Meade 8" LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope & Accessories For Sale
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Meade 8" LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope & Accessories:
$4199.00
Meade 8" LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope & Accessories.
For sale is an entire telescope system with many accessories. The scope and accessories are all Meade products with the exception of storage cases. You will have the ability to not only observe, but photograph and store everything safely and properly. Everything that you see in the photos is included in the price. This is a lightly-used telescope in excellent condition. Everything works perfectly. Here are descriptions of the most important components:
1. Meade 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope (SCT). It is the Meade LX200GPS system with the Autostar II Hand Controller. The SCT has the Ultra-High Telescope Coatings (UHTC) on mirrors and lenses. The special optics make this 8" perform like a 10".
2. Fork Mount. As shown in photos, this is a one-piece telescope and mount system. You merely grab the "grab bars" and lift it up and place on top of the tripod. Merely hand tighten the knob to hold in place and you are ready to go. The scope and mount are intended to always be one unless you intentionally separate the two.
3. Heavy-Duty Tripod. This is another Meade accessory, the heavy-duty tripod. It can actually be used with the 10" SCT as well. This is a vibration-free, very sturdy tripod. I have used it in various locations and it is outstanding for not moving at all. Exactly what you want! The height is adjustable.
4. Wedge. For those of you interested in astro-photography, an equatorial wedge is a necessity to keep the image centered as the earth rotates. The wedge is shown in the photos at the end and is easy to install when needed You will not need this for visual astronomy. The use of the wedge converts your alt/az system into and equatorial (polar) alignment system.
5. Autostar II Hand Controller. This "remote" is very easy to use. There is a catalog of 180,000 star objects (planets, nebula, galaxies, and star cluster) at your immediate access. Just call up the "tour of the sky" for that night and hit "go to" and the telescope does all the work in finding and centering the object of your choice. The Hand Controller also is used to slew the telescope as needed and has variable speeds available. The Controller also has a power focusing ability to bring objects into sharp focus. The focusing mechanism can be done roughly at first and then very finely for high-power objects.
6. Autostar Software. Relax if you think the software is out-of-date. It never is. Meade offers free updates of the software and you can download them as often as you want. Want to photograph the International Space Station as it comes overhead tonight. Just download that and your telescope will follow the ISS with precision as it goes through the sky. It's slewing will keep pace with the ISS. You just watch and do not need to do anything else. The software I am including just gets you started. There are ongoing updates you can access whenever needed.
7. Imager. This is Meades Deep Sky Imager. You can use this to do astro-photography and either control the telescope through the Hand Controller or through software on a computer, tablet or even a smartphone. You have the full array of photography options--timed photos, multiple photos of the same object fused together into a single image, and many other options. The imager can also be used for observation. In this case you look at your tablet or computer screen to see what the telescope is seeing and do not need to use eyepieces.
8. JMI Customized Case. As you can see from the photos, this case is totally customized to fit the Meade 8" SCT. It can be customized for other telescopes as well in roughly the same size. Very heavy-duty case with deep foam cutouts to hold everything in precise shape despite any banging or bouncing around. The case is a "wheely" that you can roll around and do not have to lift.
9. Barlow Lens and 26mm Super-Plossl Eyepiece.
These too are Meade products. You can use either 1.25" or 2" eyepieces (converters are included for the 2"), though most use 1.25" eyepieces for this type of scope. You can add other eyepieces of your choice. The included eyepiece is 1.25" in diameter.
10. Diagonal Prism, Focal Reducer, T-Adapter and Diffuser.
Once again these are Meade products designed for this or similar telescopes. You may not need to use all of these but they are included in case you do need them.
11. Lens Covers, Adapters and Sleeves.
These are designed just for this or similar telescopes and are needed to properly set up and use all of the functions that this scope can be used for.
12. Manuals.
One comprehensive manual (see photo) is included as well as a couple of secondary manuals or information sheets. The primary manual is over 70 pages and thoroughly discusses all components of the telescope system, how to assemble them, and how to use them. It takes me only about 10 minutes to set up and it's quite simple. With the Autostar System you spend very little time finding sky objects and spend most of your time observing or photographing them.Given the bulk of all of these items, I am trying to sell via pick up rather than ship. However I am willing to consider shipping but the buyer must pay for this. Many of the items are in cases and the tripod has a storage box which was made for it, but some items (e.g., wedge) would require a unique box to ship.
