Meade ETX125AT Telescope w/ UHTC, Autostar Controller (497) and Tripod (884)
by Meade
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: MeadeModel: 0515-03-21
Product features:
- Includes AutoStar controller and deluxe field tripod
- UHTC coatings are on all optical surfaces for enhanced detail
- 500x maximum magnification
- Maksutov meniscus corrector lens of Grade-A BK7 optical glass
- Includes a Meade Series 4000 Super Plvssl 26 millimeter eyepiece for 48 times magnification
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Meade ETX125AT Telescope w/ UHTC, Autostar Controller (497) and Tripod (884)
Customer Review: A Great Versatile Instrument
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great instrument for beginners and amateurs alike. Highly portable and easy to set up, which is important in light polluted areas such as Natick, MA. This allows me to get up and go to dark sky areas for fantastic viewing. Even in light polluted suburbia, the Moon, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Andromeda Galaxy, and the Orion Nebula are clearly visible as well as many other Messier objects. If you're a beginner, don't expect to see the flag on the Moon, Hubble Space Telescope can't even see that, or canals on Mars. Do expect to see amazing craters during crescent Moons and polar ice caps during Mars opposition. Jupiter is impressive to look at due to it's shear size. You can make out cloud belts and the famous eye of the 300 year storm. Jupiter's four largest moons show up as small points of light and they change location each night. It's as if you're looking at a miniature solar-system. Saturn and it's rings are among the most beautiful objects to observe. On very clear nights you can make out the Cassini division in Saturn's rings as well as it's largest moon, Titan. Andromeda Galaxy is viewed as a fuzzy cloud with more detail observable in darker skies. Use a CCD camera to overcome your eye's limitation by capturing the color and detail that are shown in pictures. The Autostar is an excellent educational tool with detailed information on each object. It allows you the hands-on experience of learning which makes it fun. Follow the instructions carefully for configuring the Autostar. The more accurate the motor calibration, the easier it will be to align to the stars. It helps to set your watch to the atomic clock which can be found at www.time.gov and use that for the time entered. This will give an accurate position of the stars according to the Earth's rotation. Make sure your telescope is pointed "True North" and follow the instructions for the fork arm location on the telescope. Learn the locations of a few stars during the different seasons in order to make the alignment procedure simpler. I found that if I placed the telescope slightly to the East of "True North" then each time the star it was aligning to was in my 26mm eyepiece. Don't be afraid to pick up the tripod and move it clockwise or counterclockwise until the star your aligning to is shown in the eyepiece. Then you can use the motor to center the star in the eyepiece. The less you use the motor for aligning the more accurate it seems to be and the faster it slews to the object.
Description of Meade ETX125AT Telescope w/ UHTC, Autostar Controller (497) and Tripod (884)
The ETX-125EC permits a broad range of astronomical study. In deep space, the ETX-125EC's larger aperture enables the observation of galaxies and nebulae in much wider extension and permits the resolution of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 12.5. The entire Messier listing of 110 objects is now not only visible, but, in addition, every object takes on a readily discernible structure. The Autostar controller turns the ETX-125EC into an automatic celestial object-locating system. The UHTC Difference
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| Each time light encounters a mirror (above) or lens (below), some light is lost. In the case of a lens, light is lost at both the entrance to and exit from the lens. UHTC dramatically decreases this light loss. |
Ultra-High Transmission coatings (UHTC), recently developed at the Meade Irvine coatings facility, however, have permitted the vacuum-deposition of a series of exotic optical coatings precisely tuned to optimize the visual, photographic, and CCD imaging performance of Meade telescopes. This telescope includes primary and secondary mirrors coated with aluminum enhanced with a complex stack of multi-layer coatings of titanium dioxide and silicon dioxide. The thickness of each coating layer is precisely controlled to within 1% of optimal thickness. The result is a dramatic increase in mirror reflectivity across the entire visible spectrum; at the important hydrogen-alpha wavelength of 656nm. - the predominant wavelength of emission nebulae -- reflectivity is increased from 89% to over 97%.
This telescope presents dramatically brighter images on the full range of celestial objects ? from emission and planetary nebulae such as M8, M20, and M57 to star clusters and galaxies such as M3, M13, and M101. Observations of the Moon and planets, since they are observed in reflected (white) sunlight, benefit in image brightness from the full spectrum of increased transmission.
And more
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| The computer-driven Autostar controller makes it easy to find 30,000 celestial objects. |
ETX optical systems include a Maksutov meniscus corrector lens of Grade-A BK7 optical glass. 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. Use the standard pushbutton electronic controller at any of four dual-axis speeds: 8x sidereal for image centering in the main telescope at high power; 32x for image centering at lower powers or for pushbutton object tracking in the altazimuth mode; slow mode for image centering in the viewfinder or for terrestrial tracking of nature and sightseeing; or medium speed for fast slewing across the sky. The observer can instantly select any of these speeds simply by depressing the speed button on the controller.
The telescope?s ultraportable design allows the viewer to view from any flat surface, be it a window sill, car hood, or picnic table. The optional tripod can raise the telescope to any comfortable height.
The Nuts and Bolts
| 1. Eyepiece 2. Viewfinder 3. Eyepiece Holder Thumbscrew - Tightens the eyepiece in place. 4. 90° Eyepiece Holder - Holds the eyepiece upright for easy viewing. 5. Optical Tube - The main optical component that gathers the light from distant objects and brings this light to a focus for examination with the eyepiece. 6. Vertical Lock - Controls the manual vertical movement of the telescope. 7. Fork Arms - Hold the optical tube in place. 8. Focus Knob - Moves the telescope?s optical tube in a finely-controlled motion to achieve precise image focus. 9. Horizontal Lock - Controls the manual horizontal rotation of the telescope. 10. Computer Control Panel
12. Holes for Optional Tripod - See your tripod?s instruction sheet for mounting information. 13. Right Ascension (R.A.) Setting Circle. 14. Flip-Mirror and Flip-Mirror Control Knobs - ETX telescopes include an internal mirror. With the flipmirror control in the "up" position, light is diverted to the eyepiece. With the flipmirror control in the "down" position, as shown in Fig. 2b, light proceeds straight out the photo port for photography. 15. Photo Port - Attach any 35mm camera with a removable lens to this port using an optional adapter. 16. Declination Setting Circle (on left fork arm). 17. Viewfinder Alignment Screws - adjust these screws to align the viewfinder. 18. Viewfinder Alignment Bracket. 19. Dust Cap 20. Battery Compartment (not shown, underneath base). |  |
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