The MEADE LX200

The MEADE 12" LX200 in ALTAZIMUTH mode

 A few years ago, the apparition, on the market, of the Meade LX200 has been a real technological revolution for amateurs. The last versions permit the CCD imaging with an increased comfort: precision of the pointing and Altazimuth possibilities. In this chapter I will evoke the different technological points of the LX200 and the interest for amateurs in these instruments.

The library and pointing

With its 64350 objects in memory, the LX200 possesses the library the most complete of the market for CCD imaging. To find principals catalogs, allows to prepare an excellent CCD night. The connection of the LX200 to a Personal Computer, using atlases permits to increase the number of objects.

It is there that the LX200 shows its strength. The centrering of galaxies, except M31, on the CCD sensors is delicate, considering the field. The use of a focal reducer is indispensable. But in addition, the automatic pointing of the LX200 and its precision of 1 arc minute, permits to center, the galaxy or the nebula on the CCD chip. It is the MEADE HPP (High Precision Pointing) that goes to do this miracle and to give a gain of time for the amateur.

Using a LX200 since several years, I can attest the precision and of the reliability of the HPP pointing system. At every time my LX200 pointed, close to the center of my KAF-400/KAF-401E/KAF-261E/KAF-3200ME, the galaxy in question.

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