Alternative more portable setup required

[SilverAstro]

50% of new is about 485 on a quick look, but plus carriage would cost more private than from a dealer

You may get more than 50% if the right buyer comes along

[BRUN]

guys, given the choice, would you rather have a Nexstar Evolution 8 HD with StarSense, or a CPC800, 2nd hand they both seem similar in price

im thinking the Evolution as everything is within itself, but CPC looks to have the better mount/motor system ? it looks more substantial

[BRUN]

also, do Skywatcher do anything thats similar ?

only been suggested Celestron scopes and wondered if i should consider any others

[JG777]

3 hours ago, BRUN said:

guys, given the choice, would you rather have a Nexstar Evolution 8 HD with StarSense, or a CPC800, 2nd hand they both seem similar in price

im thinking the Evolution as everything is within itself, but CPC looks to have the better mount/motor system ? it looks more substantial

If it's an Edge on the Evo then optically it might be better than the standard one on the CPC as Edge optics apparently show sharp stars to the edge, plus it should cool quicker thanks to the vents. It may not be an overall large difference however. Consider if you might want to add a focal reducer to the Edge as I think they are a lot more expensive than the standard ones for a normal 8 inch SCT.  The edge scopes are more geared up for imaging so if imaging is not your thing then the CPC might be the way to go. Also if you go the Evo route and you want to offload Starsense then the HC goes with it as Celestron do not put the standard HC in those packages as well as the Starsense one. 

Mount wise the double fork of the CPC is likely to be more stable although I have never used one. I have used Evo 9 and 8 and can tell you stability is not really an issue, damping times are pretty good for single fork. The CPC has built in GPS which may be useful to you as it will set your coordinates and time. The Evo has the luxury of a built in battery and WiFi plus a dimmable red light for the tray. Motor wise I would not expect them to be vastly different in operation, the Evos I have used have tracked objects wonderfully well and Starsense gives very good GOTOs and saves time aligning. The other thing about the mounts is that with the CPC I'm not sure how easy it is to separate the scope from the forks, it seems people mostly leave them attached so you would be heaving the scope and mount together. The Evo comes apart very easily and also takes my 80 mm refractor, something the CPC probably can't do without a few mods.

So not a great deal in it between the 2 you list, but for me if I was choosing between those two and considering that your trying to max out observing time with easy to lump kit and short set up and tear down times then overall the Evo with the Starsense just starts to edge it ( no pun intended! ) It takes about a minute to tap in coordinates and time and if your observing from the same place then you can save your coordinates into the custom site of the HC. 

[constantino]

The CPC will probably be much heavier than the other (bigger tripod, fork, etc)

• Boxed-product Weight: 48 Kg