SOLD

In January 2008 I bought this used Meade ETX-70AT 70mm f/5 Refractor Telescope, complete with Autostar Controller, Dew Shield and Red Dot Finder, but without mount, with the intention to use it as a travel scope.

Note: on April 11, 2011 I sold the ETX70 with accessories.

	Meade ETX-70AT 70mm f/5 Refractor Telescope, complete with Autostar Controller, Dew Shield and Red Dot Finder; no mount. Meade eyepieces: 9 and 25mm.
	A leftover piece of square aluminium tube [4x2 cm], 2 bolts and the ETX-70AT is ready to ride the dovetail of my Astro-3 mount so now the ETX-70AT has not only found a mount but also a wedge and thus can be operated in Polar Mode now. The original clamping bolt of the dovetail was too short, but a piece of threaded rod and a knob quickly solved this problem.
	From Matthias Meijer I bought this adapter, which allows me to connect SCT-thread compatible acessories to the ETX-70AT via the rear camera port. This means that - via another ring - I can also attach my M42-thread based SC3 cameras A quick test showed that I can even use a 0.6 Focal Reducer, which gives me an approximate focal length of 210mm: very nice to image the sun and moon!
	This is the first real startest of my ETX70. I used my SC3a b/w camera, attached via the cameraport with the above mentioned adapter. The result is not too bad [the small dots most likely are dust particles in the optical train]. I can forget to image via the flip mirror: all the stars looked like comets ..... I noticed that in order to track correctly I had to setup my ETX70-AT as follows: Telescope|Tracking Rate|Custom at +2.0
	First light for my ETX70-AT: my smallest Mars ever ! January 22, 2008 18:56 UT. Imaging: ETX70-AT, 70mm, f/5 with 2x Vixen HQ Barlow operating at f/10 [focal length 700 mm]. Altitude :43.7 degrees, True distance: 0.7117137 AU [106 million km]. I noticed that in order to track correctly I had to setup my ETX70-AT as follows: Telescope|Tracking Rate|Custom at +2.0

Recommended website: Mike Weasner's Mighty ETX site