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.