Thoughts on Celestron's CG-5 mounts

[gary1968]

Howdy,

I read a psot on a yahoo tech group for the CG5GT mount and one guy took the plastic covers off the motors, applied some thin self adhesive foam to the inside of the mouldings and stuck it back together...... He rekoned that most of the noise comes from the casings resonating.

He said that although not as quiet as a HEQ5 it was alot quieter, so much so that it did not bother the neighbours any longer.

Although the noise doesn't bother me too much I will be trying this out on mine once the warranty runs out.

As for how good it is, well I thik it is great value for money, really accurate in gotos, tracking is spot on but I would not like to put a bigger scope than a C8N on it due to the weight.

Cheers,

Gary

[NickH]

Get an EQ6..sell the CG5..no qustion about it, a C11 on a CG5 for anyting other than noisy casual visual is a no go zone..

Imaging..a C11 should IMHO not be sold with the CG5...I have a C11, and would not dream of putting it on a CG5 mount

[WebSentinel]

I agree that for serious long exposure Astrophotography the C11 requires a more serious mount however, considering the price difference between a C11 OTA without the CG-5 mount and the C11 with, I think you'd be mad not to get the latter. If you've got plenty of money left over then buy a serious mount but, if like me, you need to save up for a better mount then the CG-5 will allow you to get out and enjoy the scope and the views as well as let you do some basic astrophotography. I've certainly taken some very pleasing shots of the moon and Saturn with just a cheapo digital compact camera attached using a Baader click stop camera mount.

It's easy for all of us to sit here and tell you how to spend your money and lets face it you could spend silly amounts of money on scope(s) and mount(s) that are better for Astrophotography but if you wish to know whether it's worth buying a C11 with the CG-5 then the answer has got to be 'Yes' and if you can afford to buy a bigger and better mount, then even better

P.S. Haitch - I can't comment on whether the tripod for the CG-5 is the same as the EQ6 (maybe NickH can verify that?) but I can say the CG-5 tripod is a monster and feels very solid.

Tip: I use a set of home made dampners (using rubber furniture cups and circular felt protectors from B&Q) which dramatically shortens the time it takes for vibrations to settle.

[NickH]

Absolutely, the C11 OTA only deal is mad...get it with the CG5 and just flog the CG5, to part pay for the EQ6 you're going to need!

[Starjumper]

I was also looking at buying the CG5 but plumbed for the HEQ5 PRO in the end due to the noise problems

in a built up area, the HEQ5 PRO works like a dream and is so quite.

John

[iancandler]

I've done some tests with my CG5GT and found that a lot of the problems with noise are due to resonance problems, the casing basicaly acts like a loud speaker, damping with neoprene ( from an old mouse matt) should drasticly reduce the problem and eliminate any contact points between the motor casing and the housing.