Celestron CPC925GPS Arrived!

[Brinders]

As some may be aware, I have sold my Celestron 9.25 SCT OTA and EQ6 Pro mount for two reasons:-

• I wanted something that would be quicker and easier to take down after an observing session and;
  

• I wanted something where I didn’t need to polar align because the trees in my neighbours garden are now beginning to obscure Polaris.
  

Just after I bought he EQ6Pro, I had my doubts about it suitability, largely because of its weight, the length of time it took to break down in to its constituent parts and the necessity to at least do a rough polar align each session. However, I really wanted the Celestron C9.25 because of it almost legendary reputation both for lunar/planetary imaging and observing. But even then I knew the scope I really wanted was the CPC925, but 18 months ago it was priced beyond my reach.

Well, with a heavy heart I decided the EQ6 Pro had to go and that I might be better off settling for a dobsonian or going down in aperture and opting for the CPC800 as a compromise. A buyer for the scope and mount was found (cheers Herakles) and so off it went north of the border.

Cash now available, I started researching further to ensure I was buying the right scope and was ready to order the CPC800GPS from FLO, when bu**er me, is that the CPC925GPS I see at a mere £450 more than the CPC800? My eyes must be deceiving me! A call to Steve at FLO on Tuesday confirmed that that was so. After a conversation about the weight (although I think I was going to buy anyway) and the practicality of setting up the scope on my own, the order (together with an astrozap dew shield) was made.

On Wednesday the scope arrived earlier than originally promised. However, worryingly, the cartons had been knocked about a little and appear to have been re-taped up, so out came the camera and I photographed each stage of opening the boxes and setting up the scope in my dining room in case there was a problem. But no worries, the scope was fine and how beautiful she looks as you can see from the pics.

In my opinion the OTA is better made than my original and in perfect gloss black (or piano black as Samsung call it for their LCD TVs) it looks simply stunning. The optics appear to be great: no dust or dirt to be seen and the XLT coatings evenly applied. The true test, of course, will be first light, but that may be some time off judging by our present weather! Watching the local BBC weather, it seems Monday night might be my earliest opportunity. In the meantime I have had a play, but being indoors I cannot get a GPS signal, but I have done a “pretend” 3 star alignment and everything seems fine.

Purely on the aesthetics front, Celestron seem to have gone to town on these scopes. There is an orange anodized surround to the focus knob and the feet of the very substantial tripod are finished anodized orange too. The scope tube is a perfect gloss black and the equally substantial 8X50 finder scope is of far better quality than the “toy” 6X30 on my original C9.25 OTA and easier to adjust. I am equally sure that the black paint inside the tube is darker and nearer to black than in the C9.25, which looked rather more grey than black. The GPS is a nice addition and the and the Nexremote software which comes with this scope looks impressive; it seems my scope will speak to me when hooked up to my laptop – how cool is that? Celestron have also provided a far longer 12v cable than Skywatcher did with the EQ6 Pro. The Skywatchers’s was about 8 foot long at best – Celestron’s is a very generous 30 foot at least!

I do have two criticisms:-

• The base of the mount is silver painted plastic which, if looked at critically, isn’t evenly applied over the whole mount. I can also predict from past experience of silver painted plastic that as the years go by that the paint will eventually deteriorate and reveal the colour of the base plastic underneath. I understand why Celestron have painted it silver, it does give the scope a high tech look and contrasts nicely with the black; but from a practical point of view, it may have been better to leave it in the self colour of the plastic (grey);
  

• The front dust cover on the C9.25 was a substantial metal bin lid affair that simply pulled-off. The cover on the CPC9.25GPS is a rather less substantial plastic offering with the Celestron “C” logo embossed on the front and I had difficulty removing it (there was no mention of it in the manual) until I remembered the Sky at Night review of the CPC800 which said it was a bayonet fit. Sure enough a quick turn and the cover came free – but I still prefer the bin lid of the C9.25!
  

Those two minor criticisms aside, I have great hopes for this scope and all the accessories I had for my old one will fit this. Further, because it is only in two parts (mount with scope permanently attached and tripod) it should be a lot quicker to put away – I just have to build up some upper body strength!

Many thanks to Steve at FLO for such quick friendly service and advice.

Roll on clear skies and let me have first light with this little American beauty!

Brinders

[dweller25]

Very nice, look forward to 1st light report tonight !!!

[Brinders]

Hi David,

Not much chance of first light tonight I'm afraid after watching the local weather forecast on the beeb. Rain for Blackpool - no surprise really since it's the illumination switch-on tonight.

[TheThing]

Wow, what a lovely looking thing she is!

Roll on first light. hope she's everything, and more, that you expect of her.

[red dwalf]

Fantastic scope, have Celestron reduced prices ? noticed that the 9.25" on the goto mount has come down also in price to around £1449, looks a bargain when the scope alone retails for something like £1600 notes, where does there logic come from ?

[red dwalf]

how does this 9.25" Celestron compair to the other version for the gt5 mount ?

are the scopes the same, and is it just cosmeticly different ?

[Brinders]

"Fantastic scope, have Celestron reduced prices ? noticed that the 9.25" on the goto mount has come down also in price to around £1449, looks a bargain when the scope alone retails for something like £1600 notes, where does there logic come from ?"

Hi, yes they have. I remember last year that the CPC800 was over £1600, but can't recall the price of the CPC925 but do remember it was well over the £2,000 max I wanted to spend which, made it cheaper to buy the C9.25 OTA and the EQ6 pro mount and keep within budget. The CPC series didn't have GPS then either!

