Meade 8" shown and 10" LX200's include 64,359-object onboard databases and High-Precision Pointing as standard equipment.

Heavy-Duty Mounts with 9-Speed Dual-Axis Electronics: LX200 electronics are integrated into extremely rigid heavy-duty fork mounts. DC-servo-motor-controlled worm gear drives on both telescope axes permit observatory-level precision in tracking, guiding, and slewing. The 9-speed dual-axis drives cover every possible contingency of telescope positioning. Press the SLEW button on the keypad controller for rapid motion of the telescope across the skies at 8° per sec., or at any speed between 3°/sec. and 8°/sec., in 1°/sec. increments, on both axes simultaneously. Once near the target, switch instantly to the FIND speed for centering in the viewfinder at 2° per sec. Observing the object in the main telescope, use the CNTR speed (32x sidereal) to place the object in the center of the field. During long-exposure photography press the GUIDE button for precise corrections at 2x sidereal speed.

The Moon, photographed by Christian Arsidi through a Meade 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The two adjoined craters at the center of the photo are Theophilus (upper-right-center) and Cyrillius.

"I've owned my Meade 8" LX200 for almost five years and the sophistication of this fine instrument still amazes me. Using high-precision pointing, the telescope toggles between an alignment star and an unseen object and places the object exactly in the center of the field of view every time. With good alignment and with the Smart Drive activated, I have found that 15- to 20-minute photo exposures can be performed totally unguided. The LX200's tack-sharp optical system is a trademark with Meade. The telescope is totally reliable and a pleasure to set up and operate."–John Downs, San Clemente, California.

Coordinate GO TO Capability: Enter into the display the celestial coordinates (Right Ascension and Declination) of any object, press GO TO, and the telescope automatically slews to the object and centers it in the field.

Built-in 64,359-Object Library Included as Standard Equipment: Enter into the keypad any of the 64,359 celestial objects stored in the LX200's onboard database, press GO TO, and the telescope automatically slews (moves) to the object at 8° per sec., centering it in the main telescope field. Additionally, the display reads out for each selected object its magnitude, size, object-type, visual quality rating, RA and Dec. Or, let the telescope take you on an automatic guided tour of the heavens, simply by pressing the NEXT key. If the selected object is not visible at the time of observation, the display reads Object Below Horizon, and the GO TO command is automatically cancelled.

 

12,921 galaxies from the Uppsala General Catalog; the complete UGC catalog. 7,840 objects from the New General Catalog; the complete NGC catalog. 5,386 objects from the Index Catalog; the complete IC catalog. 21,815 variable stars to magnitude 16.6 from the General Catalog of Variable Stars. 15,928 stars from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) catalog of stars brighter than 7th magnitude. 351 alignment stars for the LX200 telescope. 110 Messier objects; the complete listing. 8 major planets, from Mercury to Pluto ______ 64,359 objects, total

The Meade 64,359-object library includes an incredible array of phenomena–virtually a lifetime of deep-space study, even for the advanced observer:

Altazimuth Mode Operation: For all visual observing applications, for lunar and planetary photography, and for most CCD imaging applications, Meade LX200's may be set up in the altazimuth mode–just attach the telescope's drive base directly to the tripod, use the fast 2-star alignment procedure, and the telescope's computer actuates 2-axis tracking that keeps objects precisely centered in the field, even at high powers, during the entire observing session. For long-exposure astrophotography (longer than about 5 minutes) altazimuth-induced field rotation requires an equatorial wedge or the #1220 Field De-rotater, either of which may be purchased separately.

Terrestrial Operation: Meade LX200's make incredible land-view telescopes. Set the telescope up in the altazimuth format, activate LAND mode on the telescope's computer, and use the keypad to track land objects on both axes at any of the same 9 drive speeds!

Keypad and Power Panel Functions: The LX200's multi-function capability permits direct connection of CCD autoguider/imagers by plugging into the telescope's power panel; RS-232 serial interface with a personal computer (PC), allowing the user to perform all of the keypad functions through, or write custom telescope software for, a PC; and brightness level control of an illuminated reticle eyepiece from the keypad, including special pulse-mode reticle operation. More than a dozen other keypad/display panel functions are described in the LX200 instruction manual.

