| This Meade LT-8SC telescope has:
• time-tested 8" f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain optical system
• UHTC multicoated optics
• computerized go-to altazimuth mount and tripod
․ AudioStar™ talking computer hand control with 30,000+ object memory
• red dot finderscope
• 26mm Super Plössl eyepiece (77x) for a wide 0.66° field of view
The Meade LT-8SC go-to 8" f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain provides the backyard astronomer with a feature-filled scope at a very attractive price. The Meade LT-8SC is a scope that can keep you happily observing for the rest of your life, at a price that you can afford right now.
The scope’s standard equipment AudioStar™ computer is amazingly simple to set up and operate. You don't have to know Polaris from the Pleiades, or Albireo from Zubeneschamali. All you have to do is level the scope, point it North, and tell the AudioStar™ where you are on Earth and the time and date. The AudioStar™ computer will do the rest, aligning the scope on the skies and letting you locate dozens of deep space objects like a seasoned observer your first night out.
Once aligned, the speaker built into the AudioStar™ computer hand control of the LT-8SC and its unique Astronomer Inside™ software can provide you with more than four hours of fascinating audio descriptions of the objects you are observing. Astronomer Inside™ puts the experience and astronomical knowledge of a professional astronomer in the palm of your hand.
This Telescope’s Optical System . . . - Schmidt-Cassegrain optics: 8" aperture (2034mm focal length f/10). Aluminum tube construction, 9" diameter x 17" length. Guaranteed diffraction-limited performance.
- Fully multicoated optics: UHTC (Ultra High Transmission Coatings) anti-reflection multicoatings on both sides of the clear water white glass Schmidt corrector plate (made from premium Schott glass), plus high light transmission enhanced aluminum multicoatings on the Pyrex mirrors, provide a 18% increase in light throughput compared to standard coatings. UHTC multicoatings effectively add the equivalent of nearly half an inch of extra light-gathering aperture to the performance of a scope with standard coatings, but at no increase in size or weight.
- Fully baffled optics: A series of glare stops machined into the inner surface of the central baffle tube of the LT-8SC prevents stray off-axis light from reaching the image plane. This yields a contrast improvement for lunar, planetary, and deep space observing alike.
- Finderscope: A straight-through red dot finder allows easy non-magnified views of the sky, with a projected red dot of light showing exactly where the scope is pointed at all times.
- Star diagonal: 1.25" 90° prism type.
- Eyepiece: 1.25" 26mm Super Plössl (59x). The eyepiece field of view is 0.66°, 32% wider than the full Moon, for expansive lunar and deep space views.
This Telescope’s Mount . . . - Fork mount/drive system: Light-weight, but rigid, die-cast aluminum single fork arm damps vibrations quickly. There is a carrying handle at the top of the fork arm. The mount includes 12 volt DC slewing and tracking motors with 4.875" worm gear drives in both altitude and azimuth.
The scope is powered by eight user-supplied C-cell batteries that store in the drive base so you can use the LT-8SC in the field or your backyard without the need for a separate battery pack or AC power supply. Battery life is typically about 20 hours, depending on the amount of slewing you do and the temperature (very cold temperatures reduce battery life). An optional #RCXAC adapter is available to allow you to power the scope from 110-120volt 60Hz AC household current in your backyard to conserve battery life. A #607 cigarette lighter plug adapter is also available to power the scope from your car's cigarette lighter plug or a rechargeable battery for extended use in the field.
The scope is surprisingly light. Its optical tube, fork arm, and drive base weigh only 30 pounds, while the adjustable height tripod weighs only 9 pounds more. This light weight/two-part system makes it easy for one person to transport and assemble the scope, even a youngster.
- Adjustable height tripod: The rugged steel tripod adjusts in height from 25.5" to 43.5". Its steel legs damp vibrations quickly, and a center leg brace adds rigidity. Three 1.25" diameter holes in the leg brace can hold eyepieces while observing. A single threaded rod with a large hand-tighten knob simultaneously holds the scope firmly on the tripod and locks the legs rigidly in the most stable position.
- AudioStar™ computer: The LT-8SC’s AudioStar™ computer hand control plugs into the telescope’s fork arm to permit a wide array of telescope options. First and foremost is its automatic go-to capability. The AudioStar™ computer can show you the planets and thousands of deep space objects (and tell you about them with over four hours of professionally recorded audio) the very first night you use your scope – even if you've never used a telescope before!
