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  • RCX400 computer

    This Telescope's Autostar II Computer, Smart Mount, and GPS System . . .

    • GPS/Autostar II computer operation: The operation of an RCX400 is simplicity itself. Once you mount the scope on its heavy-duty tripod, simply turn it on. An integrated true-level electronic sensor levels the optical tube parallel to the ground. A 16-channel Sony GPS (global positioning satellite) receiver in the left fork arm uses a network of earth-orbiting government satellites to quickly triangulate the scope's position on the earth with an accuracy measured in meters and then determine the local time to fraction of a second accuracy. A built-in electronic compass automatically rotates the scope optical tube to aim it due north (the home position). This is a tremendous help if trees or buildings block your view of the north. Built-in software compensates for magnetic declination errors (the difference between true north and magnetic north at your observing location).
          Once the scope reaches the home position (it only takes a minute or two), press the "enter" button on the Autostar II hand controller to start the astronomical alignment. The RCX400 slews at 8° per second to the first of two alignment stars. If that star is not centered in the eyepiece, a touch or two on the Autostar II 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 or image. For the rest of the evening, a computer in the Autostar II 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.
          It takes only a few moments to begin observing, since you never have to line up on the celestial pole, take the time to precisely level the tripod, input observing latitude and longitude and accurate local time, or adjust imprecise manual setting circles to match the sky.

    • Autostar II computer: This scope's Autostar II computer can show you the planets and thousands of deep space objects the very first night you use your scope - even if you've never used a telescope before! The computer's expanded 4 megabyte flash memory (which you can upgrade at any time for free via the internet) contains the following objects:
      • the entire NGC (New General Catalog) of 7840 nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters
      • the IC (Index Catalog) of 5386 nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters
      • the Messier Catalog of the 110 best known deep sky objects
      • the Caldwell Catalog of 109 fascinating objects that Messier missed
      • 227 named objects
      • the Herschel Catalog of 400 faint and difficult deep sky objects
      • the Abell Catalog of 2712 galaxy clusters
      • the Arp Catalog of 645 irregular galaxies
      • the Uppsala Galaxy Catalog of 12,940 galaxies
      • a portion of the Russian Morphological Catalog listing 12,939 of its 30,642 galaxies down to magnitude 15
      • the Sharpless Catalog of HII Regions
      • the General Catalog of 28,484 variable stars
      • the SAO and Hipparcos/Tycho Star Catalogs of more than 31,000 stars
      • a subset of the finest visual double stars from the Wisconsin Double Star Catalog
      • the Hickson Catalog of Dense Galaxy Groups
      • the Gleason Catalog of Nearby Stars
      • the Landolt Catalog of Photometric Standard Stars
      • the General Catalog of 28,484 variable stars
      • the "Lunar 100" list of the finest features to see and image on the Moon
      • SAO and Hipparcos Star Catalogs of 31,090 stars
      • Also included are the eight major planets out to Pluto, the Moon, asteroids, meteor showers and their radiants, comets, Earth satellites, and more.
      • You can also add your own selected favorite deep sky objects in a separate catalog. The Autostar II computer keeps a total database of more than 180,000 stars and objects in its memory for you to observe.

          Granted, a good number of the faintest objects will not be visible in an eyepiece in the smaller aperture telescopes (for example, the 15th magnitude galaxies of the Russian Morphological Catalog are not eyepiece objects in a 10" scope that has a visual limiting magnitude of 14.5 under perfect dark sky seeing conditions), but they are all photographable with any RCX400 given the right equipment and a modicum of persistence.
          Simply call up any of these 180,000+ discrete objects on the Autostar II hand control's two line/sixteen character night-vision red screen by using the 20-button numeric keypad. Then press the "go-to" key. The RCX400 slews to that object at a fast 8° per second (barely 11 seconds to go from horizon to zenith). The telescope quickly centers your chosen object in the field of view for you to enjoy. It routinely centers objects with an accuracy that puts them well within the field of the standard equipment 2" 24mm Series 5000 Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece (usually within two arc minutes of dead center). The supplied Smart Mount Technology system (see below) can improve that accuracy still further.
          Once the object is located, the hand control screen tells you its catalog number, type, magnitude, size, right ascension, and declination. If you have the coordinates of an object not in the computer's memory (a comet or asteroid, for example), enter those coordinates, press "go-to," and your RCX400 takes you there, as well. You can find faint deep space objects almost faster than you can read about it. If you want to scan the skies on your own, the Autostar II keypad lets you move the scope in any direction at any of nine scanning and centering speeds up to 8° per second.
          The RCX400 Autostar II computer includes an RS232 serial port for interfacing with a Windows-equipped computer. This allows remote control of the scope, as well as the ability to upgrade the operating system and database at any time at no cost through Meade's website. In addition, current Earth satellite orbital data (including the International Space Station, Space Shuttle, etc.) may be downloaded. The telescope then automatically locates and tracks the satellite at the correct tracking rate.
          The scope hand control provides brightness control of the computer keypad, a real-time digital readout of the telescope position in right ascension and declination, and a variety of other unique keypad/display panel functions.

