Meade - 14" f/10 LX200 ACF Computerized Telescope with Field Tripod

The 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope and rest of the LX200 series brings Advanced-Coma free optics, GPS technology, and numerous other improved features together to create an impressive catadioptric design for professional amateur astronomy. This virtually eliminates optical problems, mount problems, as well as making the alignment procedure easier to make a smoother and more pleasant observing experience. The Advanced Coma Free optics create a flatter field, which cause stars to appear more pinpoint at the edge of the field of view, thereby improving image and visual quality even when using large CCD sensors. In addition, the added state of the art Meade Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) increases light transmission and image brightness up to 20% which makes dimmer objects like deep sky appear even brighter. The standard coatings on the optical surfaces which consist of purified aluminum and silicon monoxide help improve light transmission.

 Correcting Lens Coatings:

Meade telescopes ordered with the UHTC group include, in addition, an exotic and tightly-controlled series of coatings on both sides of the correcting lens or correcting plate, coatings which include multiple layers of aluminum oxide (Al2O3), titanium dioxide (TiO2), and magnesium fluoride (MgF2). Per-surface light transmission of the correcting lens is thereby increased at the yellow wavelength of 580nm., for example, to 99.8%, versus a per-surface transmission of 98.7% for the standard coating.

The importance of the UHTC group becomes apparent when comparing total telescope light transmission, or throughput, caused by the multiplier, or compounding, effect of the four optical surfaces. With each optical surface contributing significantly to telescope light throughput, the effect of all four surfaces combined is indeed dramatic, as demonstrated by the graphs on the facing page, as well as by the table of the brightest nebular emission lines. At the H-a wavelength of 656nm., total transmission increases from 76.7% to 88.5%, an increase of 15.4%; at the helium wavelengths of 588nm. and 469nm. — strong emission lines in hot planetary nebulae — total telescope transmission increases by 13.8% and 16.8%, respectively; at the two nitrogen II lines of 655nm. and 658nm. and at the sulfur II line of 673nm., transmission is increased by 16%. Averaged over the entire visible spectrum (450nm. to 700nm.), total light transmission to the focus increases by about 15% with the 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope.

An important optional feature to optimize the performance of the 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope. Image brightness in a telescope is crucially dependent on the reflectivity of the telescope's mirrors and on the transmission of its lenses. Neither of these processes, mirror-reflectivity or lens-transmission, is, however, perfect; light loss occurs in each instance where light is reflected or transmitted. Uncoated glass, for example, reflects about 4% of the light impacting it; in the case of an uncoated lens 4% of the light is lost at entrance to and at exit from the lens, for a total light loss of about 8%. Early reflecting telescopes of the 1700's and 1800's suffered greatly from mirrors of poor reflectivity — reflection losses of 50% or more were not uncommon. Later, silvered mirrors improved reflectivity, but at high cost and with poor durability. Modern optical coatings have succeeded in reducing mirror-reflection and lens-transmission losses to acceptable levels at reasonable cost.


Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser. Optional for the 8", 10", 12",14" and standard with the 16" models, allows you to obtain precise image focus with no image movement. Perfect for astroimaging or during planetary observation. Focus is controlled thru the Autostar II handbox. The Meade #1209 Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser allows precise, vibration-free image focus during visual, CCD, and astrophotographic applications. It also allows you to achieve focus without causing a viewed object to move out of position in the eyepiece. The microfocuser comes equipped with a handbox which requires 8 AAA batteries (user-supplied). The microfocuser maintains precise image centering on even the smallest CCD chips. On this 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope, the microfocuser operates at four speeds.

Oversized Primary Mirror. Meade primary mirror diameters are greater than their listed aperture (e.g., the diameter of the 8" LX200-ACF is actually 8.25"). This additional 1/4" yields a wide, fully illuminated field-of-view. 

Primary Mirror Lock allows you to lock the mirror in place preventing movement during long-exposure astrophotography. 

Smart Drive™ provides permanent periodic error correction (PPEC) on both axes by learning and averaging error over the course of one or more training periods, thereby minimizing guiding corrections during long-exposure photographs. PPEC is available on both axes and functions in both polar and altazimuth modes.

GPS Receiver automatically inputs precise time, date, and geographical location to help quickly and precisely align the telescope. Communicating with satellites provides relief of stress and extra time to align the telescope correctly. This GPS Reciever along with the mirror lock decreases the overall chance of the telescope becoming misaligned due to bumping or other minor movement.

AutoAlign™. Telescopes with Meade's AutoAlign are smart scopes that know the night sky right out of the box. AutoAlign picks two alignment stars for you and places them right in your view-finder. Just center to fine tune your alignment and the wonders of the universe are at your fingertips. This feature will also provide a reasonable indication to how precise and accurate the telescope is aligned right out of the box before you begin to use it. So if AutoAlign manages to perfectly center image the star without any human intervention, chances are you as the observor are already ready to observe!

