Thoughts on a Celestron 9.25 SCT

[No-i-dear]

I've been wanting to get into imaging for a while now but don't really have the right scope etc. My main interest is planets. I was toying with a Skywatcher 250PDS on a EQ6 mount, but have come to realise that whilst is will be great for visual observing, its huge and has the disadvatages that come with a Newtonian, so there might be a better bet.

I've started to look at the SCT's and the Celestron 9.25 looks to be a posibility. I have a budget of around £2k to £2.5k for the scope and mount so would appreciate any advice or comments.

Would also be interested to know whether you would use either the Celestron or Skywatcher 'go-to' type mounts with the SCT.

Cheers all.

[Leveye]

Personally i would just get an older used 10" Meade SCT if i had that kind of money to spend. The Celestron does have the Hyperstar feature though.

[knobby]

Google Damien Peach and C9.25

[PeterCPC]

I have both and the Celestron software is far superior to the Skywatcher. I think that I am just about to get a 9.25 Celestron SCT as well!

Peter

[No-i-dear]

Thanks guys!

Those Damien Peach photograps are amazing.

Peter, lets put in a combined order - might get a discount!!

[Pete Presland]

i have one and its a cracking scope, but it all comes down to what you wish to use it for. it is a fine visual/imaging planetary scope which you say is what you are interested in, but there will be plenty on here who will say the same about the 250PDS and they would be right. the C9.25 does suffer from dew problems though nothing that can not be sorted obviously, but something the 250PDS would not so much.

as for the mount i have a HEQ5 synscan but rarely use the goto feature, but that is just personal choice. the C9.25 is fine on it.

[Mr Spock]

C9.25 on an EQ6 - a perfect combination!

Here's mine from a couple of years ago:

I 'downsized' from a 250 Newt. The C9.25 loses nothing on it and gains more, including being more manageable - that 250 tube is huge.

[No-i-dear]

Thanks SG & Mr S. Why are you guys using sky watcher mounts? Is it because you already had these, or are they better than the Celestron?

looks like a dew shield would be a good purchase, also what eyepieces would do the scope justice without breaking the bank? Are the supplied ones any good?

Really appreciate the info all you guys have given.

[Mr Spock]

The NEQ6 is a couple of hundred pounds less than a CGEM (which seem to be out of stock at the moment). The EQ6 just works!

The 25mm Plössl which came with my scope is very good - no complaints. For planetary work I prefer something a bit better. My 10mm Vixen NLV gets the most use - the new SLV is £109

Dew shield is essential. I use an Astrozap; they are £33 from FLO.

[des anderson]

the c 9.25 is a great scope.very portable[i`m old] easy to use,i have a avx mount,and its very easy to use.Shop around there`s some good deals to be had.

[Pete Presland]

i have a HEQ5 simply because looking around there did not seem to be a Celestron equivalent available.  i bought it as a standard and upgraded it to a synscan. i do not see me changing it as it easily handles my C9.25 and 200PDS when imaging with both.

[Xplode]

If you only want to do planets go for the SCT, if you want to do DSO you are much better of with the scope you already have.

[swag72]

An excellent bargain on ABS at the moment if you want a C9.25 http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=79574

[No-i-dear]

Thanks for all the info - you are a great bunch of folks. I'm sold on the C9.25, yet to read a bad review on one.

I'll drop that guy an email, just wish he was closer. It's a bit of a hike up the M1 but the price will compensate! What should I be looking for on a second-hand purchase? I have a good idea what to look for on a reflector, but this seems a different animal.

Also a question on dew shields. FLO have heated ones, which require a controller. They also say you need heater tapes? This may be a numpty question, but if it is heated why do you need the extra tapes?

[hobsey]

An excellent bargain on ABS at the moment if you want a C9.25 http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=79574

My god, that is a bargain! Only £50 more than what I paid for my C8 not so long ago.

