Is this an upgrade?

[Back40]

I currently have a Celestron 8se Orange OTA with the fork arm mount that comes with it. I have been wanting to upgrade to an EQ mount. I found i guy who has a Meade LX 50 EDC 10" sct with a Celestron CGEM DX mount and tripod. Are there any issues with this Meade scope and Celestron mount that I should be concerned about? Do u think I would be better off with this set up than I am with my 8SE? Oh and I understand it is like a Ford vs Chevy debate, however is the Meade scope superior to the Celestron 8 se?

[Cosmic Geoff]

Why do you want an EQ mount? The only obvious reason is for deep-space astrophotography, and the C8 is not particularly suited for this unless you are an expert imager wanting to capture smaller objects. 

The Meade 10" is obviously bigger.  So far as I know, Meade optics are good, but so are Celestron SCT optics.

[Back40]

I do love imaging and I know a faster refractor is better for this but I wasn't looking to upgrade the ota just yet. However I saw this deal and thought I could get a bigger aperture and an eq mount at a "good" price. 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

My Celestron C8 sits very nicely on an EQ mount, and has done so for decades, so I can see why you would like it. I have looked through a 10" Meade SCT and was rather shocked at the bad image, thought this couldn't be right, defocused the scope and spotted it was WAY off collimation. With proper collimation it should be a step up from the C8. I have a Meade Schmidt-Newtonian myself which is fine, so Meade can do good optics. The CGEM-DX is a pretty solid mount by all accounts

[John]

The Meade 10 will be a modest upgrade if it is a decent one and in good collimation. Its not going to be a big upgrade in performance though.

You would also be trading a very portable and easy to handle 8 inch setup for a very heavy and unwieldy setup. Both the Meade 10 inch and the CGEM DX mount are really heavy items. We have a couple of 10 inch Meade's in my Astro Society and having set them up myself a couple of times, I'm always surprised how much heavier they are than the 8 inch SCT's.

 

 

[CCD-Freak]

I have a Meade 10" LX50 OTA and it performs well.  It is very much heavier than an 8" so portability will suffer.  I think the CGEM-DX will handle it OK.  As you can see from the picture it is much larger than an 8" SCT so I put it on my AP900 mount.  Great combo for visual.