Beginner: Celestron Nexstar Evolution

[davekeyes]

Hello all. I’m new to this, but after a little reading i’m saving hard to have the best possible start.

I’ve got the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 8 stuck in my mind as I save, but now I’m getting close i’m getting tempted by the Edge HD with starsense or the 9.25. 

I’m keen on viewing rather than imagining, looking at the moon, planets and hopefully some deep space goodness. 

Any words of advice or guidance from more experienced folk?

Any recommendations on which Celestron Nexstar Evolution kit? (If those are even still considered a good choice)

What extra eyepieces would you suggest?

What other equipment is typically recommended?

Is there an online resource that will give me an idea on what (size and clarity) I should expect to see notable objects through the eyepiece on a good night? (Not doing imaging)

Very much appreciate your time! Such a wonderful forum and community.

Cheers,

Dave in New Zealand

 

[knobby]

Hi Dave, 

If you're not going to do imaging then don't bother with the edge scopes, you'll be paying a lot more money just to get the extreme edge of the view to be flat which is really more of an imagers thing.

Having said that ... I have a C8 edge which I love, it's good on planets and really sweet on the Moon. As for deep space, 8" will show a lot depending on your local light pollution. I went for the edge as in my strange mind I felt I'd maybe try imaging later on and preferred the look of the edge scope !

Good luck choosing.

[knobby]

And ...

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fovcalc.php

Allows you to choose subject, scope, eyepiece etc

[davekeyes]

Thanks for that, knobby. The images on that site seem too good to be true! Colours and not blurred. ?

[knobby]

Oh ... That's just an idea of image scale in the eyepiece, the human eye won't pick up colour on very faint objects .

Have a look on our forums sketching section, that will give an idea of what's visible with your eyes.

[Cosmic Geoff]

The C8 is a fine instrument, but if you don't mind spending extra you could go for one of the more expensive alt-az mounts rather than the base SE version.

The Starsense is a useful if rather expensive accessory. A key (and non-obvious) benefit is that you don't need to level the tripod. With the SE this means you don't need to take the mount/OTA assembly off the tripod, at all.

Eyepieces - I just use a 15mm Omni Plossl and a 8mm Celestron X-Cel (or a zoom) in addition to the stock eyepiece.

You will need a power tank unless the mount has the rechargeables built in.

The 9.25 is said to be a lot heavier.

[JG777]

Our group has a number of Evolutions including my 9.25, two 8 inch Evos and an 8 inch edge.  If your just visual get the standard scope as the edge does not offer any significant improvement to the view and it takes a lot longer to cool not to mention the extra weight. The difference between the 8 and 9.25 is quite a jump in terms of the view but the 8 is no slouch and it is a lot lighter and manoeuvrable than a 9.25. The Evo has better gearing than the SE and it is a big advantage to have a built in 10 hour capacity lithium battery. The Wi-Fi on the newer versions is a lot better than the original so if you purchase second hand use a net analyser app to determine the Wi-Fi chip, the one to avoid is the "Roving Networks"  version. It might work OK if you are away from Wi-Fi clutter as mine did out at a remote dark site, but the newer version is definitely a better Wi-Fi set up. Either way if you see a very good deal on a second hand older one you can use the money saved to buy the Sky portal adapter for the Evolution if you need the Wi-Fi.

There are few if any complaints in my observing group about the Evos. They align well and track all night and the backlash in the gears is pretty minimal. The 8 version is very easy to move around, the 9.25 is a hefty beast unless your Arnie. Easy and fast to set up as well, nothing complicated about Evolution.

The standard RDF that comes with them is a cheap nasty little device that is barely fit for purpose. Upgrading this to a better RDF or finder of your choice is a good move. Starsense is a handy addition but think of it more as a luxury item than a necessity, the Evolution auto 2 star align if done properly is remarkably accurate and reliable. Also bear in mind the Starsense HC (hand controller) does not have some of the features that the Nexstar+ HC that comes with the Evo has. Yes it has the objects and database but the display text is smaller, the scroll speed cannot be altered and you will not be able to control the Evos lighting or switch Wi-Fi off. Be careful if you opt for a bundled Evo with Starsense as it will likely only have the SSA HC and you really must have the Nexstar+ HC as well.

