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Meade LX800 GEM with StarLock

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Our Price: £5,995.00(Inc. 20% VAT)

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Model: meade-lx800-37-0800-00
Brand: Meade

Designed from the ground up to be the ideal astro-imaging platform!

Constructed of machined stainless steel and aircraft grade 6061-T6 aluminum, the Meade LX800 mount presents a rock-solid platform with precision roller bearings on both axes and a 1.75 inch stainless steel R.A. 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 and the AutoStar II fully-computerized GoTo system with GPS, with a database of over 144,000 objects. All this sets atop a new ultra-stable tripod.

StarLock Full-Time Automatic Guiding

StarLock - the heart of the LX800 - 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 wideangle 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 0.01 arcseconds. There's no need for a separate guider or computer and the StarLock requires no calibration, no user focusing or guide star selection. StarLock even automatically programs periodic error correction and then corrects for any other errors down to virtually zero. StarLock also provides computer-assisted polar alignment using the drift method for extreme precision. No expensive shaft encoders or add-on guiding systems can provide this level of performance.

Key Features

German Equatorial Mount made from machined aluminum and stainless steel with large bearing surfaces and roller bearings in both axes for an extremely solid and stable platform.

StarLock full-time automatic integrated guider assists with ultra precise drift polar alignment, finds and centers targets and then automatically locks onto a field star as faint as 11th magnitude for one arcsecond guiding. No separate computer, no guide star selection, no user focus. Just setup your camera and image.

Internal Crayford-style primary mirror focusing system with a dual speed 7:1 focus control, that eliminates image shift and mirror flop. Precise focus is a snap.

Internal cabling to prevent snags and tangles during your imaging sessions.

Precision machined 5.8" main gears with 225 teeth in both R.A. and DEC. with .68" worms for very accurate movements and tracking.

1.75" diameter threaded stainless steel counterweight shaft with 18 lb. threaded stainless steel counterweights for easy and safe adjustments to telescope balance.

Sophisticated built-in computer for the most accurate control of the StarLock and other telescope systems.

AutoStar II hand control with over 144,000 object database to take you to almost any object imaginable at the push of the GoTo button. AutoStar II allows the user to setup and operate the LX800 in just the way you want.

Ultra-stable adjustable height tripod. Three inch diameter legs fold up for easy transport.

Specification

Product Number	37-0800-00
Mount Body	Machined from solid 6061-T6 Aircraft grade Aluminium and stainless steel
Finish	Anodized Aluminium and stainless steel
Main gear - R.A. & Dec.	5.8 inch under cut 225 tooth aluminum
Worm gear - R.A. & Dec.	.68 inch diameter precision machined brass
Counterweight shaft	1.75 inch diameter, 12 inch long threaded stainless steel
Counterweights	18 lb. threaded stainless steel. Quantity: Mount only - 1, 10 inch - 2, 12 inch - 2, 14 inch - 4, 130mm APO - 1
Drive Motors	DC Servo motors with encoders, both axes
Tracking distance past meridian	20 degrees
OTA mounting system	Losmandy ®-style dovetail
Instrument Payload Capacity	90.0 lbs (40.80 kg)
Latitude range	TBD
Tripod	Giant folding adjustable height tripod with 3 inch diameter aluminum legs. Height from 29 inches to 45 inches.
Mount body weight	55 lbs.
Counterweight shaft and cap weight	17.8 lbs.
Counterweights	18 lbs.
Tripod weight	36 lbs.
Control Panel	12v DC in, 12v DC out, Power, Focuser, Reticle, Handbox port, 1 computer connection port (RS232), 1 StarLock port, 1 Aux guide port
Computer Control	AutoStar II GoTo system
Database	Over 144,000 Objects, Catalogs included: Index catalog (5,386); NGC catalog (7,840); Partial Caldwell catalog (109); Messier catalog (110); Earth orbiting satellites (26); Planets (9); Uppsala galaxy catalog (12,940); Morphological catalog of galaxies (12,939); General catalog of variable stars (29,364); SAO and Hipparcos star catalogs (42,277); Draper star catalog (21,160); Yale bright star catalog (8,977); Large Bright Quasars Survey (1,055); Namd objects (4,313); Herschel catalog (400); Abell catalog of galaxy clusters (2,712); Arp catalog of irregular galaxies (635); Lunar features (1,754); Asteroids and comets (120); Constellations (88); Solar/Lunar eclipses, meteor showers (492).
Computer Hand Control	Double line, 16 character Liquid Crystal Display; 20 backlit LED buttons
GPS	Yes
Home Sensors	Both RA and Dec axes
Internal Clock	Yes
Internal Cabling	Yes
Slew Speeds	3 degrees/second
Tracking Rates	.01x to 1x, 2x, 8x, 16x, 1/4°, 1/2°, 1°, 3°
Tracking Modes	EQ North and EQ South
Alignment Procedures	2-Star Align, 1 Star Polar Align, Starlock assited drift align
Power	12v DC 5 amp, using supplied Meade Universal Power Supply

StarLock
Wide Field Camera	25mm x 26mm f/1.04 optic with 1/2 inch format CMOS sensor gives field of 14.72 x 11.78 degrees.
Narrow Field Camera	80mm x 400mm f/5 optic with 1/2 inch format Cmos sensor gives field of 57.2 x 45.8 arcminutes (2.68 arcseconds/pixel)
High Precision Pointing	+/- 1 arcminute
High Precision Guiding	+/- 1 arcsecond RMS (with good seeing. 1-4 second crrection update rate depending on star magnitude. Faintest guide star 11th mag.
High Precision Alignment	Semi-automatic drift align procedure for ulta-precise polar alignment
StarLock Weight	6 lbs. (2.72 kg)

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Meade LX800 GEM with StarLock

Designed from the ground up to be the ideal astro-imaging platform!

StarLock Full-Time Automatic Guiding

Key Features

Specification

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