Meade ETX-LS ACF 6" Telescope

The new Meade ETX LS LightSwitch telescope uses the latest advanced technology such as GPS, LNT and ECLIPS CCD imaging to do what no other consumer telescope has done before: take all the hassle out of using a telescope. Simply flip the switch and the ETX-LS automatically aligns itself. Astronomer Inside then takes you on a guided multimedia tour of the best objects in your sky. The new aluminum mount is lightweight and portable, yet has a rigid structure with precision worm-gear drives for the ultimate in tracking and pointing accuracy. All this combined with Meade's Advanced Coma-Free optical system provides the stargazer with the most sophisticated, yet easiest to use telescope ever.

Sky & Telescope Hot Product 2010

Meade takes out all the hassles and puts in all the fun with the all-new ETX LS featuring LightSwitch technology. Now it’s fast and easy to perform all start-up functions with just a flip of the switch. The revolutionary LightSwitch technology automatically delivers telescope location, time, date, orientation and alignment with the sky all with a single touch. And thanks to Meade’s exclusive Advanced Coma-Free optics, you see it all in stunning Ritchey-Chretien-like clarity.

Free mains power supply included worth £30

THE MOST TECHNICALLY ADVANCED,
EASIEST TELESCOPE TO USE AVAILABLE ANYWHERE.
ONLY FROM MEADE.

Complete package
Includes Telescope, tripod, autostar handset, eyepiece, finder, diagonal and software

With the Astronomer Inside comprehensive multi-media content, you experience the universe in a way you never have before.

Just look at all these radically new, cutting edge features:

Light Switch Technology
EASY, Automatic Self Alignment
Meade’s patented automatic self alignment system just one touch and it does all of the work for you. No stars to center. No bearings to take. No time or location to enter. Just flip the switch, and the Integrated Sensor Module in combination with the ECLIPS (Electronically Controlled Locate Identify Position System) CCD imager delivers all the information necessary to automatically align your ETX-LS for fast, accurate, hassle-free viewing. All at the flip of a switch.

Meades Astronomer inside
Take a multi-media guided tour of the universe,or select your favorite object and the ETX-LS Astronomer Inside gives you fun and informative audio descriptions of over 500 objects while you view them in the eyepiece or experience the whole dazzling multi-media presentation on an attached video monitor complete with audio, video, still images and text.

ACF (Advanced Coma Free) Optics - Sharp clear and brilliant
Meade’s proprietary, Advanced Coma Free optics will wow you at first sight. Distortion free clarity. Sharp as a tack resolution. ACF state-of-the-art optics are so good, you will see more objects than you’ve ever thought possible. Just compare the ACF to Ritchey-Chretien systems selling for far more, and ACF optical quality will absolutely astound you.

Built in imaging Excitement
The built-in ECLIPS CCD lets you capture wide angle images of your favorite celestial wonders and display them in real-time or save them to an SD card, with no external computer needed. You can even connect and control another more advanced Meade DSI CCD camera and view images on an external monitor or save the images to the SD card or an external computer. Either way, you can start astro-imaging on your first night out!

AutoStar III Total control
The easy-to-use hand-held controller lets you select from a huge object database, with over 100,000 celestial objects. Just select an object and push the GoTo button and the telescope will automatically put your object in the eyepiece. The AutoStar III also gives you complete control of the Astronomer Inside multimedia features only available from Meade.

Click Here for Autostar updates

Specifications:
Optical System
Optical Design Advanced Coma Free (ACF)
Primary Mirror Diameter 6" (152mm)
Primary Mirror Material Pyrex Glass
Focal Length, Focal Ratio 1524mm, f/10
Optical Coatings Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC)
Resolving Power (arc seconds) 0.76
Limiting Visual Steller Magnitude 14

Mount
Mount Type Aluminum Single-Arm Fork Altazimuth
Drives 4.875 inch precision worm-gear
Power 8 "C" cell batteries or AC adapter
Battery Life 3 to 5 hours
Tripod New Adjustable-height Steel Leg Tripod

Electronics
Controller Hand Box Autostar III
Processor 400 Megahertz Blackfin
Memory 256 Megabytes of NAND Flash
Storage Micro SD Card (user supplied)
Input/Output USB 2.0
Speaker Built in Mount
Connections USB, AutoStar Hand Box, 12v Power In, Electric Focuser, Audio Out, Video Out

Multimedia
Content Descriptions of the Planets, Moon, Stars, Clusters, Nebulae, Galaxies and More
Audio Over 4 Hours Featuring the Voice of Sandy Wood From "Star Date"
Video 30 Minutes of Movies and Annimations Plus Hundreds of Still Images

Specifications:
Optical Design Advanced Coma-Free
Clear Aperture 6" (152mm)
Focal Length, Focal Ratio 1524mm F10
Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC™) Included
Optical Tube Dimensions (diameter x length) 7" x 14.2"
Diagonal 1.25"
Eyepiece 26mm Series 4000 Super Plossl 1.25" (59x)
Viewfinder Red dot
Telescope Mounting Aluminum, single arm alt-azimuth
GoTo Pointing Precision (approx.) 5-arc mins.
Pointing Precision, High Precision Mode 3-arc mins.
Slow-Motion Controls Electric, RA and Dec.
AutoStar III Toshiba® microcontroller; 2 line x 16 display; 20-button keypad, red LED backlit
Batteries (user-supplied) 8 x C-cells
Battery Life (approx.) 3 to 5 hours
Onboard Celestial Object Database over 100,000 objects
Slew Speeds RA and Dec: 1x, 2x, 8x, 16x, 64x, 128x sidereal and 1.5°/sec., 3°/sec., 6.5°/sec.
Tracking Rates Sidereal, lunar, or custom-selected
Tube Body Aluminum
Mount Castings Aluminum
Primary, Secondary Mirrors Pyrex® glass
Correcting Plate/Lens Clear water white glass
Telescope Weight 28 lbs.
Tripod Weight 9 lbs.
Field Tripod Height all models 25.5" to 43.5" variable
OTA Master Carton (Size / Weight) 30" x 21" x 14.5" / 43 lbs.
Tripod Master Carton (Size / Weight) 29.1" x 10.6" x 10.6" / 12 lbs.
Click for full size product image...

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