Does CGE Pro Equatorial mount worth 5000 usd ?

[HenryFitz]

Help me understand how this equatorial mount CGE pro own a price tag of 5000 usd? As a beginner; will it be a smart choice for me? 

Edited April 22, 2019 by HenryFitz
Adding some tags and few spelling correction.

[Cornelius Varley]

The CGE Pro is a big observatory class mount with a payload capacity of about 90lbs (41 kgs)

Quote:

"Increased Payload Capacity - Able to hold our 14" SCT telescope more securely as well as larger optical tubes up to a maximum payload of 90lbs.

All-Star Polar Alignment - Choose any bright alignment star for a software assisted alignment of the mounts polar axis that will have you ready for imaging even if you can't see the North Star.

No-Tool polar alignment - Larger hand knobs for both Altitude and Azimuth adjustments.

Meridian Tracking - Extended tracking pass the Meridian of up to 20 degrees of uninterrupted imaging through the best part of the sky.

Faster slew speed - Improved gearing and motors provide faster slew speeds than ever before with a maximum slew rate of over 5°/per second.

Power Management - Redesigned electronics deliver constant regulated power to the motor capable of driving the telescope even when not perfectly balanced. This allows the CGE Pro to have the payload capacity of that of much larger (and expensive) mounts without sacrificing smooth tracking motion and pointing accuracy across the entire sky.

Accuracy - The hallmark of any telescope mount is its ability to find, center and track celestial objects with the highest degree of accuracy.

Pointing - With just a standard hand control alignment, CGE Pro has the ability to center a star in your eyepiece or ccd chip to within 5 arc minutes. Using NexStar's advanced pointing features such as Calibration Stars, Sync and Precise GoTo, further improves the pointing accuracy to as low as 1 arc minute in the desired region of the sky.

Tracking - With larger .75" pitch diameter worm, precision made cut-steel gears in gearboxes, and seven slot skewed armature motors the CGE Pro delivers typical tracking performance of +-9 arc seconds, which can be further reduced with the mounts permanent periodic error correction (PPEC).

In addition to these improvements, the Celestron line of German Equatorial mounts has long been recognized for features preferred by visual observers and astrophotographer alike. Among them include:

Portability - Set up and transportation of the CGE Pro telescopes is made easy by separating the mount into smaller, easy-to-carry components. Unlike fork arm mounted telescopes, the CGE’s optical tubes can be quickly removed from their mounts making even the CGE Pro1400 easily assembled in minutes.

Stability - Recognized for superior stability, German Equatorial mounts place the center of gravity directly over the tripod legs and can be easily polar aligned without the use of an optional equatorial wedge. This proven design reduces the “tuning fork” vibration that can be associated with undersized fork mounts. An improved Super HD Tripod supports the CGE Pro mount. This fully extendable tripod is made from the finest 2.75" stainless steel and can be raised to a height of 55". The tripod uses a dual leg support for maximum rigidity with an upper leg brace to provide an outward preload and a lower leg brace providing inward tension.

Balance - CGE Pro equatorial mounts can easily be balanced in both axes. Simply sliding the counterweight for Right Ascension and moving the optical tube along its dovetail mounting for Declination accomplish balancing the weight of camera equipment and other visual accessories. This means that no additional weight needs to be added to balance the telescope when additional accessories are added.

Clearance - CGE Pro mounts support their tubes at a single contact point allowing the tube to move freely around its polar axis without making contact with the telescope’s mount. Software features allow the user to set the mounts slew limits to guaranty safe motion. This is particularly useful when adding photographic and CCD instruments that extend from the rear of the telescopes.

All CGE mounted telescopes are compatible with Celestron’s CN-16 GPS accessory. Combine the GPS and built-in real time clock and these telescopes will keep track and remember their exact location and time without having to enter the information into the hand control."

[Gabby76]

If this would be your first GEM it may not be a good choice depending on your needs  

Read some reviews about them, they do have some issues that may or may not bother you  

Another thing to think about is that the mount is quite tall  

With the tripod at its lowest position, the saddle plate is around 5.5 feet.

 

[HenryFitz]

9 hours ago, Gabby76 said:

If this would be your first GEM it may not be a good choice depending on your needs  

Read some reviews about them, they do have some issues that may or may not bother you  

Another thing to think about is that the mount is quite tall  

With the tripod at its lowest position, the saddle plate is around 5.5 feet.

 

5'5" , then I will be using my one feet high little chair to stand upon

[MarsG76]

I have the CGEM and I'm very happy with it... much more managable... much cheaper.... great mount, even for astrophotography upto 2000mm FL.

Look at the CGX-L mount if you're wanting to spend that sort of money... if I'd be looking at upgrading, this is the mount I'd be looking at.

 

[cotak]

Cge pro is a bad choice for almost anyone today and not really worth 5000.

Mostly because getting replacement parts is becoming quite hard. You are essentially risking buying a heavy paper weight.

 

[Gabby76]

The mount is a bit of a beast really, personally I feel there are better options especially at this price point depending on what your requirements are. 

Luckily I only borrowed the one I tried. 

Being 5’ tall, trying to place a 30lb refractor on it was a disaster waiting to happen. 

Edited April 25, 2019 by Gabby76

[cotak]

Similar vintage and capacity would be the eq8 and i have seen used ones less than that CGE pro.

[starbob707]

Way overpriced. They pop up on astromart all  the time for much less.   The CGX would be a much better buy. Even the CGEM on sell now is a nice mount that many have used to get very nice images.  The pro was just a bad design by Celestron.

[Bukko]

I think it is reasonable to say the cge-pro is now obsolete and replaced by the cgx. The equivalent capacity is the cgx-l.

These things are pretty big, so I assume you are planning on mounting a pretty substatial scope on it?

Here is a link to a good UK supplier if this is the one you really want.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-mounts/celestron-cgx-l-equatorial-mount-tripod.html

Good luck with your choice.

Gordon.