Meade 12 Inch LX90 GPS Telescope with UHTC

Meade 12-Inch LX90 GPS Telescope with UHTC

The LX90GPS can locate over 30,000 objects including itself. Turn it on and the built-in Sony GPS receiver immediately determines your precise date, time, and location. In just minutes, your scope is ready to give you a tour of the most spectacular sights in the universe with GPS precision. With all the features of a legendary LX90, plus the ability to track satellites, Meade's new LX90 GPS has it all.

When you consider competing methods of alignment (synchronizing your telescope's computer with the night sky), nothing is easier than Meade's AutoAlign. Not even competing three-object alignment methods. That's because LX90GPS telescopes are smart scopes that know the night sky right out of the box. When it comes to industry leading optics, oversized primary mirrors, depth of features, and value for your dollar, the LX90GPS is the best Schmidt-Cassegrains on the market.

The 12" LX90 has a 12” diameter f/10 optical system (focal length 3048mm) and Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) for maximum image brightness and contrast. Electronics include the advanced Meade 497 AutoStar computer system with over 30,000 object library, multiple guided tours, High Precision Pointing capability, and Meade SmartDrive with Permanent Periodic Error Correction.

All LX90 GPS models feature the solid and stable LX90 aluminum double fork mount, with fast slew speed adjustable from 1 to 7 degrees per second. Fine slewing and photographic guiding speeds can be adjusted from .01x to 1x sidereal in one one-hundredth increments. The mount and all electronics are internally powered by 8 (user supplied) C-cell batteries which will typically operate the telescope for a generous 60 hours (optional Meade Universal AC adapter also available). The mount also has mechanical locks in both axis allowing adjustment even without power.

The LX90-ACF comes fully equipped with a heavy duty height adjustable Meade Field Tripod, 1.25" diagonal prism, Series 4000 26mm Plössl eyepiece, and Meade AutoStar® Suite Astronomer Edition Software for PC.

Scope weight is 60 pounds with 19 pound tripod. Ships in 2 boxes.

GPS - LX90 can do more than track satellites. It talks to them as well. Turn it on and the built-in Sony® GPS sensor immediately determines your precise date, time and location. AutoAlign™ then uses this info to align your scope for a tour of the most spectacular sights in the universe.

EASY ALIGN™ –LX90s are smart scopes that know the night sky right out of the box. Easy Align picks two alignment stars for you and places them right in your viewfinder. Just center them to fine tune your alignment and the wonders of the universe are at your fingertips.

OVERSIZED PRIMARY MIRROR – Only Meade manufactures their primary mirrors in diameters larger than their listed aperture (e.g. the diameter of the 8" LX90’s primary mirror is actually 8.25").This additional 1/4" yields a wider, fully illuminated field-of-view, and allows you to see the light other telescopes leave behind.

8X50 VIEWFINDER – Quickly and easily locate and center deep sky objects.

SLEW SPEED – The LX90 slews (moves) from star to star at 7 degrees per second. That is more than twice as fast as the competition. This means that over the course of an evening, a Meade LX90 will show you two to three times more objects.

RIGID CAST ALUMINUM FORK MOUNT – The Meade LX90's Optical Tube Assembly is mounted on two sturdy fork arms giving you a rock solid platform for astrophotography.

LX200™ - SERIES TRIPOD – The LX90 comes standard with the same sturdy field tripod as the LX200-ACF series telescope.

SMART DRIVE™ – Meade’s AutoStar® provides Periodic Error Correction (in polar mode). Over the course of one or more training periods your LX90 will minimize guiding corrections during long exposure astrophotography.

NEW AUDIOSTAR CONTROLLER – Originally developed for the ground breaking series of Meade LS™ LightSwitch® telescopes, Astronomer Inside is built into the new AudioStar™ Handbox that is included with Meade's LX90™, LT™ and LXD75™ lines of telescopes. Now the intelligence integrated into these Meade telescopes provides the user with all the experience and astronomical knowledge that a professional astronomer could offer.

The incredible Astronomer Inside does all this:

Knows the sky so you don't have to.

Controls the telescope to find and track any of over 30,000 celestial objects automatically.

Takes you on a guided tour.

Shows you the best objects in your sky from your location and time and then plays audio descriptions of those objects so you learn the details of what you are seeing.

Has over four hours of audio descriptions of astronomical objects including planets, stars, constellations, clusters, nebula, galaxies and more that bring astronomy to life. It's like having a professional astronomer standing next to you at the telescope.

The AudioStar computer controller with speaker helps you quickly find and GoTo over 30,000 objects in the night sky.

View planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, comets and more-all at the push of a button. Don't know what you want to view this evening? Then go to the Tonight's Best™ tour in your AudioStar. It automatically selects the best objects in the sky for that particular time and location.

The UHTC Advantage

Meade Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) are an amazing scientific breakthrough that increases brightness by the equivalent of nearly an inch of aperture (depending on scope size).  These coatings are exclusive to Meade and make a real difference over competing scopes.  Image brightness is increased by 15% over standard coatings.

Meade High Precision Pointing HP Feature

This feature is most helpful to astrophotographers interested in imaging objects too faint to be confirmed with the naked eye.  Or those who want to place an item dead center on a very small CCD chip.  When you turn this feature on and ask the scope to slew to an object, the scope will first slew to a star right next to the object and ask you to center that star perfectly.  The star is likely to be perfectly centered already (that's how accurate Meade telescopes are).  But once you have confirmed the star's precise location, the scope will slew to the nearby deep sky object and place it exactly in the center of your field of view.  For normal observing, this level of precision isn't necessary.  But HPP gives you the confidence to kick off a two-hour long imaging sequence without even visually confirming a faint object's existence! 

Choice of Schmidt-Cassegrain or Advanced Coma Free Optics

The choice is yours! New in 2009, Meade is now offering their LX90 series telescopes with your choice of Schmidt-Cassegrain (SC) optics or Advanced Coma Free (ACF) optics. Both telescopes and all included accessories are identical; the only difference is the optical system.

The Schmidt-Cassegrain option is a high-quality, economically priced telescope package. These optics deliver high performance at the best possible value. Meade uses water-white glass with superior light transmission across the entire visible spectrum. SC optics are great for both observation and astrophotography. For the person looking to get the most for their astronomical dollar, look no further.

The new Advanced Coma Free option is an upgraded optical system. For the truly discerning astronomer who demands nothing but the very best, ACF optics present an attractive option. Technologically superior to SC optical systems, ACF optics produce a flatter, coma-free field of view with pinpoint images all the way to the edge of the field. The performance of these optics rivals that of Ritchey-Crétien system at a fraction of the cost. ACF is the perfect solution for the astrophotographer or the visual astronomer looking for observatory-class optics.

Here's What We Recommend

If you're new to large-aperture telescopes and plan on using yours mainly for celestial observation, you will likely be extremely pleased with the images that the Schmidt-Cassegrain produces.

If you plan on using your telescope for astrophotography, the Advanced Coma Free option is likely worth the investment. Even if astrophotography is not your goal, you may want the best optics available for your telescope. That's exactly what you'll get with ACF optics. These optics produce tack-sharp, fully rounded stars without the crescent-shaped distortions known as "coma" - an optical aberration found on Schmidt-Cassegrains, and most other optical systems.

Supplier SKU 1210-90-05 12" LX90-SC (f/10) Schmidt-Cassegrain w/UHTC

Supplier SKU 1210-90-03 12" LX90-ACF (f/10) Advanced Coma Free w/UHTC