NexStar 8SE has arrived..."

[Friedberg]

The FedEx truck made it here yesterday with my new Celestron 8SE ("special edition" I just found out) and mount. I purchased it from Telescopes.com so as to get the 8SE Ultimate Bundle deal. Everything arrived all in the same FedEx load. The 8SE and mount is much larger than the scale you get in the photos from Telescopes.com. This thing is "BIG!". Picture a standard sized office/military waste paper basket on a tripod and you will have an idea how large it is. The OTA is light weight though and when mounted is easy to carry witch is one of the main reasons I went with the 8SE. The tripod is solid and should to just fine with the vibration suppression pads placed at the bottom of the tripod legs. I'm used to the CG-2 mount of my AstroMaster 114EQ so this is quite the step up in a mount for me. I live in an suburban orange zone of Southern California and the GoTo will be a nice addition to my kit. The accessories I ordered along with the bundle also arrived ie: the Celestron dew shield and Celestron vibration suppression pads. The power tank interestingly enough came out of the box fully charged. The Celestron EP's that came in the bundle kit are all coated plossl EP's but of the lowest order and will be replaced A.S.A.P. So everything made it ok and I am now making my "first light" pre-plan for observation tonight if the smoke from the wild fires and the marine layer from the Pacific Ocean will give me a break tonight. "Cheers and clear skies"

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Congrats on the new scope. One great thing about the 8" SCT design is ease of transport. Living in a suburb myself (though with a relatively dark sky), I really appreciate how you can take the scope anywhere with ease. This is one reason I have had it for so long (17+ years). Have fun with the new scope!

[Friedberg]

Also noted was that the hand controller is of a newer type and does not match the one pictured in the manual. The buttons have seemed to have been improved on the HC and some of the buttons are labeled completely different from the one pictured in the manual. It all seem to be ok but I will not know for sure until "operation first light" has been put into motion. I just hope they sent me the right HC as I have read about our fellow astronomers receiving the HC for I think the AVX mount instead of the HC for the 8SE.

[Friedberg]

This is definitely a new type OTA. It has the "FASTAR" secondary mirror.http://www.opticsplanet.com/celestron-fastar-lens-assebmly.html

[E621Keith]

Congratulation on your new scope.

Celestron SE series are great telescopes. Although, you said it's big, the 8SE is one of the smallest and lightest 8" scope on the market. 8" Netwonian are often a lot bigger.

[Friedberg]

I agree but 203mm seems large to me...lol! I was a tank commander in the U.S. Army and I commanded M60A2 main battle tanks in the 70's that had a 152mm main gun/missile launcher and that was by all accounts a very,very large main gun for a tank so you can see where I'm coming from.

[Friedberg]

Well I aligned the red dot star finder to the OTA using the white dome of the Mt Palomar observatory witch I can see 30 miles away from my front porch out across the lake here. I have read that a lot of new 8SE owners are having to use playing card shims to get the star finder aligned. It just took a few turns and this one was spot on the dome of the observatory. Next will be the first alignment of the 8SE NexStar hand controller and systems checks.

[Friedberg]

First light went very well. Everything out of the 8SE box worked just fine.Power tank was fully charged right out of the box.(must have been made on a Wednesday...lol") Quick setup and the take down was just as quick. Two star alignment on Polaris and Vega and the 8SE mount went to what and where ever I requested it to go. Saturn, The Leo Trio,M4, M13, M57, M81 & M82 and then I stopped by Mizar and Alcor just because I could. What an "OH WOW" factor over my AstroMaster 114EQ and CG-2 mount. Then the marine layer off the Pacific Ocean started coming over the hills so it was time to pack it all in. And like I said take down was quick and easy even with the laptop and 2 accessory box's. Well all 'n all a very good first light night. I kept thinking of all the problems other new 8SE owners have reported and that they had to send everything back was what I was dreading all night long. So far...so good. "Cheers"

[Dunkster]

Congrats on your new scope the 8SE is a great combination of light grasp and portability!

Btw, the C8 is only big until you see a C11...and that only big until you see a C14