At the push of a button, the LT-8SC will move at a fast 6.5° per second to any of the 30,223 objects in its database and center it with five arc minute accuracy, trainable to three arc minute accuracy (the field of view of the supplied eyepiece is about 40 arc minutes wide). You can choose from 13,235 deep-sky objects from the complete Messier, Caldwell, IC, and NGC catalogs (sorted by name and type). Also included are 18,888 stars sorted by name, SAO catalog number, and by whether they are double or variable stars.
The AudioStar™ will also locate the centroids of all 88 constellations and 50 objects in the solar system (8 major planets from Mercury to Pluto; the Moon; 26 asteroids; and 15 periodic comets). You can use it to track 50 Earth satellites, including the International Space Station and the Hubble space telescope, plus any of 200 user-defined objects. You can also automatically move to any object that’s not in the database simply by entering its right ascension and declination coordinates.
The AudioStar™ moves the LT-8SC at any of nine user-selectable slewing and guiding speeds: 6.5°/sec, 3°/sec, and 1.5°/sec for slewing and centering; as well as 128x, 64x, 16x, 8x, and 2x the sidereal rate for centering and astrophotographic guiding. In addition, there are standard solar, lunar, and sidereal tracking rates with 2000 precision-selected incremental rates that permit observatory-level precision in tracking the Moon and planets.
The AudioStar™ computer includes hundreds of special event menus, guided tours of the night’s best objects, a glossary, utility functions, and telescope status options. It also allows fast alignment of the telescope in the altazimuth mode using any of three alignment methods, including Meade’s proprietary Easy Align method.
- AudioStar™ computer operation: The operation of the LT-8SC is simplicity itself. Once you mount the scope on its tripod, aim the scope north and level the optical tube. Enter your observing location’s latitude and longitude into the AudioStar™ computer hand control. This needs only to be done once, as the scope will keep the location in its memory, as well as that of several other favorite observing sites that you can call up at will. Enter the time. The LT-8SC will orient itself to the sky and slew at 6.5 degrees per second to the first of two alignment stars. If that star is not precisely centered, a touch or two on the AudioStar™ hand control directional push buttons quickly centers it. Do the same with the second alignment star the scope moves to and you’re ready to observe. That's it!
It takes only a few minutes to begin observing. For the rest of the evening, a computer in the AudioStar™ controls the scope’s altitude and azimuth motors to keep you precisely centered on whatever you aim at, for as long as you want to observe.
- AutoStar Software Suite: This software package is included as standard equipment with the LT-8SC. It is designed to integrate the telescope with your PC or laptop computer for an enhanced range of performance features. The AutoStar Software Suite includes a planetarium program with a database of 19,000,000 stars and deep space objects for display on your computer screen. It includes all the standard planetarium program features for stand-alone use when nights are cloudy.
In addition, if you connect the scope to your computer (using the supplied cable), the program lets you click on objects in the sky map displayed on the computer screen and have your telescope automatically slew to those objects. You can automatically generate AutoStar Tours of favorite objects with a simple point and click.
The software lets you control all telescope functions from your computer or laptop. You can use it to create observing lists and download them to the telescope for use in the field when you don’t have your computer or laptop with you. You can use it to control your telescope remotely via the Internet. “Talking Telescope" software (included) converts computer text displays to synthesized speech through your computer speaker. An AutoStar Update Tool keeps your computer hand control current by downloading the latest system firmware updates and comet, asteroid, and satellite data over the internet from Meade’s website.
The simple tripod/altazimuth mount configuration of the LT-8SC makes setup fast and easy. The rapid alignment features of the AudioStar™ computer and its simplified menus will start you observing in only a matter of minutes. The wide array of objects in the LT-8SC database, and the 5 arc minute pointing accuracy of the AudioStar™ computer, will accurately speed you from object to object with no frustrating hunting or star hopping. With the LT-8SC, you’ll spend more of your time looking at objects and less time looking for them.
If you’re one of those busy people whose schedule doesn’t leave you much time to enjoy astronomy, the easy-to-use LT-8SC with its unique Astronomer Inside™ software and talking AudioStar™ computer hand control will make the most of your limited observing opportunities.
Just how much of the heavens can you see with an 8" Meade LT-8SC? Enough wonders to last a lifetime!
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