Meade 12" LX600-ACF Advanced Coma-Free Telescope

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Meade 12" f/8 LX600 ACF Telescope with StarLock and Tripod

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12" f/8 Advanced Coma Free Optics - 2438mm focal length
StarLock automatic guider and AutoStar II GOTO system included
Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC)
Internal Crayford style focuser with 7:1 reduction and zero image shift
Includes 26mm Super plossl, 1.25" diagonal mirror, 8x50 finderscope, and heavy-duty Giant Field Tripod

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Item # 55657

Mfg Model # 1208-70-01

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The fast f/8 Advanced Coma Free optical system produces a wider, flatter field with no coma for pinpoint stars out to the edge of larger imaging sensors and extreme wide angle eyepieces. Includes StarLock for full time guiding at one arc second precision and style auto-alignment, Crayford style zero shift focuser with reduction, and much more.

Designed and Manufactured in North America. The ACF primary, secondary and corrector plate glass blanks are manufactured in the USA exclusively for Meade.

Features 12" diameter f/8 ACF optics (focal length 2438mm) and Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) for maximum image brightness and contrast. The redesigned mirror mounting system achieves zero image shift and includes an internal Crayford style focuser with two speed, 7:1 reduction control that allows for quick and easy adjustments.

Includes StarLock — the advanced technology that makes target acquisition on your imaging sensor and accurate guiding during exposures completely automatic.

The 12" LX600-ACF comes equipped with the AutoStar II keypad with 145,000 object library, Meade 1.25" diagonal mirror, 26mm Super Plossl eyepiece and 8x50 viewfinder with quick release bracket. NOTE: Power adapters/cables sold separately. Choose between the Universal AC adapter, or the #607 DC power cord plus external field battery

Power panel includes the following ports: 12V input, 12V output, illuminated reticle, handbox, RS-232 x1, StarLock, Aux, and Focuser. Meade Microfocuser compatible, Microfocuser item sold separately.

Warranty

Limited Warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for two years from date of purchase. This warranty is provided by Meade for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only. For complete warranty details contact Meade at 800-626-3233.

Product Support

Visit our product support section for instruction manuals and more

Specs

Best for viewing

Fainter deep sky
Best for imaging

Solar, lunar, planetary & Messier objects
User level

User level

Beginner Level - Suited for a wide range of uses, these products are simple to operate and set up. Some initial assembly may be required depending on the type of product. Optical instruments with this rating will have very good optical and mechanical quality. Great for families, young people, and folks who don't want to mess with equipment and complexity. Beginning level telescopes will show you countless lunar craters, Saturn's rings and a myriad of star clusters and nebulae! Referring to the manual is recommended.

Intermediate Level - These products offer higher performance and more advanced features than Level 1: Beginner models. They typically take a bit longer to learn and need some set-up or adjustments. But anyone with the slightest technical bent will have no problem getting familiar with these models. Referring to the manual is recommended.

Advanced Level - These products provide the best performance but may require more skill to master and appreciate. Optical instruments with this rating have exceptionally fine optics and mechanics. Some are easy to use but might be on the large or heavy side. Some are intended for specialized uses. These products will appeal to the more technically inclined. Referring to the manual is highly recommended.

Advanced
Optical design

Optical design

Reflector telescopes use a pair of large and small mirrors to direct incoming light to the eyepiece. Refractor telescopes refract, or "bend" incoming light to a focus by means of an objective lens. Cassegrain telescopes, such as Maksutov-Cassegrains, "fold" incoming light using two mirrors and a front "corrector" lens.

Advanced Coma-Free (ACF)
Front-end outside tube diameter

Front-end outside tube diameter

The maximum outside diameter (OD) of the front end of your telescope will be used to select a solar filter than will fit securely to the telescope for safe solar viewing.

13.60 in.
Optical diameter

Optical diameter

For telescopes, the optical diameter (also known as aperture) is the size of a telescope's main light-collecting lens or primary mirror, measured in millimeters or inches. Telescopes with larger optical diameters collect more light, which leads to an increase in brightness and image resolution compared to smaller instruments.

