$80 if you want all of the above except the Autostar
MEADE 495 AUTOSTAR PORTABLE
Very portable and light - not so stable if the wind blows too hard. Images are acceptable - definitely does well on deep sky. $140 for everything pictured in the main photo. Optics use a relay lens (like a built in barlow) to achieve longer focal length - degrades images slightly over a true newtonian. It'll be all ready to go for you once you attach your scope and provide the power source, and if anything goes wrong with the electronics, you have some extras to play around with. The battery cover is also missing on the parts mount. I took out one of the azimuth gears to help out the person who helped me fix my LXD-75. The electronics on the parts mount seem to work just fine, but the slewing/tracking in azimuth was intermittent due to it physically rubbing on the inside of the housing. There is an original instruction manual, the companion software, a few extra tripod mounting bolts, and a spare parts mount head. I also re-tapped the mounting holes (8-32), since a few of the old screws partially stripped out when I tried a different mounting configuration. There is a 120VAC to 12VDC transformer and 2 car plug adapters that work with this mount (or any other Meades with similar power requirements and connectors). On 13-Aug-21 at 19:28:24 AEST, seller added the following information: Correction: This is actually the 497 model which has many more objects in its memory than the 495. Some of the outer plastic covering of the cable has perished but cable intact. I have made a few improvements to this mount: I added a coaxial power jack (as used on the LXD 55/75 series, and likely other Meades), so that you can use 12V power for improved slewing performance. From a Meade ETX125 set up until the telescope mount died. I haven't plugged it in to my fixed LXD-75 to see whether it would work, and I wouldn't encourage you to do so either with the more expensive mounts. The reason being that this controller was plugged into my LXD-75 when the RA motor control board literally fired (started smoking), most likely the result of dew/condensation inside the RA motor housing/control board. I would not recommend using this specific Autostar handset to control one of the more expensive Meade scopes/mounts (ETXs 90mm and larger, LXD-55/75, LX-90, etc.). The Autostar is a 495 handset that I upgraded to the 497 version.
I’ll include the stock ~6.25” ID Meade clamshell, but I would not recommend mounting a scope of this size on it. Physically attaching your scope to this mount might take a little ingenuity. GOTOs are usually reasonably close, but not always dead center-a wide FOV and care in aligning helps greatly. It’s not quite sturdy enough for my 80mm APO, which weighs in at ~10 lbs with a 2” diagonal and eyepiece. Here for sale is a Meade DS-2000 Mount, Tripod, Autostar Controller, Power Adapters, & Spare Parts Mount.Ī tinker could turn this into a very nice mount for a small wide-field scope, it would be just about perfect for an 80mm short tube achromat or 4.5” f/4-5 Newtonian.