Sturdy Mount with Heavy-Duty Castings: Designed by Meade's engineers and manufactured for high-performance observing and astrophotography.

Shaft & Bearing System: The sturdy German Equatorial Mount is accurate and precise. The RA and DEC axes move effortlessly on four high-precision stainless steel ball bearings.

High-Precision Worm Gears: Located on both axes for smooth tracking and slewing.

4-Speed Drive Controls: The dual-axis drive motors have four speeds that you can change with the push of a button. 4.5° per second will get you across the sky quickly, and 0.75° per second is helpful once you get close and want to center a particular object in your field of view. If you want to be more precise in your centering at lower magnifications, then choose 32x the sidereal rate, and finally, when using high power eyepieces, 8X the sidereal rate will give you the precision you need.

Upgradeable to #497 AutoStar When you are ready, you can upgrade your hand controller to the #497 AutoStar. Doing so will convert your "EC" model to the "AT" model, which means you will have computerized GoTo to over 30,000 objects in it's database, among other things.

Heavy-Duty Tripod: Variable-height field tripod with spreader bar brace provides the stability and vibration damping required for visual observation and astrophotography.

Power Supply: Drive is powered by eight (8) D-size batteries. Can also be powered by optional car cigarette lighter or AC wall adapter.