    • Smart Drive: The RCX400 has built-in dual-axis Smart Drive permanent periodic error correction (PPEC) to make deep space photography easier. This computer circuit automatically corrects for the minor drive errors present in every telescope - regardless of size, brand, or cost. All worm/worm-gear combinations, no matter how well made, have minor inaccuracies that manifest themselves as periodic errors in the telescope tracking rate, with the period dependent on the worm's rate of rotation. PPEC reduces by up to 90% the number of guiding corrections needed to compensate for these errors during long exposure photos. Simply use an optional illuminated reticle eyepiece to guide once on a star for a short time. Use the Autostar II hand control to make the corrections needed to keep the star centered on the eyepiece crosshairs. The Smart Drive remembers those corrections and automatically plays them back whenever the telescope is operating - virtually eliminating repetitive corrections during astrophotography.
          The dual-axis Smart Drive even corrects for declination errors, not just right ascension errors as with competitive scopes. Smart Drive software can achieve periodic errors of 5 arc seconds or less - an observatory standard of precision. In CCD imaging, where short exposures of deep-space objects are often all that is required for stunning results, the Smart Drive often permits imaging without any manual guiding at all.

    • Smart Mount Technology (SMT): This standard equipment software program provides improved (and constantly improvable) pointing accuracy with an RCX400. The already high pointing accuracy of the telescope is further refined with every object that you center precisely and synchronize on during a night's observing. The program works in both altazimuth and equatorial modes. It includes a simple routine to refine the pointing accuracy for the entire sky with your particular equipment configuration and alignment. The refined pointing data can be saved and reused for both permanent and portable setups.

    • High Precision (HP) pointing capability: The RCX400 permits the most accurate pointing capability ever offered in a commercial telescope. You can command the telescope to go to an object located on the opposite side of the sky (for example, a distance of 120 degrees in sky-angle) and, in conjunction with the telescope's unique sync command, the RCX400 precisely locates and centers the desired object. HP capability is accessible in either the altazimuth or equatorial mode of operation.
  • RCX400 mount

        The mount's drive base is made of heavy-duty die-cast aluminum, as are the dual fork arms that support the optical tube. The U-shaped base of the fork arm assembly is cast as a single unit to provide the strongest, most rigid optical tube mounting ever available for a telescope of this aperture. The fork arms themselves are shaped to damp vibrations quickly and do the job very well. There are dual carrying handles on each fork arm, as well as dual positioning handles on the rear of the optical tube itself. An adjustable angle holder is supplied for hands-free use of the Autostar II computer. This can be mounted on either the right or left fork arm, to accommodate either right-handed and left-handed observers.

        The complete optical tube, fork arm, and drive base assembly is quite heavy. It will be difficult for one person to lift up a 10" scope and assemble it on the tripod in the field on their own, very difficult with a 12" scope, almost impossible with a 14" scope, and forget about it with a 16". We recommend an able-bodied assistant to help assemble the scope in all cases, particularly the 12" and larger.

        Manual and electric slow motion controls are provided in both right ascension and declination. There are analog setting circles on the mount, in addition to the digital r. a. and dec readouts on the AutoStar II computer hand control.

        The drive base has a 7-port multi-function control panel that includes a special single USB port to allow simultaneous control over the telescope and either the Meade Lunar Planetary Imager or Deep Sky Imager camera through Meade's AutoStar Suite software. Additionally there is a power cord input and ports for the AutoStar II hand control, a DB-9 auxiliary port, a 12VDC power output port, and an RS-232 communications port. The drive base also includes the familiar on/off switch and an LED power light indicator.

        The mount includes servo-controlled 12VDC slewing and tracking motors with 5.75" worm gear drives in both altitude and azimuth. The RCX Balanced Drive worm block design is used on both the right ascension and declination axes. This drive assembly, first used and proven on the 14" LX200GPS, incorporates a unique balanced loading system that keeps the worm and drive gear in the optimum contact position, regardless of the load stress that is normally encountered as the telescope is moved from one area of the sky to another. The result is improved drive performance, with superior centering and slewing characteristics.

