Meade 12″ f/10 LX200 ACF Telescope with Giant Field Tripod

Meade 12 Inch Telescope

The Meade 12″ LX200 ACF telescope handles your observing and imaging needs with ease. Incredibly compact for its aperture, yet with a robust and solid fork arm mounting for a vibration free image. Push button controls, automatic locating and tracking of celestial objects, and a wealth of object data at your fingertips in the AutoStar II hand controller. A mechanical mirror lock will completely eliminate any residual image shift — ideal for astro-imagers. Both visual astronomers and astrophotographers alike will appreciate the quality and capability of this beautifully made telescope.

ACF Telescope features a 12″ aperture, 3048mm focal length, and f/10 focal ratio with Dual-Fork Mounting. Equipped with Ultra High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) and a resolving power of 0.380 arc seconds for the improvement of brighter star clusters, more fine detail in nebulae, and greater surface features on planets. Includes a Series 4000 26mm Super Plössl eyepiece (117x), viewfinder (8×50 optical with crosshair), 1.25″ Diagonal Mirror, and Giant Field Tripod. OTA Dimensions: 13.6″ x 25″ L. Assembled Telescope Weight: 83 lbs. Tripod Weight: 50 lbs. Tripod Dimensions: 40″ to 50″ variable.

Designed and Manufactured in North America.

Features AutoStar II computer system with 145,000 object-library, multiple guided tours, High Precision Pointing capability with sub arc-minute pointing accuracy, and Meade SmartDrive with Permanent Periodic Error Correction.

The optical path and components of the ACF telescope design

Precise and quick star alignment is done near effortlessly with Meade’s level north technology alignment system incorporating a 16-channel GPS receiver. Drive base of the telescope has multiple input/output ports including an RS-232 PC interface and jacks for a CCD Autoguider (user-supplied) and illuminated reticle.

Mechanically loaded as well, all LX200 models feature a primary mirror locking mechanism, which effectively prevents movement of the primary mirror during long-exposure astrophotography or observing. Turn the lock knob located just above the telescopes main focus knob and the progressive-tension primary lock completely cancels any residual image shift due to mirror movement during visual, photographic, or imaging applications.

Features the DC-servo driven, super heavy-duty dual-fork mount – the strongest and most rigid mount in its class. Fast slew speeds are from 1 to 8-degrees per second, and can be user selected at 0.1-degree per second increments, while fine slewing and photographic guiding speeds can be adjusted from .01x to 1x sidereal in one one-hundredth increments. Mount and electronics are internally powered by 8 C-cell (user-supplied) batteries which will typically operate the telescope for around 20 hours (optional Meade Universal AC Adapter also available). The mount also has mechanical locks and slow motion manual controls in both axis if no power is available.

Meade’s LX200 is the most widely used, research-grade telescope system. And now, you can have one too.