 
One
of the most important advances in telescope control in the past 25
years, the Meade #497 Autostar Computer Controller turns the ETX into
an automatic celestial object locating system. Just plug the Autostar
into the telescope's HBX port, do a quick (less than one minute!)
telescope alignment, and you're ready to observe any object in the
Autostar's 30,000-object database. Best of all, the Meade Autostar
is easy to use. Most Autostar users see more celestial objects in
one night's viewing than typical first-time telescope owners previously
have in a lifetime.
Any
of Autostar's database objects can be called up and entered on the
hand controller display in seconds. The observer then simply presses
the GO TO pushbutton and watches as the telescope automatically slews
(moves) to the object and places it in the field of view. The effect
of Autostar is to bring objects easily within reach which were previously
unreachable for all but the most dedicated of amateur astronomers.
The ETX's standard-equipment
Autostar controller connects to the telescope's control panel and
permits an incredible array of telescope options.
- Automatic
GO TO capability at 6.5°/sec on both axes to over 30,000 database
objects including:
- The 8 major
planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune,
Uranus, and Pluto
- 5,386 objects
from the Index Catalog (IC) Galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters
of all types
- 7,840 objects
from the New General Catalog (NGC) Additional galaxies, nebulae,
and star clusters
- 109 objects
from the Caldwell Catalog of the best objects for small telescopes
- 110 Messier
(M) objects (the complete Messier catalog of objects)
- 16,800 stars
from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) catalog
- 26 asteroids
including all of the brightest asteroids, 15 periodic comets and
50 Earth-orbiting satellites
- Automatic GO
TO capability to any object of known RA and Declination.
Additional
Capabilities: Beyond the location of database
objects, Autostar allows for a wide range of important telescope
capabilities:
-
Automatic
GO TO capability to any astronomical object of known coordinates
(RA and Dec.).
Enter an object's coordinates to the Autostar display, press
GO TO, and Autostar moves the telescope to locate the object
and place it in the telescopic field.
-
Digital
Readouts of telescope position,
continuously in RA and Dec.
-
Precise
sidereal-rate tracking
Once Autostar locates an object, it directs the telescope to
track the object automatically on both telescope axes, simultaneously,
keeping the object centered in the field.
-
9-Speed
Dual-Axis Operation
Use Autostar's pushbuttons to move the telescope on either or
both axes, simultaneously, at any of nine drive speeds, from
very slow 2x sidereal to fast 4.5°/second.
-
GO
TO capability to any of 200 user-defined objects

Manufactured at the Meade Irvine, California, facility, ETX Maksutov-Cassegrain
telescopes produce superlative, diffraction-limited optical performance
and resolution. Optics so high in contrast, image brightness, and
resolution that ETX-90AT, ETX-105AT, and ETX-125AT models often
outperform many telescopes of larger apertures.
ETX optical systems include
a Maksutov meniscus corrector lens of Grade-A BK7 optical glass.
This lens is individually hand-figured by a Meade master optician
to achieve an optical null in combination with the Pyrex®
primary mirror. High transmission magnesium fluoride (MgF2) coatings
on both sides of the correcting lens, as well as aluminum/silicon
monoxide coatings on the primary and secondary mirrors, are provided
as standard equipment. Optional coatings, (UHTC) described below,
increase light transmission and reflectance still further.

Standard-Equipment
Dual-Axis Drive System and #497 Autostar Controller: The rigid fork
mountings of ETX Maksutov-Cassegrain models include high-torque
DC motors on both telescope axes, permitting electronic operation
from the standard-equipment Autostar controller. With the telescope
placed in the altazimuth mode on a table, astronomical object-tracking
may be accomplished automatically, after a quick and easy 2-minute
alignment of Autostar to the sky. Alternately, the telescope may
be mounted in either the altazimuth or equatorial modes on the standard-equipment
#884 Deluxe Field Tripod.

Flip the internal, optical-flat mirror "up" for observing in the
standard 90° position; flip the mirror "down" for terrestrial observing
with the optional #932 45° Erecting Prism or for photography with
the optional #64 T-Adapter.

The drive base of the ETX telescope accepts eight AA-batteries that
power the telescope for about 20 hours of normal usage. Alternately,
the telescope may also be powered from a 12 volt automobile cigarette
lighter plug, using the optional #607 Power Cord.

Available optionally with the ETX-90AT,
ETX-105AT, or ETX-125AT, the Meade
UHTC
(Ultra-High Transmission Coatings) Group provides a series of highly
specialized, exotic optical coatings which dramatically increase image
brightness. Averaged over the entire visible spectrum (450 nm. to
700 nm.), total light transmission to the telescope focus is increased
by about 15%. Meade telescopes equipped with UHTC present a quantum
leap in image brightness on the full range of celestial objects.
The UHTC group, if desired, must be specified
at the time of telescope order.
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