Meade 497 Autostar Computer Controller for ETX Telescopes

Observe 30,000 celestial objects at the push of a button! Simply pressing the GO TO button slews the scope to the object and places it in the field of view. You'll see: galaxies, diffuse & planetary nebulae, star clusters (the best objects from the IC, NGC and Caldwell catalogs, as well as all 110 Messier objects); 900 stars (double stars, variable stars, SAO stars); the 8 major planets from Mercury to Pluto; 26 of the brightest asteroids; 15 periodic comets; 50 earth-orbiting satellites; plus user-defined objects and the centroids of all 88 constellations.<p>Automatic GO TO function to any object of known R.A. and Dec. coordinates.<p>Digital readouts of telescope position (continuously in R.A. and Dec.), menu options, glossary and utility functions.<p>Precise sidereal-rate tracking in either altazimuth or equatorial modes. For altazimuth tracking, set the telescope on its drive base and perform a quick, easy alignment.<p>9-Speed dual-axis operation of the telescope on both axes, simultaneously, at any speed from 2x sidereal to 5°/sec.<p>RS-232 serial port for operation of the telescope through a personal computer using Meade Epoch 2000 sky software or for Autostar updates from Meade's website. Computer operation and downloads require the addition of the #505 Autostar Connector Cable Kit, sold separately.<p>Plus over 20 other menu options, including guided tours, major event menus, user-defined terrestrial objects and much more.

Reader Reviews
This was by far the best purchase of any astro equipment ever!
The Autostar is worth every penny and then some. Sure, it frustrated me at the beginning until I got it down to a T and it
s been GREAT since then. I added it to my Meade LXD-75 mount and it's accurately provides GOTO functionality for my 8'' 62'' long reflector telescope! Once I downloaded the latest firmware to the hand controller it has been flawless. Using the 3-star alignment feature every object I GOTO is centered in the field of view of the eyepiece at about 60X. Great stuff!