Earlier this year, out of curiosity, I recall seeing a price of about £3500 for the CPC925. FLOs site shows that there have been two price reductions, first to £2790 and now to £1899.99 -although Steve wasn't able to offer an SLG discount on that discounted price! So a relative bargain. If you want one, now seems to be the time to buy.

Brinders

[Ben Ritchie]

Really nice - looks like you've got a crayford focuser on it? how's the clearance with the OTA near the zenith?

Fantastic scope, have Celestron reduced prices ? noticed that the 9.25" on the goto mount has come down also in price to around £1449, looks a bargain when the scope alone retails for something like £1600 notes, where does there logic come from ?

Prices do seem very keen for these, David Hinds has the NexStar 11 at £2k too, another one I don't understand as the 11" OTA is more expensive!

[Brinders]

how does this 9.25" Celestron compair to the other version for the gt5 mount ?

are the scopes the same, and is it just cosmeticly different ?

Hello again. The OTAs are supposed to be optically identical. Both built in Tottrence CA I believe. The differences should only be cosmetic. Black for the OTA on the CPC series and grey for the OTA sold on it own or with the CG5 mount.

When I was exploring my options originally, I was advised by many on this forum that the CG5 mount wasn't really up to the job of supporting the C9.25 so went for the EQ6Pro mount instead. I note, however, that if you want the OTA only, then you are well advised to buy it with the CG5 mount because the mount and scope together retail for £1449 whereas the OTA on its own is more expensive at £1555. Bizarre, but true! You could then sell on the mount if you didn't want it.

Brinders

[red dwalf]

noticed this very point myself, does look a real bargain on the goto mount, have noticed that this mount will take the 11" sct scope so should be well within its range with the 9.24"

should be better for photo use also being on a eq mount

[Brinders]

Really nice - looks like you've got a crayford focuser on it? how's the clearance with the OTA near the zenith?

Prices do seem very keen for these, David Hinds has the NexStar 11 at £2k too, another one I don't understand as the 11" OTA is more expensive!

Yes I have the same SCT crayford focuser I used on my old C9.25 and there is no problem clearing the mount at the zentih with the focuser at maximum extension. In fact there's bags of room - I assume to allow for the 11" OTA when sold as the CPC11GPS.

Yes I have noticed the Nexstar 11 on the Hinds site, but without going back and checking, I think you will find it is refurbished and possibly secondhand. Also it is no longer being produced by Celestron, I assume becasue the CPC series as made it redundant. However if you really want an 11" scope it seems to be a bargain.

Caution though, if you need to erect the scope and mount and take it down on your own each session, you will require help becuase of the sheer weight. This is the advise I had from Steve at FLO when I discussed the CPC series with him.

Brinders

[Brinders]

noticed this very point myself, does look a real bargain on the goto mount, have noticed that this mount will take the 11" sct scope so should be well within its range with the 9.24"

should be better for photo use also being on a eq mount

Many believe that the CG5 is simply not up to supporting the C11 unless you are prepared to put up with a lot of vibration and certainly not much good for even planetary imaging - just passing on the advice I have received.

Brinders

[Herakles]

Just noticed this ! You must be well chuffed that you were able to get the 9 1/4 GPS over the C8 when I was down you're way. Congrats on getting it mate I wish you clear skies and many many hours of enjoyable hours using it .

The C9 1/4 ( non GPS ! lol ) has still to be used properly in anger up here ( working nights and bad skies sadly ) .

Got a few extra bits and bobs for it ( see sig line ) but can I ask , what was the make/model of the crayford focuser you used with it , I am looking at getting one to complete the refurb.

[Brinders]

Just noticed this ! You must be well chuffed that you were able to get the 9 1/4 GPS over the C8 when I was down you're way. Congrats on getting it mate I wish you clear skies and many many hours of enjoyable hours using it .

The C9 1/4 ( non GPS ! lol ) has still to be used properly in anger up here ( working nights and bad skies sadly ) .

Got a few extra bits and bobs for it ( see sig line ) but can I ask , what was the make/model of the crayford focuser you used with it , I am looking at getting one to complete the refurb.

Hi,

Sorry only just seen your post (I've been away).

The Crayford was obtained from Smart Astronomy in New York via their Ebay shop when the dollar/pound ratio was much more favourable than it is now. Although it has Smart Astronomy's name on it, it is actually a GSO product and I suspect very similar to other brands such as Revelation.

[recceranger]

Hi,

How is the CPc 925 doing? Have you tried any AP with it?

FAB

[Andymarrison]

Congrats on the 925 - I couldn't stretch to the 925 so got the 800 instead, but I'm really happy with it so far (only had it a couple of months). What's the advantage of the Crayford focuser? I'm very new to this stuff, but am keen to learn!

[Brinders]

Hi Recceranger and Andymarrison. You will note my post is from 2007, and so yes, I have done some astro photography with the scope and many examples will be found on the lunar and and planetary forums. Unfortunately, due to ill health, I have not been able to do much astronomy in recent months.

Type Brinders into the forum search engine and you should find my posts.

Here are two from the recent past when I made the effort to capture Mars and Saturn:-

http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=184262&highlight=Brindershttp://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=184264&highlight=Brinders

http://stargazerslounge.com/showthread.php?t=184264&highlight=Brinders

The advantage of the Crayford focuser is that it allows you to fine focus without mirror flop, which is problem on SCTs

Brinders

[recceranger]

Brinders,

Class images. Looks like you can do good AP with the CPc!

Many thanks

[Brinders]

^{Yes. its fine for planetary with a web cam, but not much use for long exposures otherwise you get star trailing unless you use a wedge (which I don't have).}

^Brinders