So You Want a Meade LX Telescope!

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-XV

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2. Introduction

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 1-15

3. Meade LX200GPS/LX400 Series Telescopes

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 17-45

4. Accessories, Great and Small

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 47-64

5. Balancing and Polar Alignment

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 65-79

6. Essential Software for Basic Operations

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 81-100

7. Software Adjustment of Periodic Error and Polar Alignment

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 101-125

8. Autoguiding

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 127-145

9. Using Advanced Software

   • Lawrence Harris

   Pages 147-175

10. Adaptive Optics

    • Lawrence Harris

    Pages 177-193

11. A Guide to Weather Satellites

    • Lawrence Harris

    Pages 195-213

12. Some LX200 and LX400 Projects

    • Lawrence Harris

    Pages 215-230

13. Back Matter

    Pages 231-233

    PDF

Computers and Astronomy Perhaps every generation of astronomers believes that their telescopes are the best that have ever been. They are surely all correct! The great leap of our time is that computer-designed and machined parts have led to more accurately made com- nents that give the astronomer ever better views. The manual skills of the craftsman mirror grinder have been transformed into the new-age skills of the programmer and the machine maker. (The new products did not end the work of craftsman te- scope makers, though. Many highly skilled amateur/professional opticians cont- ued to produce good-quality mirrors that are still seen today. ) Amateur-priced telescopes are now capable of highly accurate tracking and computer control that were once only the province of professionals. This has greatly increased the p- sibilities of serious astronomy projects for which tailor-made software has been developed. Add a CCD camera to these improved telescopes (see Chap. 3), and you bring a whole new dimension to your astronomy (see Fig. 1. 1). Look Before You Leap! But first, a word of caution. Unless you are already familiar with astronomy and basic telescopes, it is not wise to start spending large amounts of money on a we- featured telescope. Such an instrument might otherwise be subsequently abandoned due to a perceived overcomplexity coupled with a waning interest.

• Amateur astronomy telescopes
• Astronomical observing
• Astronomical telecopes
• CCD
• Meade LX200
• Meade RCX400
• Observatories
• SCT telescopes
• Schmitt-Cassegrain telescopes
• Using advanced telescopes
• astronomy

From the reviews:

“This book is a lot more than the main title suggests since it helps a prospective telescope purchaser select and use the LX200 and other Meade models. … This is an ideal book for those already owning a Meade telescope and especially as a stimulus to get existing telescopes out of mothballs and back into use. … the book majors on the Meade LX range it will be of value to other GOTO-telescope users. I will be referring to my copy on a regular basis.” (Tom Boles, The Observatory, Vol. 131 (1220), February, 2011)

• Suffolk, United Kingdom

  Lawrence Harris

Lawrence Harris retired from his job as a British government scientist where he had worked as a professional astronomer in solar studies and then astronomical satellite operations. For the last seventeen years he has been a columnist, specializing in writing about weather satellites, along with occasional articles on astronomy. He also contributes to astronomical society magazines.

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