Second Hand Meade LightSwitch LS 8" ACF GOTO Telescope *** SPARES OR REPAIR ***

Please note this item is second hand and is being sold as spares or repair. The front corrector plate is smashed. The electronics and handset are untested. Sold as seen with no warranty. Please call for prices

The most advanced telescope available to the amateur

The new LS 8" ACF telescope combines Advanced Coma Free optics with the latest LightSwitch goto technology from Meade. Like the ETX-LS the LS 8" will align itself on the night sky by simply flicking the switch giving you access to thousands of objects. Using GPS and the Eclips CCD camera this telescope requires no knowledge of the night sky to operate, with 78% more light grasp than 6" models this is a serious instrument that anyone can use.

Includes a highly rigid single fork mount featuring aluminum construction with massive 4.875" precision worm-gears. Standard equipment also includes a sturdy, adjustable height tripod with steel legs for great stability and vibration damping and a Series 4000 Meade 26mm Super Plossl eyepiece (77X magnification). Additional eyepieces available separately, compatible with all Meade and other brand 1.25" barrel size eyepieces.

Meade LightSwitch technology- bringing the fun back to Astronomy. This changes everything.

THE MOST TECHNICALLY ADVANCED, EASIEST TELESCOPE TO USE AVAILABLE ANYWHERE. ONLY FROM MEADE.

LightSwitch Technology. The LS knows where it is in time and space even if you don’t. Just flip the switch and be ready to explore the cosmos. Innovative technology is applied to make using the LS simple, easy and fun. Meade's self alignment system aligns a telescope with just one touch of the power switch. No stars to center. No time, date, or location to enter. Just flip the switch.

Astronomer Inside. Learn the secrets and details of the objects you observe while you are viewing them with both audio through the built-in speaker and video (if connected to a video monitor or TV). The Astronomer Inside will tell you about the planets, stars, constellations, clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more in a fun and interesting way.

Eclips CCD Camera. Includes the built in Meade ECLIPS colour CCD camera (640x480 resolution) which lets you capture images of your favorite celestial wonders and display them in real time on an external (user supplied) monitor or store them on a (user supplied) mini SD card so you can do CCD imaging your very first night out.

Advanced Coma-Free Optics. Meade’s exciting optical innovation delivers stunning performance only seen previously with systems costing thousands more. With the standard Ultra-High Transmission Coatings, the LS gives you the sharpest, brightest optical system for its size available at any price.

AutoStar® III TOTAL CONTROL. The easy-to-use hand-held controller lets you select from a huge object database, with over 100,000 celestial objects. Just select an object and push the “GoTo” button and the telescope will automatically put your object in the eyepiece. The AutoStar III also gives you complete control of the Astronomer Inside multimedia features only available from Meade.

Includes:

LS 8 inch ACF Optical Tube
Red Dot Viewfinder
1.25 inch Diagonal
26mm Super Plossl Eyepiece
Autostar Controller
Field Tripod

Specifications:
Optical Design: Advanced Coma-Free
Clear Aperture: 8" (203.2mm)
Focal Length, Focal Ratio: f/10 2000mm, f/10
Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC™): Included
Optical Tube Dimensions (diameter x length): 9" x 15.75"
Viewfinder: Red dot
Diagonal: 1.25"
Eyepiece: 26mm Super Plossl 1.25"
Telescope Mounting: Aluminum, single arm alt-azimuth
GoTo Pointing Precision (approx.): 5-arc mins.
Pointing Precision, High Precision Mode: 3-arc mins.
Slow-Motion Controls: Electric, RA and Dec.
AutoStar: III Toshiba® microcontroller; 2 line x 16 alphanumeric display; 20-button keypad, red LED backlit
Batteries (user-supplied): 8 x C-cells
Battery Life (approx.): 3 to 5 hours
Onboard Celestial Object Database: over 100,000 objects
Slew Speeds: RA and Dec: 1x, 2x, 8x, 16x, 64x, 128x sidereal and 1.5°/sec., 3°/sec., 6.5°/sec.
Tracking Rates: Sidereal, lunar, or custom-selected
Tube Body: Aluminum
Mount Castings: Aluminum
Primary, Secondary Mirrors: Pyrex® glass
Correcting Plate/Lens: Clear water white glass
Telescope Weight: 30 lbs.
Tripod Weight: 9 lbs.
Field Tripod Height: all models 25.5" to 43.5" variable
OTA Master Carton (Size / Weight): 21.2" x 16.5" x 31.75" / 48 lbs.
Tripod Master Carton (Size / Weight): 29.1" x 10.6" x 10.6" / 12 lbs

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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