SE TO CPC

[Gadget]

hi all

Just thought I would give my impressions of my move from my 8SE to a CPC 9.25 GPS

After having my 8SE for almost a year I started to think I wanted something else but at this point I was not really sure what I wanted, Maybe something a bit bigger or even a move a EQ mounted system but I must admit I was a little worried that a EQ mount would eat into my viewing time with all the set up involved as the 8SE was always up and running in about 6 or 7 mins But im sure with all the advice available here I would have sussed the EQ mount out in no time really so it was still on the back burner as an option

While I was still thinking what to get a rather nice CPC 9.25 came up for sale from a fellow member and the bonus being it was a 5min drive from me so I just had to take a look as I had not seen one of these in the flesh before so the arrangements were made and to be honest I was not expecting it to be much different size wise to my 8SE

Wow was the first thought that popped into my head when I first saw it the bulk of this scope was so much more than I thought it would be the tripod and fork arms were much much bigger than I expected and in beautiful condition it just looked new but at this point I could not make any offers as I had yet to still sell my set up

But as luck would have it the gardener had started to show an interest in my scope so I invited him round one evening for a viewing session and to show him how it all worked after seeing a few star clusters and various DSO,s he was hooked and wanted it and took the lot a few days later

How lucky was that someone just up the road buying my setup and a lovely 9.25 for sale within a 5 min drive anyway before I knew it the 8SE was gone and there was a nice CPC 9.25 GPS sitting in its place!

Now for the nitty gritty

Size and Stability etc

The 8SE looks very nice when all set up and looks very impressive as well but I always felt it was not as solid as it could be although quite stable when set up it sort of looked bit fragile when compared to the CPC which when set up is quite a wow factor looks big,imposing and rock solid on its tripod

Setting up / goto / tracking

Both are a very easy one person set up with little practise both can be set up and tracking stuff in well under 10mins only real differences here really are the GPS on the CPC

The SE will remember location once set up but not the time and date this has to be re-entered each time you power up with the time being as accurate as you can get it really,This didn't really bother me as only takes a few mins to do anyway, but now I have the luxury of GPS when setting up and it is just a matter of powering up letting the GPS get a fix and bingo your away it is not something I would like to give up now that I have had it

Goto

Both if you take a little time on levelling your tripod and get good star alignments will put your object more or less in the middle of your eyepiece and track it very well over a good period of time. however I have found that the CPC will track a little better and keep your object in the centre of the eyepiece longer this I think is probably down to the CPC having fork arms and maybe better gearing

Motor Noise

When tracking both are almost silent however when slewing to an object a full speed the SE I thought was quite loud my sons bedrooms are above me when viewing and both say they could hear it through the double glazing this was something that bothered me when out in the garden in the early hours as it seemed even louder then, it got to the point where I would have to manually slew the scope at a lower speed to the part of the sky I wanted then let to goto finish it off

The CPC however is a different story very quite compared to the SE even the noise at full slewing speed in the early hrs will not bother anyone which I was quite happy about,This again probably down the better gears and motors

Viewing

As you would expect the differences here are not mind blowing as it is not a very big aperture jump most would say not even worth it I think there maybe small differences in the set up of the OTA's other than the small size but I believe this is aimed at astrophotography rather than visual

But nerveless there are visual differences I have had the chance to use both side by side now and I can say the views are better

On planets both are excellent but the 9.25 it is a little sharper with more contrast a definite improvement that I was pleased with

DSO's once again both excellent but the 9.25 gave much sharper pin point stars and open clusters looked allot more pleasing when we started to view the fainter DSO's the 9.25 did start to pull away a bit more as you would expect with the little extra light gathering power it has

I am very very pleased with my CPC 9.25 and wont give it up easy and reckon it will keep me going for a few yours now before I start straying again

Hope you enjoyed my little story

Kevin

[red dwalf]

very nice scope and a good write up too, very informative, thanks

[steve_bham]

Great write up, im saving the old pennies as we speak and want to get an 8" SCT and was toying between the SE or the CPC.

SO your write up has been very informative. Is your CPC transportable easily if you have the carry case?

[Gadget]

Hi Steve

The 8SE is deffo the more transportable of the 2 as it will break down into a smaller package tripod,forkarm,ota but the CPC is quite bulky as the ota stays in the forkarms it is not a problem for me as I have a large MPV vehicle and can put tripod in back and arms&ota on front seat with seatbelt round it so you do need a large vehicle with doors that open wide

Saying that the price difference at HARRISONS is only £150 betwwen the 8SE and CPC800 and you do get alot more than that small increase would suggest

Anyway whatever you decide to go for you will be very pleased with it both are very good scopes

Good luck with your saving

All the best

Kevin

[Questions]

Nice review (I'm jealous).

[BlueAstra]

Good review. I agonised over an 8se and cpc800 about a year ago. My interests were in photography, so I decided an 8se would be more versatile since I could use it as an 8se for visual or put the tube on an EQ6 for photography. If I were purely visual, the cpc series would have been my weapon of choice!

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Nice write-up. The C9.25 has the smaller central obstruction of the two (it is F/11, not F/10), which accounts for the sharper image. Personally, I would always go for a German equatorial mount. I set up my mount for visual work in about 5 minutes, and perhaps 10 minutes for better polar alignment when doing photography. With a good polar finder this is really much easier than declination drift and similar cumbersome methods. The mount also breaks down into manageable sized components (MUCH more so than the fork-mounts I have seen).

Have fun with the C9.25!!

[Gadget]

Nice write-up. The C9.25 has the smaller central obstruction of the two (it is F/11, not F/10), which accounts for the sharper image. Personally, I would always go for a German equatorial mount. I set up my mount for visual work in about 5 minutes, and perhaps 10 minutes for better polar alignment when doing photography. With a good polar finder this is really much easier than declination drift and similar cumbersome methods. The mount also breaks down into manageable sized components (MUCH more so than the fork-mounts I have seen).

Have fun with the C9.25!!

Thanks Michael

No doubt at some point I will get a EQ mount as this was the route I was looking at when sold the 8SE a CPC9.25 was not really on my list of possible's it was only a nice one came up so close to me

I did want a 180 PRO mak on a EQ set up as I just keep reading so many good things about it on its planetary performance but if I at some point am able to get a second set-up going even though I would still like one I very much doubt there is enough difference on the 2 to really justify the cost

do love the 9.25 though its a great scope

So maybe a big dob to go with it

Kevin

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I would opt for getting an EQ mount for the C9.25. It is likely to beat the Skymax 180 on planets (surely on DSOs), and saves you getting a second set-up (and possibly strife with the missus )

[davy999]

Just a quick question, does the 9.25 take 1.25 or 2" eps?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

It should take either: my C8 can after a cheap mod with a Baader 2" visual back (EUR 60 as I recall). You can also get 2" focusing units (Crayford) for SCTs.

[mark7331]

Excellent review. Sounds like a brilliant scope.