Eyepieces, this is a very personal choice and only you will know by trying some out at an astronomy club or from friends. Consider sizes and eye relief and think about what targets you enjoy looking at before choosing. For quite a while I used a set of BST Starguiders  and they were very pleasing in the 9.25, the long focal length is very forgiving on cheaper or mid range EPs. I use a set of ES EPs nowadays.

An upgrade to the star diagonal might be worth it, SCT diagonal is a good move, the one supplied is OK but it is not a compression ring and I'm not sure its a dielectric mirror in there, someone here might know for certain. I attached a 2 inch SCT diagonal which improves the holding stability for EPs and clears the base with a few mm to spare.

Focusser upgrade! The best upgrade you can do to a SCT is remove the standard focusser and drop a Starlight instruments Feathertouch in there. Very expensive but when you use it you will see where the extra cash went, say goodbye to mirror slop with fine focus. Mirror slop is inherent in these scopes, you can live with it but maybe not for a lifetime...

Dew control. A shield in the very least and possibly you might need a dew controller, heater tape or a combination of these things. These scopes are dew magnets, we have all been caught on this at some point.

Anyway that's your wallet well and truly cleared out. The Evo is a very good set up at the outset and can be made into an excellent one with a few timely upgrades. Other than the early version Wi-Fi which for some is unusable but OK for others, there are no showstoppers from the Evolution. The mount is a jump up from the cheaper SE and optically these scopes really do deliver the goods.

HTH, good luck with your choice.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

16 hours ago, JG777 said:

The standard RDF that comes with them is a cheap nasty little device that is barely fit for purpose. Upgrading this to a better RDF or finder of your choice is a good move.

I'd respectfully disagree. Why spend money to upgrade a device that is only used once or twice a night?  I found the RDF finder adequate for doing a 2-star align. And now I don't use it at all, except for the rare solar system align.

Comparing the Nexstar+ and Starsense handsets, the Starsense doesn't seem to have lists of objects by constellation, and the Sky tour is useless, 

but the Starsense has all-sky lists of open clusters, galaxies, planetary nebulae, Messier and NGC in order of brightness (great feature). 

[JG777]

3 hours ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

I'd respectfully disagree. Why spend money to upgrade a device that is only used once or twice a night?  I found the RDF finder adequate for doing a 2-star align. And now I don't use it at all, except for the rare solar system align.

Comparing the Nexstar+ and Starsense handsets, the Starsense doesn't seem to have lists of objects by constellation, and the Sky tour is useless, 

but the Starsense has all-sky lists of open clusters, galaxies, planetary nebulae, Messier and NGC in order of brightness (great feature). 

Glad you got a good one! With mine the base fell to bits and the azimuth adjustment was so skewed there was no way it would ever align with the scope. Even a serviceable one IMHO is a pretty basic affair, at the end of the day Celestron do not bundle top quality accessories but each to their own.

Yes a fair bit of difference between the HCs with the worst being the multi line display text being much smaller on the SSA, and yes the sky tour is pretty horrible as well. 

[davekeyes]

An update and thanks.

For a couple of weeks now I've been the proud owner of a Celestron Evo 8 and a Celestron eyepiece kit (which was happily on sale).

I've already been out and had some fun looking at and admiring Saturn and Jupiter as I get used to the kit ... more soon - including planning a trip to the dark skies of the Wairarapa (just an hour drive from here).

This weekend I'm planning on ordering a lens shade / dew shield and also thinking to save for a few weeks to go for a celestron x-cel eyepiece for better eye relief. It's a slippery slope ?

Thank you all for taking the time to share some of your insight with an excited newbie. Really very much appreciated.

[pandoraefretum]

On 04/04/2018 at 17:26, JG777 said:

The standard RDF that comes with them is a cheap nasty little device that is barely fit for purpose.

The RDF that just came with my Nexstar 6se is awful... I upgraded to the Starfinder Pro ; that one's fine.