        The drive system has almost 200 individually selectable drive speeds in both right ascension and declination to permit observatory-level precision in tracking, guiding, and slewing. Photoguide speeds are selectable from 0.01x to 1.0x sidereal, in increments of 0.01x. Fast-slew speeds are selectable from 1°/second to 8°/second in 0.1°/second increments. You can use the 8°/second speed for rapid motion of the telescope across the skies. Once near the target, you can switch instantly to a speed of 1.5° or 3°/second for centering in the viewfinder. Observing through the main telescope, you can use the 16x or 64x sidereal speed to place the object in the center of the field. You can select either a sidereal or lunar tracking rate, or you can custom-select a drive speed from 2000 incremental rates to match solar or planetary motions.

        The scope is powered by eight user-supplied C-cell batteries that fit into the fork arms. You don't need an external battery pack or AC power supply as you do with competitive scopes. Battery life is typically about 20 hours in warm weather, decreasing as the amount of slewing increases or as the temperature drops. Optional adapters (with 25' cords) are available to allow you to power the scope from 110-120 volt 60 Hz AC household current in your back yard to conserve battery life, or to power the scope from your car's cigarette lighter plug or a rechargeable battery for extended use in the field.

  • NexStar computer with SkyAlign and GPS

        The NexStar computer hand control has a built-in database of more
    than 45,000 stars, deep space objects, and solar system objects it can locate for
    you. The computer's memory contains the following objects:

    • the entire RNGC (Revised New General Catalog) of 7840 nebulas, galaxies, and star
      clusters

    • the IC (Index Catalog) of 5386 nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters
    • the Messier Catalog of the 110 best known deep sky objects
    • the Caldwell Catalog of 109 fascinating objects that Messier missed
    • 20 famous asterisms
    • the Abell Catalog of 2712 galaxy clusters
    • 25 selected CCD imaging objects

    • 29,500 selected SAO stars, including variable stars and multiple star systems.

        Also included are the eight major planets out to Pluto, as well as
    the Moon, for a total database more than 45,000 stars and objects. It's enough fascinating
    objects to keep you busy observing for the rest of your life.

        You can also store and edit the right ascension and declination of
    up to 400 objects of your own choosing, such as the comet and asteroid coordinates
    published monthly in Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines. The
    computer control can quickly find any of those objects at your command, and track
    them with high accuracy for visual observing or casual astrophotography.

        A review in Sky & Telescope magazine commented, "To quantify
    the Go To pointing accuracy, I spent several nights slewing to 50 objects selected
    from the NexStar's database. About one-third of them ended up dead center in the
    field, another third landed within ½° of the center, and the remaining third were
    within 1° of the center."

        All of the database and scope operation information is displayed on
    a double line, 16-character, red-illuminated liquid crystal display on the hand
    control. This display leads you through the steps necessary to line up the scope
    on the sky, locate objects, control scope functions like the brightness of the hand
    control display, and much more. It shows you basic information about the object
    being viewed (such as the object's name, catalog designation, type, magnitude, and
    so forth). In addition to this basic information, there is enhanced information
    on over 200 of the most note-worthy objects. When it's not displaying menus or object
    information, the display also shows you the constantly updated right ascension and
    declination coordinates at which the scope is aimed.

        The Sky & Telescope review said, "After using several NexStar-equipped
    telescopes in recent years, I can attest to the quality of the software and hardware
    for Celestron's Go To system. The package is reliable and offers quick access to
    an excellent array of databases. I especially like Celestron's Tour mode, which
    steps a user through an eclectic choice of deep-sky objects, quirky asterisms, and
    fine double stars, the latter being a class of objects great for urban observing
    that many Go To systems ignore. Using NexStar scopes, I've been introduced to many
    fine double stars."

        There are 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons that glow a soft red in
    the dark to make it easy for you to control the computer without affecting your
    dark-adapted vision. An RS-232 communication port on the hand control allows you
    to operate the telescope remotely via a personal computer. The Sky & Telescope
    review said, "The author tried Windows and Mac programs, including Desktop Universe,
    ECU, MegaStar, SkyMap Pro, Starry Night,
    and TheSky, and all controlled
    the mount without any problems."