Main LX200 electronic circuit board. This board is compactly housed inside the drive base of the telescope.

Version 3.34 Software: The very latest in telescope operating systems, Meade Version 3.34 software, included with all 8" and 10" LX200's, enables quick (less than 10 seconds!) 2-star alignment of the telescope in the altazimuth mode, without requiring input of the observer's latitude or longitude, without even leveling the tripod. Just use 2 easy-to-find reference stars and the LX200 tracks and actuates GO TO with extreme precision.

High-Precision Pointing (HP) Capability: Known since their inception in 1992 for precision pointing capability, Meade LX200's have recently been still further refined to permit the most accurate pointing capability ever offered in a commercial telescope. Now you can command the telescope to GO TO an object located on the opposite side of the sky (for example, a distance of 120 degrees in sky-angle) and, in conjunction with the telescope's unique SYNC command, the LX200 will locate and center the desired object to within a precision of less than one arc-minute. HP capability can be accessed with the LX200 in either the altazimuth or equatorial orientations.

LX200 HP-mode pointing is enabled by a special menu command to the keypad hand controller. For casual observing such high precision in pointing is not generally required, since even without HP-mode pointing, the LX200 is capable of locating objects to within a pointing precision of about 2 arc minutes or better. But consider some of the situations where High-Precision Pointing means the difference between seeing, or imaging, an object, and not:

• Suppose you wish to CCD-image a supernova in an 18th magnitude galaxy - a galaxy invisible except through the process of CCD imaging. With the LX200 in HP-mode, the galaxy can be placed on the chip of every commercially - available CCD unit.

   

• Photographing faint objects such as the planet Pluto, or asteroids or comets near the photographic limit of the telescope, and plotting the motion of these objects night-to-night, now becomes practical, since the photograph may be taken without the observer ever having seen the object visually, knowing that the LX200 in HP-mode operation will precisely center the object in the telescopic field.

With other telescopes, acquiring even bright objects on the CCD chip can be a chore, searching and slewing by trial-and-error until the object is positioned on the chip. LX200's in the HP-mode place every object on every CCD chip every time.

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"...Viewing a 2nd-magnitude star at high power [the 8" LX200] showed a nearly textbook-perfect image ... I do indeed rank these optics as diffraction limited ... Jupiter and Saturn exhibited riveting detail... During the November 10, 1997, triple shadow transit on Jupiter, the LX200 was my telescope of choice. It showed all three moon shadows as plainly different in size and shading, a rare and remarkable sight. Under the automatic GO TO command, the LX200 routinely placed objects, including the Moon and planets, within 1 to 4 arc-minutes of the center of the field. Not only was it accurate–it was fast. The LX200 usually took no longer than 10 to 25 seconds to slew to and center an object ... The latest major feature added to the system is what Meade calls High Precision Pointing. When this is activated ... Meade promises a pointing accuracy of 1 arc-minute. I can confirm this amazing figure. Objects consistently ended up within 1 to 2 arc-minutes of the field's center, a great aid to CCD imaging of faint targets ... if you know what you want to look at, the LX200 will find it with astonishing speed and accuracy ... the telescope I tested provided excellent performance in all critical areas while adding a level of technical luxury that is truly powerful and impressive ... I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending the LX200 series ... After having used the LX200 for several months, I can attest to the wonderful hands-off convenience and sheer fun of the motorized GO TO."
–from the review in Sky & Telescope, April, 1998.

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Home or Field Operation: The LX200's powerful high-torque 18-volt DC drives operate from any 115v.AC outlet, using a small AC adapter supplied as standard equipment. For field use, the compact #1812 Electronic DC Adapter, an optional accessory weighing only 4 oz., plugs into any 12v. automobile cigarette lighter receptacle and powers the telescope all night without risk of battery drain.

Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrains have revolutionized the capabilities of amateur astromers to perform advanced electronic and photographic imaging. Shown below are images that dramatically demonstrate these revolutionary capabilities:

The first of these images, taken on June 4, 1994, shows Jupiter prior to the July, 1994, impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, followed by post-impact images of Jupiter taken July 25 and 26, 1994. The final images, at bottom, present Jupiter as it appears almost one year later, on July 5 and 22, 1995. (In all images south is up.) Astrophotographer Dr. Bruns writes:

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"The exposures of 4 JUN 94, 25 JUL 94, and 26 JUL 94 were 25 seconds long, and the excellent tracking capability of the LX200 was important in creating the high-resolution photographs. In fact, the June photo was taken in the LX200's altazimuth mode using the telescope's 2-star alignment software. The photos after comet impact were taken when Jupiter was only about 30 ° above the horizon, so the seeing was not very good. For the June photo, Jupiter was about45 ° above the horizon, with somewhat better seeing. The 25 JUL 94 photo includes the Great Red Spot along with comet debris. This is the only good photo I have seen anywhere that includes the Great Red Spot for size comparison to the impact-spots. All the photos show festoons and white spots. The planet boundary is indistinct in the June image because Jupiter was near opposition and there was a lot of limb darkening. In July the planet was near quadrature, and the terminator was sharper. In the 5 JUL 95 image Jupiter's satellite Ganymede is the yellow-orange spot to the upper-right, with Ganymede's shadow on the planet's disc; in the 22 JUL 95 image Europa is visible as the lighter spot just east of the central meridian on the North Temperate Belt."–Dr. Bruns

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Images of Jupiter taken on:

Image Data: All five of the images above were taken by Dr. Bruns with a Meade 10" LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain equipped with a Stellar Products AO-2 adaptive optics system. The top three images are photographs on Fuji Velvia film (ISO 50), which were then digitized with a CCD camera and processed. The two images at bottom were taken with a Meade Pictor 416XT CCD imaging camera and Meade Pictor 616 Color Filter System with exposure times of 8 secs. (red), 12 secs. (green), and 20 secs. (blue).

Specifications of 8" Model LX200: 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assembly (specify f/6.3 or f/10) with EMC Super Multi-Coatings (D = 203mm, F = 1280mm - f/6.3, or 2000mm - f/10); heavy-duty fork mount, with 4"-diameter sealed polar ball bearing, quartz-microprocessor-controlled 5.75" LX worm gears on both axes, and multi-function control panel on the drive base; manual and electric slow-motion controls on both axes; setting circles in RA and Dec; handheld keypad Electronic Command Center with digital readout display, permanently-programmable Smart Drive, 9-speed drive control on both axes, GO TO controller, High-Precision Pointing, and 64,359-object onboard celestial software library; 25 ft. power cord and adapter for telescope operation from 115v.AC outlet (for field operation from 12v. auto cigarette lighter plug, see optional #1812 Electronic DC Adapter, 8 x 50mm viewfinder; eyepiece-holder and diagonal prism (1.25"); Series 4000 multi-coated Super Plössl 26mm eyepiece; variable-height standard field tripod; operating instructions.

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"I recently purchased one of your 10" f/10 LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrains. After owning many telescopes, and I do mean many, I have finally found the telescope of a lifetime. The Meade optics are the best I have ever seen. The sturdiness of the mount with its incredible pointing accuracy, combined with all the excellent features make this the Ultimate Telescope. I could go on and on..." –Bobby Lindsey, Sequin, Texas.

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Specifications of 10" Model LX200: 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assembly (specify f/6.3 or f/10) with EMC Super Multi-Coatings (D = 254mm, F = 1600mm - f/6.3, or 2500mm - f/10); heavy-duty fork mount, with 4"-diameter sealed polar ball bearing, quartz-microprocessor-controlled 5.75" LX worm gears on both axes, and multi-function control panel on the drive base; manual and electric slow-motion controls on both axes; setting circles in RA and Dec; handheld keypad Electronic Command Center with digital readout display, permanently-programmable Smart Drive, 9-speed drive control on both axes, GO TO controller, High-Precision Pointing, and 64,359-object onboard celestial software library; 25 ft. power cord and adapter for telescope operation from 115v.AC (for field operation from 12v. auto cigarette lighter plug, see optional #1812 Electronic Adapter, 8 x 50mm viewfinder; eyepiece-holder and diagonal prism (1.25"); Series 4000 multi-coated Super Plössl 26mm eyepiece; variable-height standard field tripod; operating instructions.

