Dobsonian telescopes are designed for visual observers who are looking for a more nature experience of the night sky under dark skies. These telescopes work without any electronics. Meade went in a completely different direction with the development of their LightBridge Dobsonians. These are mounts that monitor their tracking of the night sky themselves. With their Starlock system, these telescopes offer a built-in guiding system.

With their LightSwitch telescopes, in 2009 Meade introduced the first telescopes able to align themselves in the night sky fully automatically and to guide the user to the interesting objects (GoTo).īut Meade Instruments have much to offer even advanced and semi-professional astronomers – with the LX850 and LX600 series having been developed specially for them. In addition to quality optics, Meade has also continued to develop the electronic components of their telescopes - components that make life easier, especially for beginners. The LX200 series telescopes introduced in 1992 and the ETX telescopes available since 1999 have been particularly successful. This optical system, combined with an electronically controlled fork mount (GoTo), is still Meade’s trademark. In 1980, Meade introduced a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with an eight-inch aperture in the Model 2080 telescope. Visionary John Diebel made it his goal to offer high-quality products at reasonable prices. The first ad appeared in 1972 in the July issue of Sky & Telescope. The Meade Instruments company was founded in 1972 by John Diebel as a mail-order business for small telescopes. Meade Instruments is considered to be one of the most innovative and dynamic companies on the telescope market and is known for its ground-breaking optical designs.

Meade telescope parts