One of the most important advances in telescope control in the past 25 years, the Meade #497 Autostar Computer Controller turns the ETX-90AT, ETX-105AT, or ETX-125AT into an automatic celestial object locating system. Just plug the Autostar into the telescope's HBX port, do a quick (less than one minute!) telescope alignment, and you're ready to observe any object in the Autostar's 30,000-object database.Best of all, the Meade Autostar is easy to

use. Even the most novice observer will find himself or herself locating dozens of fascinating celestial objects the very first night out - from commonly-observed objects such as the rings of Saturn, the satellites of Jupiter, and the Orion Nebula (M42); to more difficult objects such as the Ring Nebula (M57) in Lyra, the Spiral Galaxy (M33) in Triangulum, and the Sombrero Galaxy (M104) in Virgo; to very obscure objects near the telescope's threshold of visibility such as the diffuse nebula NGC 6559 in Sagittarius, the galactic star cluster NGC 1778 in Auriga, and the spiral galaxy NGC 3310 in Ursa Major.

Any of Autostar's database objects can be called up and entered on the hand controller display in seconds. The observer then simply presses the GO TO pushbutton and watches as the telescope automatically slews (moves) to the object and places it in the field of view. The effect of Autostar is to bring objects easily within reach which were previously unreachable for all but the most dedicated of amateur astronomers.

Without exaggeration the Meade Autostar Computer Controller opens up a new era in astronomical study for the casual or beginning astronomer, just as Meade LX200 and LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrains have for the advanced amateur. Most Autostar users see more celestial objects in one night's viewing than typical first-time telescope owners previously have in a lifetime.

Object Database: Included within Autostar's database are all of the following astronomical objects — a range of objects certain to keep even the most active amateur astronomer growing in his or her studies of the skies for years:

Any of the objects in the preceding listing can be located simply by calling up the object from the Autostar database and pressing GO TO. Within seconds Autostar directs the ETX telescope to move automatically to the object and place it within the telescopic field of view with uncanny precision.

Call-up of an object from the database is facilitated by Autostar's simple menu options. For example, to enter NGC 6960 on the Autostar display, the observer selects in sequence (and in a few seconds of keystrokes): OBJECT/DEEP SKY/NGC OBJECTS/6960. When GO TO is pressed, the telescope moves at 5° per second on both axes, simultaneously, to place NGC 6960, the Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus, in the telescope's field of view.

Automatic GO TO capability to any astronomical object of known Right Ascension and Declination, plus digital readouts of telescope position, continuously in RA and Dec.

"Stellar diffraction patterns were virtually textbook-perfect...the Cassini Division in Saturn's rings popped into view despite the rings' low tilt. [Double-star] Epsilon Lyrae's component stars were cleanly split...The Moon was outstanding even at 75X per inch of aperture. Daytime terrestrial views were tack-sharp with rich color saturation. I could see every wisp of velvet on the antlers of a deer 50 feet away... the ETX [90mm] was totally free of chromatic aberration, making this an ideal all-purpose telescope for anyone wanting to inspect eagles at 100 yards and stars at 100 light-years.

...The ETX/Autostar is not just a new tlelscope system. It's a revolution! Its impact on amateur astronomy and science education will be unprecedented."

9-Speed Dual-Axis Operation: Use the Autostar pushbuttons to move the telescope on either or both axes, simultaneously, at any of nine drive speeds, from 2x sidereal to 5°/second. Guided Tours: Allows Autostar to choose the best objects for observing on any given night.

Point-and-click astronomy with Meade AstroFinder software, the #505 Connector Cable Set, and an ETX telescope.

With Autostar plugged into your ETX-90AT, ETX-105AT, or ETX-125AT,the astronomical universe is in the palm of your hand: never before has such powerful telescope technology been so easy to operate, even by the most casual observer.

*For PC's with USB ports order the Meade USB to RS-232 Bridge Cable, which premits connection between the telescope's RS-232 serial interface and the PC's USB port.

With the standard-equipment Meade Autostar Computer Controller plugged into the control panel of your DS telescope, locating any astronomical object in the sky is as easy as pushing a button. Identical in operating characteristics to the Autostar controller available for the Meade ETX-70AT telescope, Autostar for DS telescopes is easy to use, even for the beginner who has never before operated a telescope.

Autostar's celestial object database includes more than 1500 astronomical objects, any of which may be entered on to the Autostar display; alternately, the Right Ascension and Declination of any object in the sky may be input to the Autostar display. In either case when the observer presses GO TO, the telescope automatically moves to the object at 4.5°/sec. on both telescope axes, and places the object in the telescopic field of view. Autostar's database for DS-2000 telescopes includes the following celestial objects: