So You Want a Meade LX Telescope!: How to Select and Use the LX200 and Other High-End Models (The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series)

The revolutionary computer-controlled Meade LX200 series of telescopes was introduced in 1992 and represented a giant step forward in technology. The series was an instant success, and Meade LX200 telescopes have since sold in huge numbers compared with many other astronomical telescopes! The LX200s are extraordinary telescopes capable of producing amazing results, but managing them can be a chore. So You Want a Meade LX Telescope! includes the essential hardware operations and reviews the best of the many software packages available to aid you in the setting up and use of the telescope. Typical results and various ways to achieve these results are given in detail, so readers can know what to expect from construction to image. Also included are reviews of essential accessories such as CCD cameras and the latest "active optics" units. This book gives readers the benefit of Harris’s many years of experience as both a professional astronomer and owner of Meade LX telescopes, including the top end LX400. For anyone owning or considering buying a high-end Meade telescope, this book is the most valuable accessory you can buy! Computers and Astronomy Perhaps every generation of astronomers believes that their telescopes are the best that have ever been. They are surely all correct! The great leap of our time is that computer-designed and machined parts have led to more accurately made com- nents that give the astronomer ever better views. The manual skills of the craftsman mirror grinder have been transformed into the new-age skills of the programmer and the machine maker. (The new products did not end the work of craftsman te- scope makers, though. Many highly skilled amateur/professional opticians cont- ued to produce good-quality mirrors that are still seen today. ) Amateur-priced telescopes are now capable of highly accurate tracking and computer control that were once only the province of professionals. This has greatly increased the p- sibilities of serious astronomy projects for which tailor-made software has been developed. Add a CCD camera to these improved telescopes (see Chap. 3), and you bring a whole new dimension to your astronomy (see Fig. 1. 1). Look Before You Leap! But first, a word of caution. Unless you are already familiar with astronomy and basic telescopes, it is not wise to start spending large amounts of money on a we- featured telescope. Such an instrument might otherwise be subsequently abandoned due to a perceived overcomplexity coupled with a waning interest. The Meade LX200 series of telescopes was introduced in 1992 and represented a giant step forward in technology for amateur astronomers - computer control. The LX200 series telescopes were an instant success and have outsold all other astronomical telescopes put together. Steady development has continued to the present day, and LX200s are available in a range of apertures from 8-inch through the giant 16-inch, which is widely installed in university astronomy departments and the smaller public observatories. For anyone considering buying a high-end Meade telescope, the book offers an experience Front Matter....Pages I-XV Introduction....Pages 1-15 Meade LX200GPS/LX400 Series Telescopes....Pages 17-45 Accessories, Great and Small....Pages 47-64 Balancing and Polar Alignment....Pages 65-79 Essential Software for Basic Operations....Pages 81-100 Software Adjustment of Periodic Error and Polar Alignment....Pages 101-125 Autoguiding....Pages 127-145 Using Advanced Software....Pages 147-175 Adaptive Optics....Pages 177-193 A Guide to Weather Satellites....Pages 195-213 Some LX200 and LX400 Projects....Pages 215-230 Back Matter....Pages 231-233 The book is about using the LX200GPS and RCX400 telescopes. It explains in detail how they are set up from out of the box. Chapter include all of the different aspects of their use including autoguiding and imaging, and includes the use of active optics accessories to obtain near perfect pictures. An additional chapter explains how to obtain weather satellite pictures to provide weather forecasting when usiung your telescope.