Home > Consumer Reviews > Meade mySKY Personal Guide for Sky Exploration

I bought mine to run my ETX90 EC and to help the kids learn the sky. I knew it had problems, but I figured if it didn't work I could return it right away for another. My first unit worked extremely well from November 2007 to March 2008. The tracking was perfect, all the buttons worked as well as all the features. It also performed as advertised with the classic original ETX. I was impressed.

Then, during a Messier Marathon in 2008, the power button broke off inside! I could hear it rattling around, and my frustration was at a high point because I was looking for M30, the last object for the challenge! I had gone past the merchant's return window, so I sent it into Meade for warranty service on my dime. Another was sent quickly (about two weeks), but it would not get a GPS fix and would lock up with every attempt at use. Another was sent quickly in exchange, and it blew through the GPS fix, but had a 30 degree pointing error!!! It also misidentified constellations when I fudged the time settings to account for the pointing error!! That unit was sent back for exchange, and SIX WEEKS later I am still without a functioning unit. And forget about Meade sending a note explaining what they are doing to fix the situation.

As far as I'm concerned, Meade has stolen my $430.95 and will never get my business again after ten years of my using several Meade products. My credit card cannot recover my money, and my next letter to Meade will be to ask them for my money back directly. Seriously, there should be a class action lawsuit against this company and this product.

Too bad there isn't a Zero Stars rating.

Has never acquired a gps fix. Cant identify or locate the moon. Batteries go dead overnight with unit off. Meade customer service is not helpful.

I received a defective item from Amazon - have requested refund - lets see how it goes

I recently bought MySky and I like it a lot. Yes, the quality of construction may be better and yes, the software seems to have some glitches, specially just out of the box. The screen could also be higher resolution, sort of like the iPod screen. But this is a very sophisticated product. Wait till you hold one in your hand: it almost comes out of science fiction. I agree that Celestron's Sky Scout is built better ( I had one for over a year and I just sold it after using only few times ), but MySky is a superior product and much more ergonomically designed. For me it has a big advantage: it can be used without reading glasses. The Scout display is very faint and on the side of the unit, while MySky has a display right in front of you that can be very bright or very dim, your choice. Other really nice feature of MySky: once it gets the GPS fix, the next time you turn it on at the same location it keeps it in memory, and updates the date, so you do not have to wait for a new fix. This feature is not present in Scout, which has to wait for a new fix each time. This allows you to actually have sky tours even inside your own home, and learn the sky and constellations even in bad weather, amazing......I was a bit nervous buying MySky because of all the negative reviews; I suggest to anybody who purchases MySky to update the software immediately via the web, even before using it the first time. Once you have the updated software/firmware, all should be OK. And look out for Amazon deals! I bought my MySky at Amazon for $299 new, including free ground shipping, which I think is an amazing price for this product.

Switches on my first Mysky failed on arrival, then unit failed. Meade replaced it promptly. I sold the replacement on Ebay, and a switch broke for the buyer within 2 weeks. Very poor quality Chinese construction; there is no way this could stand up to even light use in an observing field environment. I bought it originally to drive my Meade LXD75 telescope mount but decided there was no way it could last in this application. Too bad, because the concept is great.