Mmm, do I buy then sell the C8? Don't think the other half would be too happy. 

[Mr Spock]

That is a bargain. Snatch their hand off!

[No-i-dear]

Any tips on buying second-hand?

[hobsey]

Buying second hand is a gamble just like anything really, if you can go and have a look before hand even better. Just check that the optics are good, clean and not cracked.

That is a bargain. Snatch their hand off!

I wish, he is also selling a CGEM for £550!

[Mr Spock]

Not really bought a scope second hand. I'd probably check to see if the optics are clean. I'd check the screws to see if there are any 'dismantling' marks. Check the focuser to make sure there's no play.

It's one of the new types so it's not that old.

[Mr Spock]

Noticed the CGEM - that's a bargain too

[Northern Soul man]

I think that visually, there really isn't going to be a lot in it between the 8, 9.25 and the 11, maybe just a slight increase in brightness - even moving from the 8 to the 11 won't give you a massive increase and the wow factor that everyone seems to be looking for when increasing aperture.

mount wise - depends what you want to do - the dual fork mounted SCT is very very stable, its got a nice EP height even with the tripod at its lowest (and most stable) height for long seated viewing - I must admit that these last few weeks of Jupiter have been probably the best I have seen in such a long time - giving a really good planet fix - I am mainly visual but have had the Toucam in the end of the 1100 and had some very nice images to tinker with, with a better and more high res camera/CCD, your going to get some very nice images.

I feel that any one of the above choices will be really nice to use, with the fork mount, its very easy and quick to set up, with the amount of software out there now, you can get some very nice images, if you have a permanent pier/obs, then an EQ mount would be nice, but if you only want to do Planets, then, I think, you can't beat the ease of set up and stability of the Alt/Az, but with EQ mounting, you then start to add thousands to your budget, listening to many of the long focal length imagers, the budget/long exposure times will play havoc with what I love to do, set up, align, put the binoviewers in and spend hours at a time with the Planet in the centre of the FOV and just LOOKING!!!!!.

Paul.

EDIT - just tread your last post - I use the heated Astrozap dew shield which has tapes built in and with a seperate controller - but remember these larger apertures take a lot of power to keep the correctors clean - with individual heater tapes you get max power when connected, all the controllers do is they allow you to vary the amount of heat, just back it off after a few minutes, but the 1100 needs the full power on constant on the more "dewey" nights.

buying second hand - just have a general look over the optics, the larger SCT's do suffer more with dew - my main mirror has dewed up a few times with transporting (from a cold observing run, to a slightly warmer environment in the car) so have a look at the main mirror for signs of dewing, just very subtle water marks when viewing bright reflected objects in the day at different angles down the tube - the corrector may also have dust, dew marks on the inside, but easy enough to remove and clean, just leave the main mirror alone.

Dew is just a usual and unavoidable process when it comes to closed tube scopes - I've been using SCT's for the past 10 years and still find people spending more time  LOOKING THROUGH THE WRONG END OF AN SCT when they should just forget about the bit of dew and just OBSERVE!!!!!

[No-i-dear]

Someone got a heck of a bargain. Unfortunately it was not me. Doh!

Looks like I'll be getting a new one then. Time to send an email to FLO!

A chap near me has a EQ6 pro mount for sale, is the C9.25 a direct fit to the EQ6?

Thanks again for all your help. No doubt I will be pestering for advice on a CCD camera next!

[Mr Spock]

Both my mount and scope came with vixen type dovetails. Later EQ6s have dual vixen/losmandy fitting - the C9.25 can come with either, best check with FLO when ordering.

[No-i-dear]

Had an email conversation with FLO today. The EQ6 I'm looking at has a Losmandy fitting with it. They say that there are some C9.25's with Losmandy's coming in next month, so looks like mount this month, 'scope the next. No planet will be safe after that!

[rob0971]

Waiting for my c9.25 to come from flo myself. The anticipation is killing me!