        There is also an Autoguider port that can use a CCD autoguider to automatically
    control the drive motors during long exposure astrophotography. A high precision
    pointing subroutine ("precise go-to") in the computer lets you point accurately
    at objects that you want to photograph that are too dim to be seen though the scope.

        Built-in programmable permanent periodic error correction allows sharper
    astrophotographic images, with fewer guiding corrections needed. Built-in adjustable
    backlash compensation permits precise corrections during astrophotography and when
    observing visually at high powers.

        The operation of the NexStar with SkyAlign is simplicity itself. Once
    you mount the scope on its tripod in the altazimuth mode, turn on the power. The
    built-in 16-channel GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver uses signals from government
    satellites to calculate the scope's location on earth with an accuracy measured
    in meters. The system also calculates the current day and time based on the split
    second accuracy of the GPS time signals. After the location and time have been quickly
    and accurately determined, the scope hand control signals you to point the scope
    at any three bright stars (you don't have to point at specific known stars). Using
    the scope's hand control, center the stars in the finderscope crosshairs. You can
    even point at two stars and a planet of the Moon, if you prefer.

        The NexStar SkyAlign computer system automatically determines
    which objects were chosen and generates an internal map of the sky that it uses
    to guide its automatic moves to any star or object you select for the rest of the
    night. It does it by calculating the angles and distances between the objects you've
    chosen and compares them to the known separations between objects. Using this method,
    the telescope determines what objects were chosen. The display tells you which three
    objects you aligned to for confirmation.

        Only two of the alignment objects will actually be used for calculating
    the model of the sky that the computer uses for locating objects. The third object
    simply provides a positive identification of the other two. Therefore, at least
    two of the three alignment objects should be spaced at least 60 degrees apart in
    the sky if possible, and the third object should not fall in a straight line between
    the first two alignment stars.

        Since the brightest stars appear first as the sky darkens at dusk,
    the SkyAlign system is exceptionally easy to set up and use as night comes
    on. You don't have to guess which stars are brightest, as only the brightest will
    be visible in the early evening. The same holds true for observers from a light-polluted
    suburban site, where only the brightest stars are visible to the unaided eye.

        Once the scope has aligned itself with the sky, it takes only a few
    keystrokes on the computer hand control to have the scope move automatically to
    your night's first observing target and start tracking it so you can observe at
    your leisure. You can find hundreds of fascinating deep space objects your first
    night out, even if you have never used a telescope before. No matter what level
    of experience you start from, your NexStar SkyAlign scope will unfold all
    the wonders of the Universe for you, your family, and your friends.

        If you're using an optional equatorial wedge to polar align the scope
    for long exposure astrophotography, two polar alignment programs in the scope's
    computer (one for the Northern hemisphere and one for the Southern hemisphere) make
    quick work of accurate alignment on the appropriate celestial pole. SkyAlign
    does not work in the equatorial mode.

        Several additional alignment methods are built into the NexStar computer
    - auto two-star alignment, manual two-star alignment, solar system alignment for
    daytime observing, and a one-star manual alignment - allowing you to choose a level
    of computer accuracy in automatically finding objects with which you are comfortable.
    With GPS and SkyAlign, setting up and using a computerized telescope is faster
    and easier than ever before.

        You can click on the link below to download a brief RealPlayer movie
    showing how quick and easy it is to line up your scope on the sky with SkyAlign.
    There is also a link to download RealPlayer for free if your PC does not already
    have the program.



  • Starbright XLT optics

    This advanced optical coatings package includes multiple layers of vacuum-deposited high reflectivity aluminum on both primary and secondary mirrors. The coating layers are enhanced with titanium dioxide for maximum reflectivity and then overcoated with a protective layer of silicon monoxide (quartz) for long life.

    A unique combination of magnesium fluoride and hafnium dioxide high transmission antireflection coatings is vacuum-deposited on both sides of the Schmidt corrector lens for maximum light throughput and contrast. The corrector lens itself is made of high transmission water white float glass instead of the conventional soda lime glass (which has 3.5% lower transmission than water white glass) that's used in other telescopes.

    Starbright XLT multicoatings give you higher light transmission for brighter deep space images and shorter exposure times during CCD and DSLR photography. Across the total visual/photographic spectrum from 400nm to 750nm, independent laboratory tests show the new Starbright XLT coatings are 16% brighter overall than even the original industry-standard Starbright multicoatings. The XLT coatings also visibly increase the contrast on subtle lunar, planetary, and nebula details when compared with a scope with standard coatings or ordinary multicoatings.

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