Meade 12" LX600-ACF Cassegrain Go-To Telescope with StarLock

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Your Price: CAD11,159.00

Retail Price:CAD12,495.90

Your Savings:CAD1,336.90(11%)

Part Number: 1208-70-01N

Availability: Usually ships in 5-7 business days

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Description

Product Highlights

12" Schmidt-Cassegrain OTA
2438mm Focal Length, f/8 Focal Ratio
Ultra High-Transmission Optical Coatings
Advanced Coma Free Optical System
StarLock Alignment and Tracking System
Dual-Axis Motorized Dual-Tine Fork Mount
Two-Speed Crayford Internal Focuser
AutoStar II Computer Controller
8x50 Finderscope with Reticle
26mm Eyepiece with 90° Diagonal

The large-aperture 12" LX600-ACF Cassegrain Go-To Telescope with StarLock from Meade is a technologically advanced Cassegrain telescope attached to a heavy-duty motorized and computer-controlled dual-tine fork mount. Its innovative optical design, combined with Meade's Ultra High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) and their Advanced Coma Free (ACF) optical system, ensures that images are bright and clear; with high contrast, superb resolution, and faithful color reproduction. The ACF system uses specially-engineered corrector plates and mirrors that complement each other to improve the scope's resolution and its ability to split binary stars and allow you to observe fine details otherwise missed by other scopes of the same size. This version of the 12" LX600 ACF is offered here with the mount and OTA, but without a tripod for those who have a reliable and stable support system.

Multiple technologies work together to put this mounting system above the standard Go-To mount. Meade outfitted it with a built-in GPS receiver and a time chip, so the mount can automatically determine its location, day, and time when it's turned on. This information is sent to the StarLock system which uses two digital cameras built into an 80mm f/5 refractor OTA that is piggybacked onto the main LX600 optical tube. The cameras take wide-field photos of the night sky and compare them to its internal database to automatically align the scope. During long observation or exposure imaging sessions, the StarLock system continuously checks its orientation and tracking and adjusts as needed, sending the data to the Smart Mount and SmartDrive systems which learns the tracking errors and adjusts itself for the future.

The brain of the mount is Meade's iconic AutoStar II computer controller. This hand-held unit has an internal database of over 145,000 objects from the Moon and planets, to galaxies, nebulae, and constellations. Coupled with the StarLock system, the AutoStar's tracking accuracy is an impressive ±1 arcsec. It can calculate future events like Sunrises and meteor showers, and predict Solar and Lunar eclipses for the next 100 years. Once set up and running, the AutoStar II can take you on guided tours of the best objects visible above, including audio tours that can be heard from the internal speaker.

Optical Performance

Large 12" aperture
f/8 focal ratio
2438mm focal length
Schmidt-Cassegrain optical path configuration
Advanced Coma Free system:
- Reduces off-axis comas
- Aplanatic design produces flat, distortion-free images across the field of view - especially at the edges
- Reduced astigmatism for sharper images
- Eliminates diffraction spikes for better resolution
Ultra High-Transmission Coatings (UHTC):
- All corrector plate and mirror surfaces are fully multi-coated
- Engineered to optimize the visual, photographic, and CCD imaging
- Improves light transmission through optical path across the entire visible spectrum
- Corrector coatings: multiple layers of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), titanium dioxide (TiO₂), and magnesium fluoride (MgF₂)
- Mirror coatings: aluminum with multi-layer coatings of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) and silicon dioxide (SiO₂)
Resolution: 0.380 arcsec, Dawes' Limit
Internal Crayford-style focuser
- Dual speed with a 7:1 reduction ratio
- Toothless friction system provides precision focusing without backlash or image-shift
- 1.25" visual back

Advanced Technology

StarLock system:
- Dual digital cameras built into a 80mm f/5 refractor telescope
- Integrated alignment and guiding system
- Uses the GPS and time chip to determine where and when it is
- Takes a picture of the night sky and compares it to internal database
- Determines alignment by taking multiple pictures and aligning to multiple stars
- During long observation or astrophotography sessions it continuously checks tracking and alignment and automatically corrects tracking errors
Smart Mount:
- Improves the pointing accuracy of the computer controller
- Enables the AutoStar II to automatically identify and correct systematic pointing errors
SmartDrive: Works with Autostar to improve drive accuracy for better tracking and slewing over time

Mount

Motorized Alt-Az
Heavy-duty double-tine fork configuration
Dual axis fine manual adjustment controls when not using motors
Internal GPS receiver and time chip
- Automatically obtains position, day, date, and time
- Requires no user input during set up
Runs on eight user-supplied C-cell batteries, or optional 12 VDC power supply

AutoStar II Computer Controller

Full Go-To capabilities
Intuitive menu-driven interface
145,000 object database:
- Planets
- Stars
- Galaxies
- Nebulae
- Comets
- Satellites
- Common constellations
- The moon features like landing points, mountains, craters and lakes
- User-defined objects
Tracking accuracy: ±1 arcsec
Periodic Error Correction (PEC) and Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PPEC) trains out tracking errors for more precision
Multiple slew speeds:
- Variable from 0.1x to 1.0x
- Variable in 0.01x increments
- 1x
- 2x
- 8x
- 16x
- 64x
- 128x, sidereal
- 1°/sec
- 2°/sec
- Variable in 0.1° increments
Tracking Rates:
- Sidereal
- Lunar
- Custom: select from 2000 incremental rates
Calculate future dates and times for events like:
- Sunrises and sunsets
- Moonrises, Moonsets, and Moonphases
- Solar and Lunar Eclipses for the next 100 years
- Meteor showers
- Equinoxes and solstices
Guided tours available based on when and where it is set up
Guided audio tours via built-in speaker
Physical properties
- Two-line display with red backlight
- Red backlit control buttons
- Built-in speaker

Included Accessories

26mm Series 4000 Super Plössl eyepiece
- Produces 95x magnification
- 52° apparent angle of view
- 18mm eye relief
- Fold-down rubber eyecup
- Fully multi-coated to improve light transmission, color fidelity, and contrast
- Textured rubber grip provides secure handling
Diagonal:
- 1.25" diameter barrel and eyepiece holder
- 90° angle provides a comfortable viewing position especially when OTA is aimed at the zenith
- Star diagonal corrects image vertically
Large 8x50 finderscope with crosshair reticle

Specifications

Optical Design	Advanced coma-free (ACF) Schmidt-Cassegrain
Aperture	12.0" / 30.5 cm
Focal Length	2438mm
Focal Ratio	f/8
Eyepiece Barrel Diameter	1.25"
Diagonal	90° star 1.25" barrel diameter
Finderscope	8 x 50 refractor with crosshairs
Focus System	Internal dual speed Crayford-style
Tripod	None
Mount Type	Double-tine fork
Input / Output	1 x 12 VDC input 1 x 12 VDC output 1 x Hand controller input 1 x RS232 computer connection input 1 x StarLock input 1 x Aux input
Power Requirement	8 x C-cell batteries 12 VDC 5A Meade Universal Power Supply
Optical Tube Dimensions	Not specified by manufacturer
Weight	Not specified by manufacturer

Packaging Info
Package Weight	148.0 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)	52.2 x 31.5 x 23.0"

In the Box

Meade 12" LX600-ACF Cassegrain Go-To Telescope with StarLock

AutoStar II Hand Controller

StarLock System

Fork Mount with Drive Base

1.25" Diagonal Prism

Series 4000 26mm Super Plossl Eyepiece (1.25")

Limited One-Year Warranty

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