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Subject: Re: Steve and Todd are right!!!
From: James Eiselt
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Thu Mar 30 01:56:34 1995

Well I guess I'll stop lurking and put my 2 cents worth in (adjusted for inflation of course).

If Scott Roberts et al at Meade play Santa Claus and keep a list of who's naughty and nice then I'll be getting a lump of coal.

I feel that Steve & Todd are right in expecting a product to live up to it's advertised claims.

What's the point of 'buying a car made without wheels'?

What Meade will do to reslove this matter is yet to be seen. I certianly hope they do the right thing by correcting it.

A reasonable way to approach it would be for customers who want the GCVS and alignment star corrections to return their Roms for replacements. If these Roms are in fact PRoms then less expense would impinge Meade for 'the fix'.

I'm sure others will or can come up with minimal impact solutions.

I have run up against several major problems with my LXD 650 mount on an electro-mechanical level. I would have had to return the mount to Meade the day after purchase in fact. But faced with idea of spending $2,500.00 and watching a UPS (OOOPs to those in the know) driver walk off with it for an indefinate stay back in the womb of it's creators just insensed me. So, I took the bull by the horns and repaired the problems I found (servo circuit board shorting against the mount housing; bad mirco-bearings; poor worm/wheel gear alignment; excessive backlash) repair of which I'm sure has voided my warranty (sic) but what the hell, I really learned a lot about the inner workings of the mount and actually got to use it instead of counting the days waiting for it's return from mother.

Firmware is another matter. I could probably purchase a Prom burner/reader and reverse engineer a corrected rom set if I had tons of time and didn't mind a law suit from Meade but I will have to follow along with the rest of the customers and practice some patience.

Heck, I wouldn't mind paying a nominal fee for a replacement rom set. Say around $50.00 US.

I noticed that Scott is back to his mail bag so it shouldn't be too long B4 he sees how much fur is flying and responds to all this.

Before I say todaloo, I must confess that we have a wonderful thing in this listserver (thanks Robert for coalesing it). Not a whole lot of companies 'keep their hand in' with their customers this way.

So for now I guess were in the dark until a decision is made at Meade. (maybe not in the dark, just incorrectly pointed).

Clear Skies,

jim :)

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On Wed, 29 Mar 1995, Gary Heath wrote:

> After having read the comments concerning the GCVS, I agree strongly
> with Steven Ashe and Todd
> Gross.
> I don’t think that Steve is being unreasonable to expect what he paid
> for. Nor do I think it is out of line to expect more timely responses to
> issues brought forth by this forum.
> Steve has expressed a concern that once (and if) dealt with will benefit
> us all. It’s about time someone stood up and said “Gee the King looks
> naked to me”. His concern with the over-estimated capabilities of
> products sold to the amateur astronomical community are certainly valid
> and in this respect, Meade is certainly no exception. Sometimes it is
> through tenacity and aggressiveness that things get corrected.
> It seems that some of us are maybe a little too “thankful” to receive
> what we pay for. I have read a number of “glowing” reports of how
> wonderful the customer support at Meade is, and I agree that they do a
> good job of providing support to us ......... after we have problems
> that should never have taken place.
> Really..... A showing of hands from you that truly think your pointing ,
> smartdrive, alt az, computer data base, fit and finish, is what you
> thought you would get as a result of the advertisements.
> If you were buying any other products would you be so easily impressed
> with “almost”?
> Could the anti lock brakes on you new car be explained as "the computer
> program we use wasn’t developed by us and any problems with it originate
> with the programmers” when they fail to work as advertised?
> Todd is right to expect a faster response to issues brought here, and
> Steve is not being unfair in his expectations.
> I thank these guys for cutting against the grain and speaking out!!
>
> Gary Heath
>
>
>