Meade 16” ACF f/8 OTA (LX600 LX850)

Asking $6,500, but message me and I’ll consider all reasonable offers.  Meade is not around anymore so these scopes are no longer made.  New, they sold for $11,000 before Meade went out of business.  I’m selling this one because it is a little more than me and my mount can easily handle.

The scope is in excellent optical and mechanical condition.  The optics are clean with no problems.  I am the second owner of this scope and I have owned it for about 4 years.  I also have a Meade 14” ACF f/8 scope which I purchased new before this 16” and this 16” version is superior optically to the 14”.  There is noticeably more detail and resolution with the 16”.  The focuser mechanism is also much smoother than my 14” and has absolutely no mirror flop or drift.

The list weight of the OTA is 70 pounds and I think that is correct.  It is a little heavier than my 14” but not significantly more.

I have removed the Meade LX600 ACF OTA stickers, but they are included if someone wants to try to re-apply them.  The reason I removed them is because one of them was fading and curling at the edges so I carefully removed both.  The factory crinkle coat is undamaged.  There are no dents or paint damage to the optical tube, other than a small area that the previous owner touched up with some spray paint (see photo).  It is unclear why they felt the need to do this as I don’t see any underlying damage to the factory coat.  There is a scrape/scratch on the dew shield that the previous owner also touched up (see photo).  I did find a Rust-oleum spray paint that is almost an exact match to the Meade factory color, but never used it on the tube itself or dew shield.  I’ll include those 3 spray cans if the buyer wants them.

These items are included:

• Original Meade equipment including piggyback mount and 2” visual back
• Astrozap dew shield and cover
• Dew heater strap
• Two additional brand new fan assemblies that I acquired direct from Meade (I was going to install them but never did).  Stainless steel install screws included.
• Optec #19790 Meade 16" SCT to Celestron 3-1/4" Thread. Converts the large Meade 4-inch thread for large Celestron accessories.
• Also included is a somewhat used Meade-to-Meade large accessory adapter.

No other items in the photos are included in this sale.

I’ll cover PayPal fees.  I prefer a local pickup near Charlotte, NC or I can drive a reasonable distance to meet someone in the middle somewhere.  I do not have the original shipping materials, but have a heavy duty box big enough to pack and ship the OTA.  The dew shield should be easy to find a box for too.  It would probably require another $150 in packing materials to safely wrap it up, but I can do that.  Buyer pays all shipping costs and insurance.