Meade AudioStar Handbox ETX 105/125, LT, LX90, LXD-75

The AudioStar computer controller with speaker helps you quickly find and GoTo over 30,000 objects in the night sky. With the AudioStar Controller plugged into your Meade telescope 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. Coiled cord and instructions included.

View planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae, comets and more-all at the push of a button. Don't know what you want to view this evening? Then go to the Tonight's Best™ tour in your AudioStar. It automatically selects the best objects in the sky for that particular time and location.

Meade AudioStar Controller (SKU: 07640). Next generation Meade AutoStar, now with audio files and an internal speaker. Compatible with all Meade ETX-105 and ETX-125 models, LT, LXD-75 and LX90 series telescopes, and other #497 type Autostar equipped models. This amazing computerized celestial object locating system plugs into the telescope's handbox port allowing a quick telescope alignment.

Once aligned with the sky the AudioStar is ready to take you to any object in the over 30,000 object database. In addition to GOTO and tracking capability the AudioStar permits a wide array of fascinating and educational functions such as multiple Guided Tours, digital positional readouts, a database of up to 200 user-defined objects, 9-Speed dual-axis movement, the ability to link with a PC using optionally available software and cord, and much more.

Product carries full one year Meade UK limited factory warranty.

Features
The AudioStar controller provides all of the telescope control functions of the previous AutoStar handboxes but adds unique Astronomer Inside digital audio software and a speaker built into the AudioStar body that can provide you with more than four hours of fascinating and professionally-recorded audio descriptions of the objects you are observing. With Astronomer Inside technology, everyone around your telescope can listen and learn about more than 500 of the celestial objects contained in the AudioStar database, including planets, nebulas, star clusters, the Moon, and much more. Astronomer Inside puts the experience and astronomical knowledge of a professional astronomer in the palm of your hand.

Included in the AudioStar’s database are all of the following 30,000+ astronomical objects and stars – a range of objects certain to keep even the most active amateur astronomer growing in his or her studies of the skies for years:
the complete Index Catalog (IC), containing 5,386 galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters of all types;
the complete New General Catalog (NGC), containing 7,840 galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters of all types;
the complete Messier catalog of 110 Messier (M) objects, the best-known catalog of heavenly showpieces for the amateur astronomer;
the 109 objects of the Caldwell Catalog, a new listing of the best objects for small telescopes that expands the Messier catalog;
16,800 stars from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) catalog, including double stars, variable stars, and other stars of special note;
50 Earth-orbiting satellites, 26 asteroids (including all of the brightest asteroids), 15 periodic comets, and the 8 major planets from Mercury to Pluto.
With a talking AudioStar plugged into your Meade scope, the astronomical universe is in the palm of your hand. Never before has such powerful telescope technology been so informative and easy to operate, even by the most casual observer.

Important: Do not plug or unplug the AutoStar, AudioStar, AutoStar II or AutoStar III Handbox to your telescope while the telescope is switched on.

Latest #497EP AutoStar/AudioStar handbox
Compatible with:
Meade ETX-60/70/80/90/105/125
Meade StarNavigator
Meade DS-2000
Coronado DSM
Meade LT
Meade LXD-75
Meade LX90
Backwards compatible with:
AutoStar #494
AutoStar #495
AutoStar #497
Includes coiled cord to telescope
One year Meade UK warranty

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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