CPC 1100 too heavy for me?

[George Jones]

I have a NexStar 8SE, and for some time I have been considering getting a CPC 1100. I would dearly love to have a CPC 1100, (I would also keep my NexStar), but I am somewhat worried about the weight of the OTA/mount.

My specs: I will be 60 next month; I am 5' 5'' tall; I weigh 130 pounds; I am in good physical condition, and I don't mind lugging somewhat heavy stuff.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

[johninderby]

I used to have one.

The OTA and mount weigh 65lbs and have to be placed precisely on the tripod which can be a bit tricky as it doesn’t just drop into place unless it’s perfectly centered. It helps to have a “spotter” who can watch as you are lowering it into postion and make sure you are right over the pin when you set it down.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by johninderby

[Nerf_Caching]

24 minutes ago, George Jones said:

I have a NexStar 8SE, and for some time I have been considering getting a CPC 1100. I would dearly love to have a CPC 1100, (I would also keep my NexStar), but I am somewhat worried about the weight of the OTA/mount.

My specs: I will be 60 next month; I am 5' 5'' tall; I weigh 130 pounds; I am in good physical condition, and I don't mind lugging somewhat heavy stuff.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Not sure about weight but I've been lucky enough to see one in person in a Japanese showroom and boy is it huge. It's larger than what photos depict so you might want to have somebody watching you lift and carry the beast.

[garryblueboy]

I had the Edge CPC 11 it was a heavy scope as John says I got rid of due to that fact  and have now just brought another 😂 

Edited October 18, 2020 by garryblueboy

[Cosmic Geoff]

I have a CPC800 and at my pensionable age I would not want to be handling a heavier scope.  A CPC1100 would be great in a permanent location, I should think. 

Depending what you want it for, you could have a C11 on another kind of mount, which would enable you to shift it in two or three more manageable lumps.

[DirkSteele]

I have the older Nexstar 11 GPS (previous version of the CPC) which is fork mounted.  It is quite a lump.  I am 5' 11" and go to the gym fairly often and it still an awkward lump.  It is quite heavy but that is less of the issue, rather the bulk makes it hard work.  As mentioned above, it is quite difficult to place on the tripod, though I puchased a landing pad from Starizona years ago which makes it much easier.  Don't know if a similar product is offers for the CPC series.

[johninderby]

23 minutes ago, garryblueboy said:

I had the Edge CPC 11 it was a heavy scope as John says I got rid of due to that fact 

Same here. Just a pain to set up each time. 😬

The C11 OTA on it’s own is 27.5 lbs so no lightweight but a lot more manageable.

[Peter Drew]

The C11 is fairly light as far as 11" telescopes go, it's the CPC system that makes it a heavy burden being as it is integral with the OTA.  Might be worth considering a separate OTA on a more manageable mount setup.     🙂

[Mark-V]

I got some wheels for my cpc1100 which means I can just wheel it out the garage. The wheels can lock .I would have to say I would  find if too heavy to carry on a regular basis

[Dr Strange]

It is almost 50% of what you weigh. I would not recommend it. If you want a 11" SCT I would recommend the EdgeHD 11" OTA by itself. I would add the TEMPest fans from Deep Space Products to it. They cut the cool down time on the scope by about 50%. I am speaking from personal experience here. I find the scope is useable after about 30 minutes and by useable I mean the stars are not wooly flaring messy balls. And total cool down is about an hour. This is vs. the 2+ hours that it normally takes. I would mount the scope on a Skywatcher AZ-EQ6. That way you can use it in alt/az mode for visual and not be overwhelmed by the weight and bulk of the scope. I would replace the mount's stock saddles with at least one replacement from ADM Accessories. The ADM saddle is much more robust. The other benefit of the EdgeHD is it gives APO refractor like views once properly cooled and properly collimated. 

The major benefit of both the mount and the OTA are they break down into much lighter, ergonomically friendly, and less bulky pieces. The CPC is one monolithic big bulky heavy object that you will rapidly tire of lugging about. And the most important factor in a scope that is right for you is to make sure the scope you pick is one you use. If you spend more time finding excuses not to use it than you do using it, it is not the right scope for you. And I am afraid the CPC will rapidly become one that you look for excuses not to use.

Edited July 22, 2020 by Dr Strange

[kirkster501]

What did you decide?  I'm quite a strong and tall guy and I must say the CPC1100 is quite a heavy and unwieldy beast to manoeuvre (even for me) if you have to set up and take down every time.  Doable but I would consider very carefully.  Any sort of shoulder, back, hip or knee twinge as you get older could result in issues.

Edited September 19, 2020 by kirkster501

[ollypenrice]

I've only just seen this but I used an idea found in Phil Harrington's book Star Ware. Essentially you make a triangular wooden palette to fit the footprint of the tripod. This stands on feet high enough to let you slip a sack truck under the palette. You pop a 'safety belt' around the scope to secure it to the sack truck then tip that backwards to allow you to wheel the lot to your site. (The scope-tripod is permanently attached to the palette.)

This works if your store-to-site route is flat. Like a Dalek it would be easily defeated by a spiral staircase!!!

🤣lly

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by ollypenrice

[billhinge]

12 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

 

This works if your store-to-site route is flat. Like a Dalek it would be easily defeated by a spiral staircase!!!

🤣lly

 

 

They  can levitate now 😂

[beka]

Hi George Jones, 

I am of similar height and weight to yourself and 52 years old. I just about manage to assemble the CPC 1100 on my own. I keep it on the tripod in the house, to use it I take the OTA assembly off the tripod and place it on a waist high table. Then take the tripod out, then come back in for the OTA assembly. It is fiddly placing the OTA back on the tripod outside but manageable.

Best

Edited September 18, 2020 by beka
Added age...

[Starwatcher2001]

When I was deciding whether I could handle the 9.25, I filled a canvas bag with weights to the equivilent of each of the main three components, tube, mount, tripod. I then lugged them outside and lifted the "mount" and "tube" individually for a minute or two to simulate putting it together. It says nothing about the bulkiness of the actual components of course, but gave me a good idea of what I can physically manage. I want this scope to be usable well into my retirement (60 now), and think this will be my practical limit.

[Jarvo]

I’m 48 and a bit wheezy but I’ve got an observatory. I’ve got a c9.25 set up. The thought of wheeling it out every time I wanted to use it would fill me with dread and it probably wouldn’t get used. I find it quite heavy (get to gym Jarvo I hear from the forum) .  Everybody’s different though. 

[A McEwan]

There was a video on Youtube ages ago that showed one mature observer's solution to setting up a heavy (may have been 14") SCT on the mount. I can't find it anywhere but am probably using the wrong search words! Anyway, they used a stool and had that set to the right height, so that they could put the OTA, front down, on the stool so that it was holding ALL the weight. The mount and stool would be beside each other, so that when the OTA was on the stool, it would be lined up with the mounting hardware (in vertical alignment) so that all the tightening up could be done while the user was not carrying, lifting or holding anything! Once tightened up, the OTA could be swung up, the stool moved away, and everything was set up!

The only lifting would be carrying the mount, stool and OTA out separately, and it would make the fiddly attachment much simpler if you're not trying to support a heavy dead weight at the same time.

Wish I could find that video.....

 

[nfotis]

Here's the video: