New Scope!! (CGEM c1100)

[the_laughing_crow]

After 6 years with a Skywatcher Heritage 130p it was time for an upgrade. A serious upgrade. Months of back and forth deciding what to get, reading review after review, weighing up pros and cons, managing budget vs desire.... and then a decision: Nexstar Evolution 9.25. 

And then on the cusp of pressing "buy", seeing an ex-demo CGEM c1100 on the sale section of the David Hinds website. On sale at £1670 with a one year warranty. Could NOT pass it up: More aperture, more versatile mount, less money.

It arrived today. Holy crap, what a big beautiful beast.

It was listed as having a few scuffs and it does but they're barely noticeable. Seriously for the most part it seems brand new. The only minor draw back is they forgot one of the counterweights. So I've emailed to ask about a replacement. Even still, seems like crazy value for money.

Ive looked over the tripod, mount, OTA and optics: Nothing obviously wrong with it, although its now cloudy and I'm awaiting delivery of a power source. So it hasn't been properly tested yet.

As you can see from the attached image, 'excited' doesn't even begin to describe it.

[John]

Contratulations !!!

Thats a "I've got a new scope and I'm darned excited" expression if I ever saw one 

 

[ChrisLX200]

Congrats! We'll see if the smile holds out after the first 2 weeks of cloud

ChrisH

[Ruud]

Nice!

[paul mc c]

Nothing like the feeling that you get with any new astro gear,congrats and clear skies.

[algady]

Congratulations, that is very nice setup indeed!

[niallk]

Congrats! That's a beaut

[triton1]

Lovely looking bit of kit nice one I would like a scope one day with the ep at the other end.

ps the smile says it all.

[CraigT82]

That's one serious upgrade! Congrats! 

[laudropb]

Very nice upgrade. Good to see your obvious joy.

[the_laughing_crow]

An email to David Hinds this morning about the missing counter weight and I'll have a courier at my door with a replacement tomorrow. Now that's service! Similar plaudits go to Tring Astro for getting the powertank to me very quickly.

So now the question to more experienced CGEM c1100 users out there:

With only one counterweight the OTA is unbalanced. Will I damage the gears/motors if I head out tonight in the forecasted clear skies and use it for my first ever look through something >5" aperture?

[PaulB]

Very nice upgrade.

Was similarly excited when my Celestron 9.25 arrived from FLO.

One thing you might want to consider. A Howie Glatter laser collimator. I have one and would be lost without it.