The Meade 6" ETX-LS scopes have hands-free alignment and a built-in digital camera starting at $1299!

LightSwitch™ Technology for “no hands/eyes closed” automatic sky alignment: The innovative LightSwitch™ Technology alignment system in the two new 6” Meade ETX-LS scopes eliminates the frustration many astronomers feel when they try to align their traditional telescope on the sky by eye for an evening of observing and imaging. The patented LightSwitch™ Technology alignment system replaces the “human eye” for the only hands-free/eye-free alignment available in any consumer telescope. Turn on your ETX-LS and the built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver calculates the current time, date, and location of the telescope using radio signals received from earth-orbiting satellites. Then the ECLIPS™ wide-field CCD camera and lens under the optical tube automatically images the sky to verify the locations of two alignment stars to build a ‘real time’ map of the night sky. The telescope is now aligned on the sky and ready to use – without any input from you.

Built-in digital camera doesn’t need an attached computer: The ETX-LS is equipped with an easy-to-use interface and a sensitive, wide-angle (8° field) digital imager mounted under the optical tube. The camera takes vibrant, low-power, low-noise 640 x 480 pixel images of objects in the night sky through its own short focal length lens while you view them through an eyepiece at higher powers through the scope. An SD card slot in the ETX-LS lets you store the images on an optional SD card to view and process on your computer later or you can view them immediately by using the scope’s video output and an optional monitor. The included ETX-LS Astronomer-Inside™ software guides you to the best objects in the night sky and delivers a celestial encyclopedia of over four hours of audio that you can hear through the scope’s built-in speaker and 30 minutes of movies and animations that can be viewed on an optional monitor to take the user on an interactive guided tour of hundreds of night sky objects.

Choice of optics: You can equip your ETX-LS with Meade’s time-tested Schmidt-Cassegrain optics, in the form of the ETX-LS6SC, at $1299. Or you can have your ETX-LS6 with Advanced Coma-Free optics at $1499. The ACF version of the ETX-LS has Meade’s patented Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) catadioptric optics to deliver the same sharp, flat, coma-free field of view found in professional Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes, but without the R-C’s traditionally high price tag. This is the first time that Advanced Coma-Free optical quality has been available in a 6” aperture telescope.

This link will take you to more details on the $1299 ETX-LS6SC with Schmidt-Cassegrain optics, including detailed specifications. First deliveries are expected shortly.

This link will take you to more details on the $1499 ETX-LS6 with Advanced Coma-Free optics, including detailed specifications. The scope has started to ship in small quantities and we are now filling the earliest orders in our extensive waiting list and will soon be shipping all of our backorders.

You can add your name to our no-cost/no obligation list for either ETX-LS by sending an e-mail with your name and e-mail address to questions@astronomics.com. Just put “ETX-LS” or “ETX-LS6SC” in the subject line and we’ll let you know as soon as a Meade ETX-LS6 is available for you.