 AutoStar® II controller features "Hot Keys" for quick access to a 145,000 celestial object database. AutoStar II can be updated with the latest software upgrades, guided tours and timely objects like comets free at meade.com.
 

 

 

So, you're finally planning on buying your first telescope. Well, good for you! Once you've made up your mind however, you are likely to delve into a bottomless pit of information out there before you find what you are looking for. You'll come across words like "Catadioptric", "Refractor" and "Reflector". And you may even go all starry eyed when you hear words like "Coma free" and "Meade UHTC" or "Meade AutoStar" bantered around too. Don't be confused. We'll try to make sense of all of it all for you here.

The best telescope you could possibly hope to purchase would be a Meade LX-00 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope. And that's because it is based on Catadioptric technology.  Traditional scopes are either Reflector-based, using combinations of concave and flat mirrors, or Refractor-based, using lenses to process their images. The Meade LX200 ACF series of telescopes represent the best of both these worlds, blending a combination of mirrors (catoptric) and lenses (dioptrics) to bring you Hubble Telescope-class celestial imagery that other scopes lack.

And you want your scope to look like an engineering marvel. Strong in built, sleek in looks, and heavy to the touch. And the Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope fits the bill perfectly. With its  heavy duty mount, which supports dual forks, you can easily manoeuvre the heavy Meade LX200 ACF scope with relative ease. The mount has been designed to deliver precision-perfect ability to swerve in increments of .1 degrees as quickly as 1 to 8 degrees per second.  Alternately, if you prefer a fine swerve, the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes can do that to .01x to 1x sidereal in 1 1/100th increments.   And using Meade's Smart Mount technology, the mount continually refines your pointing accuracy whenever you center an object in your scope.  Once mounted, your first telescope will think on its own feet. How cool is that!

Through its continued innovation, Meade strives to bring the best possible professional astronomer-class technology to your backyard. All Meade LX200 ACF telescopes therefore feature Meade's patented breakthrough Advanced Coma Free (ACF) technology. Other Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes available in the market today will present you with hazy and blurry images of stars, planets and constellations.  The cause of such problems is "coma" or a diffraction of light coming into the scope. The Meade LX200 ACF series of scopes use ACF technology to bring you clear, crisp images devoid of any distortions. By concentrating starlight even more precisely than any other device available today, the Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope is even able to produce fuller, rounder and perfectly formed images of planetary objects that are far more distant and fainter. And that's the kind of feature you want in your very first scope!   

And once you have located your target celestial object, you would like to view it for hours, taking in all of its heavenly beauty. But most scopes will make your object "vanish" at the slightest movement. All that hard work in tracking down your favorite planned will be for nothing. Well, not with the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes. These devices are equipped with Meade's amazing unique Zero Image Shift Microfocuser and Primary Mirror Lock technologies. What that allows you to do is, using a conveniently located lock knob feature, to lock the primary mirror of the scope in place, thereby practically "trapping" the image within your focus.

But sometimes, especially after long observation, you may tire and the scope might tremble a bit. Most conventional scopes will lose sight of image. However, sot so in the case of a Meade LX-00 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope.  Once again, Meade has thought of a solution for this very real situation. All Meade LX200 ACF telescopes come with Meade's unique Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PPEC) feature, known as the Smart Drive. It is a smart piece of technology that "learns" and "remembers" the movements of individual users of the Meade LX 200 ACF, and then automatically makes adjustments for periodic shifts in the image to reduce guiding correction errors. That way, once you sight an object, your Meade scope will remember where it is, even through slight inadvertent shifts and moves of the scope.

The Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope uses a lot of technology in its design so as to make your backyard star gazing parties fun events. For example, it comes equipped with a 16-channel Sony GPS receiver with plenty of intelligence built into it, so you don't have to waste endless hours aligning your Meade LX200 ACF scope to the exact coordinates of a planetary object. The GPS sensor will automatically capture ultra-precise coordinates, such as date, time and geo-location, and help to accurately and quickly align the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes to their precise destinations. Look Ma, no hands!

The GPS feature works in tandem with one of the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes neatest features that both seasoned and novice astronomers love. And that's the Meade AutoStar II.  If you have ever used a GPS to navigate to an earthly destination, think of the AutoStar as a tool that will navigate you to over 145,000 heavenly destinations.  Meade AutoStar II  is  a flash memory-based, software driven database of coordinates for celestial objects that you can  view using your Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope. To impress the guests at your Star gazing parties, all you need to do is ask someone to pick one of the 145,000 objects from the database and presto! Your Meade LX 200 ACF will take them right to the object. 

And that's not all. You can download free updates and upgrades to the software and its database from the Meade website. So the next time a comet is due to pass over the earth, update your Meade AutoStar II software, set out your Meade LX 200 ACF in your backyard, select the comet from the "Hot Key" option, and watch your scope automatically position to the comet. If that won't impress your guests, then nothing will!