 

Specifications and Features: Meade, 8", and 10" LX200 Telescopes

Optical Design	Schmidt-Cassegrain
Clear Aperture	203mm (8"); 254mm (10")
Primary Mirror Diameter	209.6mm (8.25"); 263.5mm (10.38")
Focal Length	1280mm (8" f/6.3) 2000mm (8" f/10)
	1600mm(10" f/6.3); 2500mm (10" f/10)
Focal Ratio (Photographic Speed)	f/6.3 or f/10 (specify)
Near Focus (approx.)	25 ft. (8"); 50 ft. (10")
Resolving Power (arc secs.)	0.56 (8"); 0.45 (10")
Super Multi-Coatings (EMC)	Standard
Limiting Visual Magnitude (approx.)	14.0 (8"); 14.5 (10")
Limiting Photographic Magnitude (approx.)	16.5 (8"); 17.0 (10")
Image Scale (degs./inch)	1.14 (8" f/6.3); 0.72 (8" f/10)
	0.91 (10" f/6.3); 0.57 (10" f/10)
Maximum Practical Visual Power	500X (8"); 625X (10")
35mm Angular Film Coverage	1.08° x 1.55° (8" f/6.3)
	0.68° x 0.97° (8" f/10)
	0.86° x 1.24° (10" f/6.3)
	0.54° x 0.78° (10" f/10)
Optical Tube Dimensions (dia. X length)	9.1" x 16" (8"); 11.75" x 22" (10")
Secondary Mirror Obstruction (dia.; %)	3.45"-18.6% (8" f/6.3)
	3.0"-14.1% (8" f/10)
	4.0"-16.0% (10" f/6.3)
	3.7"-13.7% (10" f/10)
Telescope Mounting	Heavy-duty fork-type; double tine
Setting Circle Diameters	Dec: 6"; RA: 8.75"
RA Motor Drive System	9-speed, microprocessor - controlled 18v. DC servo motor; 5.75" LX worm gear with Smart Drive software
Hemispheres of Operation	North and South, switchable
Declination Control System	9-speed, microprocessor - controlled 18v. DC servo motor; 5.75" LX worm gear with Dec drift software
Slow-Motion Controls	Manual and electric, RA and Dec
Bearings	Dec: Nylon; RA: 1 - 4" dia. and 1 - 2.25" dia. ball bearing
Hand Controller	Motorola 68HC05 microcontroller; 2 line x 16 alphanumeric character display; 19 - button keypad, red LED backlit
Main Controller	16MHz 68000 microprocessor; 1 Meg. Program memory; 16K RAM; 512 byte non-volatile memory (EEROM)
Onboard Celestial Object Database	64,359 objects
Slew Speeds	RA and DEC: 2x, 32x sidereal, 2°/sec., 3°/sec. - 8°/sec. In 1°/sec. increments
Materials: Tube body	Aluminum
Mount castings	Aluminum
Primary & Secondary Mirrors [Note 1]	Pyrex® glass
Correcting Plate/Lens	Clear float glass
Telescope Dimensions, swung down	9.25" x 16" x 25" (8")
	12" x 19" x 31" (10")
Shipping Carton Dimensions	31" x 22" x 14" (8")
	38" x 26" x 18" (10")
Total Net Telescope Weight	69 lbs. (8"); 86 lbs. (10")
Heaviest Sub-Section for Field Assembly	41 lbs. (8"); 58 lbs. (10")
Total Shipping Weight (approx.)	90 lbs. (8"); 118 lbs. (10")
#1220 Field De-rotater	optional
Equatorial Wedge (optional) Latitude Range	23° to 64° (8")
	24° to 65° Superwedge (10")
Field Tripod Height [Note 2]	30" to 44" variable

[1] All Pyrex glass used in Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains and Maksutov-Cassegralns is of Grade-A quality, fine-annealed.
[2] The standard equatorial wedge adds approx. 9", and the Superwedge approx. 12", to the stated tripod heights. Wedges are supplied optionally on 8", and 10" LX200 models.