Celestron CPC 800 or Meade Lightswitch 8"?

[Johnboy]

Hi folks,

I am toying with the idea of selling my set up and changing it for either the Celestron CPC 800 or the Meade LightSwitch 8" ACF.

I realize there is more technology involved with the Meade, (auto levelling/alignment etc.) but are there any optical differences between these two scopes. I see the CPC 800 has 'Starbright XLT' coatings whereas the Meade has 'ACF' and 'U.H.T.C' coatings. Do any of you fellow SGL'ers know which may be better? I'm not sure weather paying the extra money for the Meades auto alignment feature etc. would be worth the extra £££s if the views through it would be much the same as the CPC 800.

I'm just into visual BTW.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Cheers

John

[Psychobilly]

The Meades optics with ACF and UHTC Should give a less distorted image... there a lot More technology involved in the lightswitch only seen one in the flesh havent had a look through one.. .

I have a CPC800XLT which is "abused" in terms of all the other stuff that gets hung off it ... and like it a lot...

Peter...

[kris h]

Hi John

I think they are 2 great scopes both are 8" so the optical

performance will be same both with GPS but the CPC 800 will save

you a bit of money for extra scope goodies and looks better in my

opinion a few members on here have used CPC scopes and have

nothing but good things to say about them if had to choose

between them i would get the Celestron

[shaunster]

My experience is that meade optics arent bad, but the mechanics are pretty poor.

i would go with the celestron, it gets great reveiws

[Johnboy]

Thanks everyone for your replies. They are all most helpful. I am now seriously considering the CPC, as the extra money required for the LS and it's (albiet very clever) technology just doesn't justify the extra expense in my eyes (or wallet!).

Thanks again everyone.

Cheers,

John

[RobH]

From the look of your signature, you're a visual astronomer.

ACF means 'advanced coma free'. That makes the meade a better imaging scope from an optical standpoint, but visually it won't make any real difference to you.

I would personally go for the Celestron....the Meade LS scopes are overpriced for what they are IMHO.

Cheers

Rob

[Johnboy]

From the look of your signature, you're a visual astronomer.

ACF means 'advanced coma free'. That makes the meade a better imaging scope from an optical standpoint, but visually it won't make any real difference to you.

Cheers

Rob

Hi Rob,

Ahh, That makes sense. That is very helpful info. It seems that everything is pointing nicely towards the Celestron.

Thanks again,

John

[red dwalf]

harrison telescopes have the 800 cpc for £1299 ! amazing price that might sway you,

i`ve thought twice about it myself !

[Johnboy]

harrison telescopes have the 800 cpc for £1299 ! amazing price that might sway you,

i`ve thought twice about it myself !

Hi

Yes I noticed that. Harrison are a very good company to deal with as well. Also Opticstar in Manchester have the 800 CPC at £1299 + a free offer which sounds good...

They are also fairly near to me so I could go along to their showroom and take a look.

Thanks

John

[red dwalf]

have had dealings with opticstar before,

a 1st class service, nothing was to much trouble, if you get the chance to go down there i would recommend them

[brantuk]

Those WO Binoviewers of your's are great in the CPC800. Can't speak for the Meade - no experience of it - but my CPC is superb optically and the tracking is absolutely spot on. You won't have any trouble with the aligning cos it has gps - so easy to set up - rock solid mount - beautiful bit of kit for the money.

You won't be dissapointed.

[Johnboy]

Those WO Binoviewers of your's are great in the CPC800. Can't speak for the Meade - no experience of it - but my CPC is superb optically and the tracking is absolutely spot on. You won't have any trouble with the aligning cos it has gps - so easy to set up - rock solid mount - beautiful bit of kit for the money.

You won't be dissapointed.

Cheers Kim,

That's very good to know about the Binoviewers. :icon_salut:I was wondering about them. Looks like my mind is made up. The CPC800 it is!

Thanks again to everyone for your replies.

John

[MidnightMinstrel]

Glad I found this thread, looking for a Faff Free Scope (My first scope) I more or less had it narrowed to a few, Both these scopes were in the running and I found this thread very useful, thanks folks.