For binoculars, the optical diameter (also known as objective lens diameter) is the size of each of the front-facing objective lenses of a binocular measured in millimeters. Binoculars with larger objective lenses collect more light, which increases image resolution and brightness. Binoculars with larger objective lenses are recommended for low light situations, and binoculars with at least 50mm or larger objective lenses are recommended for pleasing astronomical observations at night.

305mm
Focal length

Focal length

The distance from the center of a curved mirror or lens at which parallel light rays converge to a single point. The focal length is an inherent specification of a mirror or lens and is one of the factors in determining resultant magnification for a telescope (along with the focal length of the eyepiece being used).

2438mm
Focal ratio

Focal ratio

The focal ratio of an optical system is the ratio of a telescope's focal length to its aperture. Short focal ratios (f/5, f/4.5) produce wide fields of view and small image scales, while long focal lengths produce narrower fields of views and larger image scales.

f/8.0
Optics type

Optics type

Newtonian reflectors will have either a spherical shaped mirror, which is less expensive to produce, or a higher quality parabola, which does not result in spherical aberration. Cassegrain telescopes routinely use spheres in addition to other lenses in the optical path to correct for residual spherical aberration. Refractors use a series of lenses to provide a clear image. Designs range from a standard air-spaced doublet (two lenses in a row) to exotic designs such as oil-spaced triplets and 4-element multi group lenses.

Parabolic
Eyepieces

Super Plossl 26.0mm (1.25")
Magnification with included eyepieces

94x
Resolving power

Resolving power

The theoretical resolving power of a telescope can be calculated with the following formula: Resolving power (in arc seconds) = 4.56 divided by aperture of telescope (in inches). In metric units, this is: Resolving power (in arc seconds) = 116 divided by aperture of telescope (in millimeters). Note that the formula is independent of the telescope type or model, and is based only upon the aperture of the telescope. So the larger the telescope's aperture, the more it is capable of resolving. This is important to keep in mind when observing astronomical objects which require high resolution for best viewing, such as planets and double stars. However, it is usually atmospheric seeing conditions (not the telescope) which limits the actual resolving power on a given night; rarely is resolution less than one arc-second possible from even the best viewing locations on Earth.

0.38arc*sec
Lowest useful magnification

Lowest useful magnification

Lowest useful magnification is the power at which the exit pupil becomes 7mm in diameter. Powers below this can still be reached with the telescope to give wider fields of view, but the image no longer becomes brighter at a lower power. This is due to the fact that the exit pupil of the telescope (the beam of light exiting the eyepiece) is now larger than the average person's dark adapted pupil, and no more light can fit into the eye.

44x
Highest useful magnification

Highest useful magnification

The highest practical limit is different from the often used "highest theoretical magnification" specification. The "theoretical" limit generally is 50x the aperture of the scope in inches (2x the aperture in mm). So for example, an 80mm refractor is capable of 160x, and a 10" telescope is theoretically capable of 500x magnification. But after approximately 300x, theory breaks down and real world problems take over. The atmosphere above us is constantly in motion, and it will distort the image seen through the telescope. This effect may not be noticeable at lower powers, but at higher powers the atmosphere will dramatically blur the object, reducing the quality of the image. On a good night (a night where the air above is steady and the stars aren't twinkling), the practical upper limit of a large telescope is 300x, even thought the theoretical limit may be much higher. This doesn't mean the scope will never be able to reach those higher "theoretical" powers - there will be that rare night where the atmosphere is perfectly still and the scope can be pushed past it's practical limit, but those nights will be few and far between.

300x
Highest theoretical magnification

610x
Limiting stellar magnitude

Limiting stellar magnitude

The limiting stellar magnitude is a measure of the faintest star you can see through the telescope.

15.1
Optical quality

Optical quality

"Diffraction Limited" means that the limits of image detail are determined by the physical properties of light, and not by optical defects in the telescope.

