I received this scope 23Aug03, just in time to view Mars at its closest approach. Never having owned or even looked thru a scope prior to this I really didn't know what to look for in a scope.   One things for sure I wanted the most bang for my buck.  After some reading the Maksutov-Cassegrain design was the clear choice, and for the quality/price Meade was the Mfg..   Realizing that I have only scratched the surface of the Amateur Astronomy subject in the past year (now almost 7yrs), I can still confidentially say..  I made a good choice.  The only issue I had with this scope ( which is relatively common ) is the image shift and the focusing, both of these issues were cured with the 150$ William Optics 2'' Crayford focuser..

   Used this scope many times during 2003, and only a hand full of times between 2004-2006, work schedules, a move across country and weather conditions conspired against me.. Sept 2006 I SetUp planning to image Jupiter and quantify my PE.. All was well until I powered up the mount.. the Dreaded 'Stuck at the [ Meade |||| ] sign!'  Bad News, Very Bad News, from everything I could find online about this problem, it pointed to a issue with the Main Control Board.. All attempts to repair it failed (Dwnld link for the schematics above).. Found a used LX200 Mount on AstroMart for 450$, received, dis-assm, replaced the board and I was back up and running again..

   Nov 2006 I was finally able to gather what I believe to be a reasonably accurate PE data on my mount.. During my tests the wind started picking up and is evident in the graph.. but as you can see the max peak to peak error was approx 11.63asec (peak-to-peak) / RMS 2.71asec Before and 3.94asec / RMS 1.05asec After LX200 PEC Learning/Training (see fig 01) ..It could be that I was very lucky and my mount just happened to be balanced well at the time/declination etc.. or I could just be very lucky and have gotten a choice mass-produced mount.. I happened to think a little of both, nevertheless with these numbers I believed there was still hope for DSO imaging with this particular system..

   Aug 2009, Scope had been Stowed in the stock Meade Box for the last 3yrs, again work and weather  conditions.. I thought about selling it ((cringe)).. then I thought I haven't done any Real DSO imaging yet, every opportunity I had was wasted with half-measures trying to use the wrong tools for the job i.e. Canon 10D, not sensitive enough and Way too much Light Pollution here.. After some research I found that the SBIG ST-4000XCM with the A08 was the way to go.. Ran across a couple of good deals on AstroMart Sept 2009 and bought them.. by Oct 2009 I was finally able to take my first Long Exposure Image (see NGC1977 & M42), not half bad all things considered, in fact some of my subs were 900sec..

    The ST-4000XCM uses a large 4.2 megapixel KAI-4020CM color CCD.  This sized CCD was previously available only in an STL camera body.  The KAI-4020CM CCD has 2048 x 2048 pixels at 7.4 microns square.  This is the same size CCD used in the STL-4020 camera.  The KAI-4020CM comes in a single class without column defects.  The KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE KAI-4020CM is a high-performance multi-megapixel image sensor designed for a wide range of scientific, medical imaging, and machine vision applications. The 7.4 mm square pixels with microlenses provide high sensitivity.  The vertical overflow drain structure provides antiblooming protection, and enables electronic shuttering for precise exposure control to 0.001 seconds.  Other features include low read noise, low dark current, negligible lag and low smear.  This CCD uses a high gain output amplifier that reduces the read noise by almost half compared to previous versions.  Our preliminary tests of this CCD installed in prototype ST camera body exhibits a read noise of less than 8e- rms and a dark current of less than 0.1e- at 0 degrees C.  The KAI-4020CM CCD is a progressive scan detector with an active image area of 15.2 x 15.2 mm. (SBIG)

   The Stock ST Desiccant Plug replaced with Particle Wave Technologies SRP Desiccant Plug. The SRP holds 3g of molecular sieve which is approximately one gram more than SBIG plug, its CNC machined from solid stock of stainless steel. It is 0.5" longer than SBIG plug and when screwed in the camera - seats flush with the top of the fan housing. The cap is CNC machine solid stock of 6061 aluminum and is black anodized. It has a double O-ring layout to completely seal the desiccant inside from outside air. The cap is pressed onto the plug and can be removed and replaced without tools in the field in a matter of seconds.

   ..Aug 2010, Too windy to image, but was able to practice with a diff piece of ctrl sftwr.. Ambient Temp 92-94°F, Using a Rio+ 800 Submersible type Aquarium Pump to circ ice water through the camera, was able to maintain approx 5-5.5°F (-14.7 -15.0°C) Chip Temp with TEC Pwr approx 72-76%, thats an approx 86-89°F Total ∆T..!

    The ST-4000XCM uses a large 4.2 megapixel KAI-4020CM color CCD.  This sized CCD was previously available only in an STL camera body.  The KAI-4020CM CCD has 2048 x 2048 pixels at 7.4 microns square.  This is the same size CCD used in the STL-4020 camera.  The KAI-4020CM comes in a single class without column defects.  The KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE KAI-4020CM is a high-performance multi-megapixel image sensor designed for a wide range of scientific, medical imaging, and machine vision applications. The 7.4 mm square pixels with microlenses provide high sensitivity.  The vertical overflow drain structure provides antiblooming protection, and enables electronic shuttering for precise exposure control to 0.001 seconds.  Other features include low read noise, low dark current, negligible lag and low smear.  This CCD uses a high gain output amplifier that reduces the read noise by almost half compared to previous versions.  Our preliminary tests of this CCD installed in prototype ST camera body exhibits a read noise of less than 8e- rms and a dark current of less than 0.1e- at 0 degrees C.  The KAI-4020CM CCD is a progressive scan detector with an active image area of 15.2 x 15.2 mm. (SBIG)

   The Stock ST Desiccant Plug replaced with Particle Wave Technologies SRP Desiccant Plug. The SRP holds 3g of molecular sieve which is approximately one gram more than SBIG plug, its CNC machined from solid stock of stainless steel. It is 0.5" longer than SBIG plug and when screwed in the camera - seats flush with the top of the fan housing. The cap is CNC machine solid stock of 6061 aluminum and is black anodized. It has a double O-ring layout to completely seal the desiccant inside from outside air. The cap is pressed onto the plug and can be removed and replaced without tools in the field in a matter of seconds.