Product Catalog

.05
LX200-ACF
™
Q You’ve told us the 16" LX200-ACF is now your favorite telescope. Why? A It’s
really tough to talk about the new ACF series without making its predecessor look bad.
Schmidt-Cassegrains are great scopes and Meade has mastered the art of manufacturing
them. But Meade took the Schmidt-Cassegrain design as far as it could go. Technology needs to evolve. The new
Advanced Coma-Free design is a reflection of that. Q Where exactly did the Schmidt-Cassegrain
design leave room for improvement? A Well, image fall-off for one. The average guy looking at the center
of the field of view might never notice. But astrophotographers and experienced observers always knew there
was light loss around the very edges of a Schmidt-Cassegrain’s field of view. It could be as much as 30-35%.
Q Does the new ACF design fix that? A Oh yes. I expected to be blown away. And I was. I’m not seeing the
same image fall-off in the new ACF series at all. You can now use the entire field of view the telescope gives
you. Q Can you give us an example? A When I do asteroid work, I use a program that measures the light and
position of an asteroid using the relative brightness of other stars in the field of view. The more stars the better.
Out in Leo (where there are relatively fewer stars) I was lucky to lock onto five or six stars in the field of view
with any brand of Schmidt-Cassegrain. Peripheral stars were of little or no use. A week ago, I did an asteroid
field test. Same aperture. Same exposure time. Same CCD imager. In the Schmidt-Cassegrain, I was only able
to lock onto 9 stars. With the new Advanced Coma-Free optics, I was able to capture 26 stars. 26! Just because
of the flatness and clarity of that field of view. Q What does that mean for the recreational astronomer?
A These Advanced Coma-Frees are really a major step up in consumer telescope optics. Until now, there was
not an affordable telescope for the amateur that provided a true research-quality field of view. For thousands
less than traditional RC’s, this new ACF optical design gives you an unprecedented view in terms of color, con-
trast, and image quality. From edge-to-edge. For CCD imaging, it will allow the astronomer to grow his hobby
well into the future without feeling limited by his telescope’s optics.
D r . C l ay’s l ov e/ h at e r e l at i on s h i p w i t h
t e l e s c o pe m a n u fac t u r e r s is l e g e n d a ry.
H i s r e l at io n s h ip w it h t he
ne w L X 20 0 -AC F a pp ea r s to b e lo v e/ lo v e .