Thanx, I'll try that. I was dead center of Frances in St. Lucie county, got smacked around pretty good. Three and a half weeks left before I go "home" to Africa for a bit. Can't wait to get out of Floriduh for a bit.
Rob

Pete E,

Meopta are a Czecholovakian company and we used to be their importers for ophthalmic lens rough blanks and flint buttons in India some years ago under the name Metro Optical. I have no idea how good their telescopes are because I have never seen one but I remember that as far as raw materials are concerned, their prices were higher than those from other countries and we eventually switched to Russian lenses from Lytkarino.

I do remember that we had a consignment of opera glasses from them and they were really clear, but then opera glasses are a very simple device optically speaking compared to a refracting telescope.

mehulkamdar,

In the UK, Meopta have a reputation for producing a decent scope at a reasonable price.

I have one of their 7x50mm and in terms of build quality and performance, in most conditions, its hard to distinguish it from my 8x56 S&B.

In difficult light conditions, it would seem the coatings were not quite as good as S&B or Swarovski as the Meopta suffered from "flare", but other than that i have been very pleased with it.

My scope is about 15 years old so its quite possible Meopta have improved their coatings now on their fixed power scopes, as I know they have on their later variables.

I had a quick look at their modern variables and was quite impressed. They tend to be a little bulkier/heavier than the equivilant S&B scope, but not by much.

At �225 for a 6x42mm for Meopta compared to �450 for a Swarovski 6x42mm PF I think they offer really good value for money. Meopta do have a much shorter warrenty, either 10 or 15 years, but that is still not bad. I have no idea what their customer service is like for repairs ect, but Swarovski UK are really excellant, far better than Zeiss for instance.

Regards,

Pete