Meade LX850 User Manual - Page 6

AutoStTealre#s4c9o7peHFAeNatDuBrOesX Telescope Features Meade Instruments introduces the latest in a long line of advanced astronomical products: the LX850™. Using revolutionary new technology, every aspect of this system has been designed to deliver the new standard in astrophotographic and visual performance. Precision Machined German Equatorial Mount zero image-shift focusing system with a two-speed, 7:1 control that rigidly holds the primary mirror (patent pending). In addition, with the LX850's optional largeformat, three-element f/5 focal reducer/field flattener, you gain even wider fields, faster exposures and a flat field even on larger sensors (available soon). Also available is Meade's new Series 6000 3 element airspaced f/7 apochromatic refractor. This finely machined and finished OTA features superior optical performance, a 3" Crayford-style 10:1 focuser and an optional 3" field flattener. StarLock™ - Full-Time Constructed of machined stainless steel and aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum, the LX850 mount presents a rock-solid platform with precision roller bearings on both axes and a 1.75 inch stainless steel RA shaft. Its .68 inch diameter brass worms and 5.8 inch diameter, 225-tooth aluminum gears deliver smooth, precise movement with up to a 90 pound instrument load. Add to this internal cabling, GPS and the AutoStar II fullycomputerized GoTo system with a database of over 144,000 objects. All this sets atop a new ultra-stable tripod. Faster, Sharper Optical System Building on Meade's award-winning Advanced ComaFree™ (ACF™) optics, the LX850 employs a fast f/8 optical system with high-contrast baffling that assures crisp, pinpoint imaging to the very edge of the field. The all-new OTAs feature an internal Crayford-style, Automatic Guiding StarLock - the heart of the LX850 - is the revolutionary new technology that makes target acquisition on your imaging sensor and accurate guiding during exposures completely automatic. With Meade's exclusive LightSwitch™ technology at its core, StarLock uses a 80mm f/5 optic and a super wide-angle lens in a two camera system that automatically finds your target in high-precision, immediately captures a field star as dim as 11th magnitude and then guides to an incredible accuracy of one arcsecond. StarLock achieves this amazing accuracy because, unlike add-on guiders, StarLock is integrated into the telescope control system and communicates directly with the motor controllers in real time with a maximum precision of 0.1 arcseconds. There's no need for a separate guider or computer and StarLock requires no calibration, no user focusing or guide star selection. StarLock also provides computerassisted polar alignment using the drift method for extreme precision. No expensive shaft encoders or add-on guiding systems can provide this level of performance (patent pending). 6