ok time to be realistic

[Ohio_Narrow_Minded]

All,

well i thought i needed to jump to the biggest and greatest telescope to start out....who doesnt want the biggest right!?!

i was wondering if anyone on here has any experience with the Celestron cpc scopes...im looking at the 925 CPC Deluxe HD scope. i was originally thinking a bigger scope with the cgem dx mount.

yes i will be doing some astrophotography but im not going to be doing just that, i think more often than not i will be just viewing with friends and family, i plan on getting the pro wedge if i go this route for the astrophotography purposes.

my boss has an old 1100 cpc scope and thats just too big for me, i want something that easy to travel with.

any and all input is welcome,

clear skie!

Dave

[Dunkster]

Welcome Dave!

The CPC is a beast regardless - the double fork is much of the weight, so the 9.25 is only a couple of kgs(lbs?) lighter and not physically smaller (apart from the ota of course). I went for the EQ6 because of that... it just breaks down into more pieces.

However, the CPC has practically no learning curve if you've ever used a Nexstar...

[faulksy]

i have the cpc 9.25 not the hd and find it superb breaks down nicely to travel with and the motors are so quiet

[umadog]

Beginning astrophotography with a wedge-mounted SCT (or any SCT, come to that) has a reputation for being hard. You'd likely get better results with a fast refractor on an EQ mount. You would be surprised what you can photography with a small refractor...

Here's another option for you. The 925 CPC weighs in at 85 lbs and costs $3k. A common 10" Dob weighs 60 lbs and costs $400. If you add a coma corrector to it (about another $350) then you have a scope that's likely better optically than an SCT (from what I hear about SCT optical tests) but costs under a third of the price. You can then spend the remaining $2k on a nice imaging set up with a refractor. The Dob will be a better casual grab and go telescope than the SCT. The refractor will get you taking excellent photos with less effort than the SCT. Don't ask one telescope to do it all.

[faulksy]

never heard of a bad optical test on a sct before what was it, you have my attention

[brantuk]

The 925 and wedge sounds about right for your stated intentions. For mostly observing with friends/familly it assembles very quickly in alt/az mode and is certainly portable - just watch your back when lifting it cos it is quite heavy. I strap mine on the back seat and pop the tripod in the trunk. If you're only going to dabble in imaging then the new heavy duty wedge is great - very strong and stable and will give great results.

If you were planning serious imaging and not moving it round I'd suggest an eq mounted pier solution for the 1100. But it sounds like your intentions are pretty much what I do with mine. Easily equivalent to any Meade offering (though some may disagree) I think these are great all round scopes with great tracking and superb optics. You'll want a reducer/flatenner with the CPC for imaging - but the HD Edge's are designed spefically with flat fields in mind if that's what you're after.

Totally recommended (by me at least lol)

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Dave and welcome to the SGL, I've just recently bought a cpc 1100 - I've had a few different scopes over the years and always preferred the SCT over the other types, my last SCT was an LX90 8" Meade - a really wonderful scope and had many years of fun with it. Your looking at the 9.25, as mentioned earlier there not a great deal of diffference aperture and weight, but the 1100 for me is easily moved from inside to outside and set up time is really quick, fork mounted - very stable - the motors are a little noisy but the Goto works really well and accurate - very impressed with it so far. The light grasp is amazing - from my light polluted skies the fainter objects ( mag 10 and 11ish) are well within reach.

For such a small tube the SCT's are fantastic, the debate runs on for different mirror/lens configurations - there are drawbacks with all types of scopes, but for me alot say that reduced contrast is a problem - but realistically the seeing/atmosphere will degrade the image more than a reduction in contrast because of the optical system. I would say that you should consider the 1100, carrying the tube is made easier by holding it near to your body - visually, very nice, but when you mention imaging, this is where the newts have it.

The increase in aperture allows for a much brighter image - this is the advantage of larger apertures, so you can push the mag up a little more - but higher mag is only possible on the steadier nights of seeing - but for low mag work - the larger the aperture - the brighter the image - the planets are just stunning under low power - yes a smaller image - but such a wonderful sight that will stay with you for a very long time.

[Ohio_Narrow_Minded]

all,

thanks for all the input!

i think im going to stick with the celestron edge hd ota.....

the only thing i havent decided on is which one...

I think the best for me any my budget is the 800, i dont wanna break the bank with this hobby!

what i cant decide on is either the cgem 800hd or the cpc deluxe 800 hd

dave

[umadog]

never heard of a bad optical test on a sct before what was it, you have my attention

Well, any optical design can produce a bad optical test. My comment was based on something I read recently, which I am now struggling to find but will keep looking. It regarded the combined Strehl ratio of SCT OTAs. I'll keep Googling...

I give up: can't find the link. The link didn't contain test data anyway. This one does (go to links within article) and the results are very good: http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/5234458/Main/5229002

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Dave, not sure how new to the hobby you are, Ideally you should try to get some hands on and see if you could have a look through a range of scopes before going any further and spending your Dollars.

Seems like you'll be spending alot of money, so can you see if there are any societies near to you where you can spend a little time looking through a potential scope. Wonder what sort of skies you observe from - is there any light pollution - or will you be travelling to dark sites.

[Ohio_Narrow_Minded]

all,

my boss has the cpc 1100 and he has been having me over the past few months and letting my play around with his and i really like it...its just too big and heavy for easy travel.

i want something i can easily travel around with and i've gotten to know and love the cpc model, the new pro wedge looks a lot nicer than the old wedge that my boss has and the HD optics i think will be just a little nicer than the older cpc models.

i will most likely go with the 800 cpc HD with and a stand alone autoguider and then will be using my 5d mk II for imaging and video.

thanks for all the input!

dave