Celestron SE advice please

[Zeffer]

It has been a while but I am now looking to buy another scope. Most of my history involved Celestron Nexstar GPS setups, I have owned two 8" and an 11" over the years. I have also had refractors and a Mak.

I really want something more portable to take to France when I visit my dad, the skies look fabulous and I want to enjoy them visually.

The SE looks just right. Either the 8" or 6". 6 seems more portable, but is there a big difference? Not just optically but weight etc.

Also, I read somewhere that it doesn't remember the time or your longitude/latitude? This seems rather archaic but are there ways round this? I know I was spoilt with the GPS, but would rather not buy the module when most of the time the scope will be in my garden.

Realise I will need a power tank as the batteries won't do much, however, is there a power supply I could use when near mains electricity?

Many thanks, also open to alternatives suggestions but must be goto and portable.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would go for the 8". It is not that much heavier, and gathers a lot more light. I have used my C8 in France (on a Great Polaris EQ mount), and it can be just fabulous.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The 8SE is very portable and very light considering its an 8" scope. I have one and i'm in a wheelchair and i can manage mine just fine.

[Zeffer]

Thank you, even my wife is saying go for more aperture, she knows I'll only regret it!

Any thoughts on my other concerns? E.g. The memory being lost on the controller? Is this a fault or something I'd have to live with?

[gkec]

Thank you, even my wife is saying go for more aperture, she knows I'll only regret it!

Any thoughts on my other concerns? E.g. The memory being lost on the controller? Is this a fault or something I'd have to live with?

My Nexstar controller remembers the latitude/longitude.  It also does remember the time BUT only what you last entered.  It doesn't keep time whilst switched off.

With my Maplin power tank I can charge it whilst using it.

[LukeSkywatcher]

To be honest i dont use my 8SE as intended. I rarely use the Go-To function. If i do i only do a solar system align and thats on the Moon and it tracks the Moon well. Mostly i just use the keypad to go UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT.

I bought it because of its aperture and weight,portability. I'm in no rush to find objects in a few seconds. I prefer to hunt them down myself manually. I find it more rewarding. 

That's just me though. Maybe one day in the future when my eyes start to fail me, i'll start using the Go-To as intended. 

[wheresthetorch?]

They remember your location (either nearest city or long/lat, whichever you last entered) but the date and time needs to be reset each time you switch it on.

[LukeSkywatcher]

The 8SE is such a great scope that i would have no problem telling anyone who is looking to buy one to go ahead and buy it. There are 2 (maybe 3) little things that come up time and time again when reading reviews about it:

1/ Because its an SCT, the FOV is a bit narrower than other scopes. I'm not sure by how much but i cant say ive noticed it.

2/ When focusing, the view can become a bit wobbly for a few seconds but settles down very quickly. I think this is an issue with most scopes. Certainly any i have owned.

3/ The focus stick is a bit tricky to get spot on, but it does get there. The focuser is the reason why the view become a bit wobbly during focusing.

None of the above are a deal breaker by ANY means. I only mention them because they are the little niggles on the scope that people who own them mention.

[Zeffer]

All very useful, thank you. Need to find one at the right price now.

Can anyone recommend a good wide lens. I once owned an old style Axiom 40mm 2" EP, 70 degree FOV and loved it. Something like that would be great and then something for planets.

[jonathan]

I have the Skywatcher PanaViewer 38mm for wide views, which is a really nice eyepiece for things like the Orion nebula and open clusters.  It's 2" so you would also need something like the Williams Optics 2" Dielectric Diagonal, I also have a dual speed Baader steeltrack focuser to alleviate the focus knob thing but that's not strictly a requirement, it just adds more weight to the OTA so you would have balance problems on the original goto mount (which is why I used my 8SE on an NEQ6).

I have found that a Celestron 10mm is about the best I can use normally on planets, can see the rings of Saturn and just about the polar regions and dark areas of Mars.  Jupiter a little fuzzy compared to through my 102 refractor with 3.5mm Pentax.

I haven't had my 8SE out for a long time, I need to get both scopes out at the same time to do a proper comparison because my memory of the 8SE is a little hazy now.

With the 8SE dew control is a must investment, a large dew shield at the minimum (I have the AstroZap one, nicely made), consider a portable hair dryer or dew heater tapes and a controller - there is a controller that can also output power for the mount so it's all in-line, only need one power cable to a battery or mains-powered auto converter (to 12v cigarette lighter type socket).