I've bought a second hand CPC 925, but now I might be regretting it.

[evilgeenius]

Hi all

I purchased a second hand CPC 925 last week which I haven't had the chance to try yet due to the weather.

I must admit that i naively wandered into this purchase without doing as much research as I should have, but also I didn't know exactly what I wanted. The CPC 925 seemed to be rated highly by a lot of people.

I've never used a telescope before so this is my first ever!

Now that I've thought about it more and read a lot on the internet, I think that I definitely would also like to see DSO's - and it would seem that this telescope can't really see DSO's. I'm not sure if I will be satisfied by just looking at planets (there are only 8) and the moon.

I now also think that I'd like to get into astrophotography and It would seem again that this scope isn't brilliant for that. I know it's possible to get a wedge to basically turn the mount into an equatorial mount, but from what i've read it isn't easy to do it well with a wedge.

I'm not really sure why I've added this post, but maybe I just want some reassurance that everything will be ok. One option is that I could sell the CPC and hope that I should get about the same price I paid for it.

As I've never used a telescope before, it's hard for me to say exactly what I'll enjoy looking at..

Cheers

Chris

[Charon]

CPC 9.25 GPS is an excellent piece of kit don't be too hasty selling it. There are a few of the members that own them so ask them for their advice.

Derek

[John]

It's not a wide field scope but perfectly capable of seeing lots of deep sky objects - 9.25" of aperture is more than many have access to.

From the reading I've done on SCT's (I've owned 5" and 8" Celestron SCT's) my understanding is that the 9.25" is considered one of the best.

I'm not an imager so I can't comment on that.

I think you need to stick with it - if it's your 1st scope it's quite an advanced one and it will take time to work out how to exploit it's strengths.

[brantuk]

What makes you think you can't see dso's with the 925? I could see them in the 800 and just upgraded to the 925 as well. If you want to image them though you just need a reducer and a wedge. Lots of folks have no trouble setting this up especially if on a pier. It's only a bit fiddly on a tripod because you have to set up from scratch each time you move the tripod.

I would try it first - give it six months to a year and get to know the scope properly in dark skies - I think you'll find it's a superb piece of kit that does everything you want it too

[ollypenrice]

It is a good scope for many purposes. The only thing I would not do with it is try to learn the basics of deep sky astrophotography but that should be some way down the line. Imaging the planets with it, and the moon, should be great.

Olly

[red dwalf]

it`s a great all round scope, for imaging the cpc mount might not be the best but if you are lucky enough to have fairly good skies you will see loads of DSO`s.

i took my little 6" sct to Kelling star party last year and was blown away with what i could see ! all clear and loads of detail, M81, M82, M13 and the list went on, i can hardly see M31 at home.

i looked though bigger scopes at Kelling and yes there was more detail and alittle more contrast than my 6" sct but not massive amounts of differance.

a hell of alot depends on your skies.

if you do have average skies i like to image because using a mono camera i can get details out of objects i can hardly see visually.

but if you feel you`ve bought a wrong un, i`ll gladly have it of you, it`s a great scope

[nightfisher]

i have a 140mm mak and have had fantastic views of M42 neb, very clear and sharp.........stick with it

[Dougie]

Stick with it to learn visual observing first and as others have said use webcam for planetary photography.

I had a CPC 800 and it was a good scope.

I then used the time to start saving up for all the imaging kit, and still haven't finished.

Traded in the CPC after 2 years for a CGEM 800, fortunately dew heaters and other bits were compatable.