Meade's 6-inch f/10 ETX telescope with LightSwitch technology

This new go-to scope takes the hassle out of setup and offers high-quality optics to boot.

By Phil Harrington

Published: February 23, 2010

Meade's 6-inch ETX-LS features the company's LightSwitch technology, which aligns the telescope's drive with the flip of one switch.

Photo by Astronomy: James Forbes

This review, "Meade's LightSwitch technology makes observing a snap," appeared in the April 2010 issue of Astronomy magazine

Meade's 6-inch f/10 ETX-LS is one of the most exciting telescopes to come along in recent years thanks to "LightSwitch" technology, which offers hands-off initialization. The telescope is the first to combine GPS technology with a built-in, wide-field digital camera to let the scope synchronize to the sky automatically. It even talks to you as it goes.

Recently, I had a chance to put an ETX-LS through its paces. Our test telescope came with Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) optics, but Meade also offers a less expensive unit with Schmidt-Cassegrain optics. The ACF version uses a matching mirror and a corrector plate to deliver sharper images across the full field of view. Both scopes, however, come standard with Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) for improved image brightness and contrast.

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