Ushering in a new era of absurd ease of use in a telescope, theĀ Meade ETX-LS ACF 6" SC TelescopeĀ is the world's first "GO-TO" scope which literally aligns itself!Ā Ā Using a combination of a few sensors, a CCD camera, and some computerized intelligence, the ETX-LS's LightSwitch technology is able to detect where it is and where it is pointing.Ā Ā All you do is turn it on and get to the good stuff-the observing and imaging.Ā Ā Combined with great Schmidt-Cassegrain optics in a 6" aperture, it makes for an attractive offering for any serious amateur observer.
The ACF optics have lowered to non-existent levels of coma, which is seen when stars have 'tails' as you radiate away from the center of the field, and the choice as to whether to spring for this optical enhancement is yours alone.Ā Ā In either event, you'll get great viewing with enough brightness to observe some deep space objects and enough sharpness to create nice images.
After the scope aligns itself, use the included AutoStar III controller to guide you around the sky.Ā Ā Simply tell it what you want to see and it goes and gets it for you, or you can use the guided tours (tailored to your locale and the date) and it will show you the best of the evening's offerings.Ā Ā There's a speaker on the body, an audio output for headphones, and a video output which can display reference pictures and graphics on your computer.
The rigid single-fork mount of the ETX-LS has 4.8" worm gears and enough clearance to use your SLR or CCD camera of choice.Ā Ā Combine it with the simple T-adapter for shorter exposures, or use one of Meade's Deep Sky Imagers which can use their software to adjust for an altazimuth mount's field rotation over long exposures.
There's also a built-in CCD camera on the ETX-LS, primarily used to facilitate the self-alignment procedure, but also able to take 12Ā° VGA-resolution (640 x 480 pixels) wide field images.