I think I know what question is going through your mind now: 'How does it know what direction to point at?' The answer is: you have to give it a reference point, or more accurately, two reference points. The reference points are actually two stars from the alignment star list of the telescope. These stars are some of the best known and brightest stars in the sky such as Arcturus, Antares, Rigel, Sirius, Vega, and Deneb, to name a few.

You start the alignment processes by leveling the telescope, and then choosing an alignment star that is currently visible. Using the keypad, you drive the telescope and center up this star in the field of view. When this is done you press 'ENTER' to indicate the first star is centered. You then pick a second visible alignment star, drive the telescope to it, then when it is centered, you press 'ENTER' again. At this point the telescope knows where two specific points in the sky are, and it can do the math that calculates where everything else is relative to these two points.

If everything was done correctly, you can select an object or position, and the telescope will know how to get there. In my experience the telescope does a good job of locating objects, but the accuracy does suffer if you are going from one side of the sky to the opposite side. There is a feature that allows you to update the position information during the night if the pointing accuracy starts to get poor.

One cool thing about this telescope is it's use in daytime astronomy. Okay, okay, you're thinking : 'Daytime? All you can see is the sun!' Bzzzt. I'm sorry, but that is an incorrect answer. Now I will admit that your choice is rather limited, but I personally have viewed Jupiter at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The brightest stars in the sky and several planets can be seen during the day, you just need to know where to look.

Can it get any cooler than this? Yes, as an added bonus, Meade included an RS-232 port on the telescope which allows you to use a terminal (ugh!) or a computer (yeah!) to control the telescope. I have a Toshiba notebook which I hook to the telescope. On the notebook I run a Windows program called The Sky by, Software Bisque. The Sky is a planetarium program that draws the sky. Then, with the mouse I point at something on the notebook's screen, click on it, and The Sky gives me the option to point the telescope at that object. With a simple click, the notebook commands the telescope to move, and off the telescope goes, to point at another jewel in the heavens.

This telescope is a good performer optically. I've had comments on the image this scope produces from knowledgeable people, and from people who are experiencing their first views through a telescope. All of the comments have been positive. I am very pleased with the optical performance of this telescope. Don't let my enthusiasm for the computer technology mislead you: The most important part of any telescope is the view.