second night with new cpc 925.

[durr]

Well I had my second night with the new CPC 925 and this time it performed really well. I tried various cables and all of them worked except for the one supplied by Celestron,which sent the telescope all over the place. I did a two star align (Arcturus & Vega) and went to M3 which was almost dead center with my 15mm vixen, again tried M13 and M27 and all were spot on. Anyone any ideas why the Celestron cable will not work even after widening the pins slightly? I use a 12v psu from Rother valley which is superb. The mount is rock steady and I had it up ready to go in just a few minutes and it is so easy to take down. Altogether very well pleased this telescope and once again many thanks for the help. Steve

[Nexus 6]

Hi Steve,

if you have only just bought your 925 then I would contact the supplier who will replace the faulty cable you have. It could be that you just have a poor connection due to poor soldering etc and at least its only a cable and not the scope!

I would advise that you plug your psu into an rcd to protect your scope in case of any electrical problems with your mains supply just to be on the safe side

Clear Skies

Alan

[brianb]

Just a tip with the cable (even a good one) - tack the top end of it to the fork with electrical tape so that the connector doesn't get strained when the mount rotates in azimuth.

[Psychobilly]

As Brian say ... I Make a small loop of loose cable then fix the cable to the mount .. usign Duct tape what else.... after all it's duct tape and not dark matter/dark energy etc that holds the universe toghether...

[durr]

Thanks for the tips gents I have now acted on all of them with a trip installed and cables nicely tied up just in case. I was out till the early hours last night and went through galaxies,double stars, variable stars, clusters and globular clusters and slept like a log. The accuracy is superb you just sit and wait for the slewing to stop and there it is, it saves so much time for pure observing with the naked eye. I love it.

[Doc]

I'm so tempted to trade in my LB 16" for one of these, but am so confused by the pro's and cons

[durr]

Mick, I bought this telescope because you can literally have it up and running within minutes and the same applies when you have finished it comes down quickly. The tracking and goto are superb so much less time wasted searching for objects. I have a Watec 120+n which is a very sensitive mono camera that can pick objects out that are invisable even when looking through the eyepiece, but you also need a good quality monitor to go with this. The downside is that unless you have an equatorial wedge long exposure photography is not possible. This is the telescope I have been searching for. Also get a good observing stool and away you go.

[Doc]

I'm finding that since I've been diagnosed with heart trouble and Lupus I'm struggling with the 16" LB's weight, what my ambition would be if I had one of these scopes is eventually to get a mallincam and monitor and do video capture to get these faint fuzzies.

By all accounts it's quite light and easy to set up, just what I want.

[brianb]

By all accounts it's quite light

Not a description I would agree with ... I have a CPC1100 and, though I can manage it easily enough, if it was 10% heavier it would be a real struggle.

[Coco]

Wrap the last 12 " of the power lead around the carrying handle, put some tape on it and that will take the strain away from the socket, That plug is a nightmare

How many times did I have re polar align my CPC before I figured it out

Guy..

[Doc]

Not a description I would agree with ... I have a CPC1100 and, though I can manage it easily enough, if it was 10% heavier it would be a real struggle.

How much difference between the 9.25 and the 11 though Brian.

[brianb]

How much difference between the 9.25 and the 11 though

Not all that much, the tube is the only difference - and that's a small fraction of the 65lb mount/tube assembly (CPC1100). IIRC the CPC800 is 56lb and the CPC925 60lb. The tripod is extra ...

I don't want to put you off, it feels less than that & the weight gives a good solid base which allows the optics to perform ... but lightweight it ain't.

[Doc]

Alot less them a fully assembled 16" LB

[Psychobilly]

Mick,

Wouldn't you miss the sheer light grasp of the 16" ? I suppose a sensitive integrating cam like a Minitron would help out there though...

In Alt/Az the CPC series are a doddle to put on and off the tripod especially if you don't add quite as much carp as I have added to mine...

Peter..

[Doc]

I would miss that so much Peter the sheer light grasp is amazing but on top of everything I have now been diagnosed with Lupus and on bad days I just cannot physically move the beast, it puts so much stress on my back and knees that it feels really painful.

When I'm feeling good it's not to bad to move and I have hours of pleasure from it.

It very rarely gets took down our dark site, again only when I'm feeling really well.

The idea was to compensate for aperture with a mallincam/minitron/watec which if the cloudynights forum is correct can go very deep indeed. I can then set it up so I can control it and look at the images on TV from the comfort of the conservatory even when I'm feeling a bit down.

[Psychobilly]

Sorry to hear that Mick

Bung the CPC on a scope buggy and your onto a winner.. Celestrons Autoalign just works... any 3 bright objects and off to go you dont even have to know what they are...(not that a season visual observer like yourself would have any ID probs anyway) could probably even do it remotely through an electronic finder and Nexremote...

Just remeber you would be lifting a good old fashioned sack of spuds and a bit more up onto the tripod.. but with better ergonomics...

Peter...

[Doc]

I'm going to get this heart by pass out of the way first and see if it makes a huge difference to how I feel, if it does OK I'll see how I cope with the LB, if not then I'm going to trade it in and think seriously about a CPC.

[Nexus 6]

Doc

I have to agree with Brian on the issue of weight at least when it comes to my 925. I have been pretty ill myself over the last 3 weeks and as such have not had the strength to move the thing. It is a brilliant scope and I am really happy with it, quick set up and take down, its just that it is a handfull to pickup to move!

I hope you get well and good luck if you decide to buy one but seriously consider the weight.

Clear skies

Alan