 

So, you're finally planning on buying your first telescope. Well, good for you! Once you've made up your mind however, you are likely to delve into a bottomless pit of information out there before you find what you are looking for. You'll come across words like "Catadioptric", "Refractor" and "Reflector". And you may even go all starry eyed when you hear words like "Coma free" and "Meade UHTC" or "Meade AutoStar" bantered around too. Don't be confused. We'll try to make sense of all of it all for you here.

 

The best telescope you could possibly hope to purchase would be a 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope. And that's because it is based on Catadioptric technology.  Traditional scopes are either Reflector-based, using combinations of concave and flat mirrors, or Refractor-based, using lenses to process their images. The Meade LX200 ACF series of telescopes represent the best of both these worlds, blending a combination of mirrors (catoptric) and lenses (dioptrics) to bring you Hubble Telescope-class celestial imagery that other scopes lack.

 

And you want your scope to look like an engineering marvel. Strong in built, sleek in looks, and heavy to the touch. And the 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope fits the bill perfectly. With its  heavy duty mount, which supports dual forks, you can easily manoeuvre the heavy Meade LX200 ACF scope with relative ease. The mount has been designed to deliver precision-perfect ability to swerve in increments of .1 degrees as quickly as 1 to 8 degrees per second.  Alternately, if you prefer a fine swerve, the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes can do that to .01x to 1x sidereal in 1 1/100th increments.   And using Meade's Smart Mount technology, the mount continually refines your pointing accuracy whenever you center an object in your scope.  Once mounted, your first telescope will think on its own feet. How cool is that!

 

Through its continued innovation, Meade strives to bring the best possible professional astronomer-class technology to your backyard. All Meade LX200 ACF telescopes therefore feature Meade's patented breakthrough Advanced Coma Free (ACF) technology. Other Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes available in the market today will present you with hazy and blurry images of stars, planets and constellations.  The cause of such problems is "coma" or a diffraction of light coming into the scope. The Meade LX200 ACF series of scopes use ACF technology to bring you clear, crisp images devoid of any distortions. By concentrating starlight even more precisely than any other device available today, the 14" Meade LX200 ACF computerized telescope is even able to produce fuller, rounder and perfectly formed images of planetary objects that are far more distant and fainter. And that's the kind of feature you want in your very first scope!

 

And once you have located your target celestial object, you would like to view it for hours, taking in all of its heavenly beauty. But most scopes will make your object "vanish" at the slightest movement. All that hard work in tracking down your favorite planned will be for nothing. Well, not with the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes. These devices are equipped with Meade's amazing unique Zero Image Shift Microfocuser and Primary Mirror Lock technologies. What that allows you to do is, using a conveniently located lock knob feature, to lock the primary mirror of the scope in place, thereby practically "trapping" the image within your focus.

 

But sometimes, especially after long observation, you may tire and the scope might tremble a bit. Most conventional scopes will lose sight of image. However, sot so in the case of a Meade LX-00 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope.  Once again, Meade has thought of a solution for this very real situation. All Meade LX200 ACF telescopes come with Meade's unique Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PPEC) feature, known as the Smart Drive. It is a smart piece of technology that "learns" and "remembers" the movements of individual users of the Meade LX 200 ACF, and then automatically makes adjustments for periodic shifts in the image to reduce guiding correction errors. That way, once you sight an object, your Meade scope will remember where it is, even through slight inadvertent shifts and moves of the scope.

 

The Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope uses a lot of technology in its design so as to make your backyard star gazing parties fun events. For example, it comes equipped with a 16-channel Sony GPS receiver with plenty of intelligence built into it, so you don't have to waste endless hours aligning your Meade LX200 ACF scope to the exact coordinates of a planetary object. The GPS sensor will automatically capture ultra-precise coordinates, such as date, time and geo-location, and help to accurately and quickly align the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes to their precise destinations. Look Ma, no hands!

 

The GPS feature works in tandem with one of the Meade LX200 ACF telescopes neatest features that both seasoned and novice astronomers love. And that's the Meade AutoStar II.  If you have ever used a GPS to navigate to an earthly destination, think of the AutoStar as a tool that will navigate you to over 145,000 heavenly destinations.  Meade AutoStar II  is  a flash memory-based, software driven database of coordinates for celestial objects that you can  view using your Meade LX-200 ACF 14 inch computerized telescope. To impress the guests at your Star gazing parties, all you need to do is ask someone to pick one of the 145,000 objects from the database and presto! Your Meade LX 200 ACF will take them right to the object.

 

And that's not all. You can download free updates and upgrades to the software and its database from the Meade website. So the next time a comet is due to pass over the earth, update your Meade AutoStar II software, set out your Meade LX 200 ACF in your backyard, select the comet from the "Hot Key" option, and watch your scope automatically position to the comet. If that won't impress your guests, then nothing will!