Diffraction limited
Finder scope

8x50
Focuser

Internal
Diagonal degrees

1.25" 90° Mirror Star
Mount type

Altazimuth
Astro-imaging capability

Astro-imaging capability

The astro-photographic capability of the telescope is based on the style, stability, and accuracy of the mount and tripod. Telescopes on either very lightweight mounts or non tracking mounts (such as Dobsonians) are capable of only very short exposures such as lunar photographs. If a motor drive is attached to an equatorial mount, even a small lightweight mount is capable of capturing some planetary detail. Larger EQ mounts that utilize very precise tracking and excellent stability are capable of longer exposure deep-sky photography.

Lunar, planetary & long exposure
Motor drive compatibility

Motor drive compatibility

A motor drive automatically moves the telescope in right ascension at the same rate as the east-west drift of the stars so stars can be continuously tracked in the eyepiece without manual adjustment. Motor drives are usually equipped with a hand control that allows the telescope's tracking speed to be slightly increased or decreased, which is particularly critical when taking long-exposure astro-images.

Clock drive included
Computerized compatibility

Computerized compatibility

Some mounts are compatible with a motorized Go-To system for fully automated computer finding of objects in the night sky. Others mounts are compatible with computer finding systems which require the user to manually move the mount to the object's position as indicated by the computer finder.

Go-To included
Number of objects in database

145,000
Tracking rates

Sidereal, Solar and Lunar
Motor speeds

Up to 8 degrees/sec
Motor type

DC Servo motors with encoders
Power requirement

12-volt DC - 5A (tip positive)
PEC

PEC

Periodic errors are inherent in almost all worm gears due to slight eccentricities and misalignments. PEC (Periodic Error Correction) training function provides a manual correcting method to reduce the amplitude of the worm gear errors. By recording a full cycle of guiding actions, the mount can compensate for drifting in the R.A. sidereal tracking caused by periodic errors. The PEC training function is recommended for advanced users with interest in long-exposure astrophotography only. Standard sidereal tracking is sufficient for all casual visual applications, and PEC training is not required. Also, PEC is typically not used in conjunction with an autoguider.

Yes
GPS

GPS

A GPS module automatically sets the date and exact time and location for the mount, relieving the user from the need to look up coordinates on a map or manually enter perfect time. This can be very beneficial when traveling with the scope as locations can quickly be automatically entered into the hand control.

Included
Backlash compensation

Yes
Setting circles

Electronic, via the hand controller
Available ports

Available ports

Ports allow the mount to connect to devices such as autoguiders (for long exposure photography without tedious manual guiding), PC's running planetarium software (via the RS-232 port) and GPS receivers (through the Aux port).

RS-232, Aux, autoguider
Tube material

Aluminum
Tripod material

Aluminum & Steel
Weight, optical tube

73.0 lbs.
Weight, mount/tripod

50.0 lbs.
Weight, fully assembled

123.0 lbs.
Additional included accessories

AutoStar II hand controller, Giant Field Tripod
Other features

Internal zero-shift Crayford style focuser, Starlock automatic guider, LightSwitch style automatic alignment
Warranty

Warranty

This warranty gives you specific legal rights. It is not intended to remove or restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable.

Two year

Shipping Info

When an item is not in-stock we will ship it as soon as it becomes available. Typically in-stock items will ship first and backordered items will follow as soon as they are available.

SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS APPLY FOR THIS PRODUCT

This product is available to ship Standard delivery to the 48 continental United States. Delivery is not available to APO/DPO/FPO addresses, US territories/protectorates or Canada. 3 Day, 2nd Day and Next Day delivery is not available.

The Meade 12" f/8 LX600 ACF Telescope with StarLock and Tripod is a very large, multi-box, telescope and may arrive through freight service on a pallet for curbside delivery.

Returns

The Return Policy & Procedure for this product is different than Orion's standard return policy. Click here to learn more.

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User level

Optical design

Front-end outside tube diameter

Optical diameter

Focal length

Focal ratio

Optics type

Resolving power

Lowest useful magnification

Highest useful magnification

Limiting stellar magnitude

Optical quality

Astro-imaging capability

Motor drive compatibility

Computerized compatibility

PEC

GPS

Available ports

Warranty

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