New scope christening.

[Martin Whitaker]

Hi everyone,

managed to use my recently purchased Celestron cpc800 for the second time,first time manually on the moon to make sure I didn't miss , and wow what a clear night it was last night, amazing naked eye views of stars and the Milky Way, it reminded me of this summer in central France.

Any how, I did struggle quite a bit to sort out how to use the go-to and had 4 alignment failures untill I started with Polaris with the 2 star auto function,I followed controller instructions and it then slewed to the next chosen star like magic.

I saw jupiter and some moons for the first time ever, even though I have also a Meade sn 10 inch I have had lots of issues with the go-to and basically gave up using it hence the change of maufacturer.

The only thing I noticed was that the star was at the lower edge of view and I had to manually centre it.

This continued with all other targets I chose.As I packed up I did notice that the tripod had settled very slightly out of level and I presume this is why I got off centre targets.

Bit embarrasing for a lecturer in bricklaying. lol.

Any how what a joy to finally use a product which exudes quality and is easy to use, even the wife came for a look at Jupiter.

Now my enthusiasm is rekindled.

Any other ideas on the off-centre tagets.

Cheers.

[brantuk]

Well Martin - make sure it's level is allways a good idea - set up on a solid surface like patio flagstones or the like - if on grass you could put something firm under each leg to spread the weight.

If you let it cool down for an hour and switch on for the last 20-25mins you'll have 3 satellite lock ons no problem and it'll be ready to go.

Use bright stars to align - doesn't matter if you don't know what they are - and center in the ep using slightly higher powers eg 10mm, 12mm or 15mm - you can even use the centre of the moon and it'll be accurate. Use widespread stars - I do a big triangle east to west sometimes including polaris.

If you have to recentre anything after a while - just replace one of the alignment stars with the newly centred one and your accuracy will be back on track.

Persuade someone to get you binoviewers for Xmas lol - you won't regret it - if you do - get some winged ep guards to go with.

Smashing scope!!

[Brinders]

Hi everyone,

managed to use my recently purchased Celestron cpc800 for the second time,first time manually on the moon to make sure I didn't miss , and wow what a clear night it was last night, amazing naked eye views of stars and the Milky Way, it reminded me of this summer in central France.

Any how, I did struggle quite a bit to sort out how to use the go-to and had 4 alignment failures untill I started with Polaris with the 2 star auto function,I followed controller instructions and it then slewed to the next chosen star like magic.

I saw jupiter and some moons for the first time ever, even though I have also a Meade sn 10 inch I have had lots of issues with the go-to and basically gave up using it hence the change of maufacturer.

The only thing I noticed was that the star was at the lower edge of view and I had to manually centre it.

This continued with all other targets I chose.As I packed up I did notice that the tripod had settled very slightly out of level and I presume this is why I got off centre targets.

Bit embarrasing for a lecturer in bricklaying. lol.

Any how what a joy to finally use a product which exudes quality and is easy to use, even the wife came for a look at Jupiter.

Now my enthusiasm is rekindled.

Any other ideas on the off-centre tagets.

Cheers.

I have the CPC925GPS and find (as I did with the C9.25 on a an EQ6 Pro I had previously) that it is rare to get the target dead centre, but it is usually within the field of view of a 25 mm eyepiece.

I usually use the three star alignment routine and rarely have any problem. I also sync with an alignment star in the area of the sky I am interested in from time to time if I am going from target to target. I also think it important to ensure the tripod is properly levelled - this may be your problem.

Hope that helps,

Brinders

[mjn321]

On the CPC800 does the GPS start searching when you just switch on the scope or do you have to select the alignment method to activate it? Is there a way of telling if the GPS has been updated.

[Martin Whitaker]

Hi, there thanks for your suggestions brantuk and Brinders, I did have the tripod on the lawn, and did follow the 'tour' and scpope did slew 360 degrees quite a few times, so will place tripod feet on timper pads untill I decide if I am either altering a small shed to have a roll of roof or to concrete a level base to stand on.

I will also try what you say with regards to re alignment and eye piece mag.

[Questions]

Well done mate, I just had my cpc 800 delivered 2 days ago, but nightshifts havent allowed me the chance to do anything apart from stare at it in awe.

any pointers you can give me?

[Martin Whitaker]

Hi Questions, not realy as its new to me also, I suppose it's a good Idea if you can to print a seperate copy of the manual from celestrons site as you may find it gets soggy with the dew.

I did have to use a hair drier quite quickly as I am keeping the scope in my house and there is a big temp. differance.

Going to buy a DEW NOT system as I dont think I can make one.

Using a 95 amp hr deep cycle battery so should have lots of power reserve.

Thats about it for my limited experience with it so far.

Cheers.

[Martin Whitaker]

Hi mjn 321, not sure about the gps, I think its a good idea to turn it on for 30 mins prior to use.

Cheers.

[Martin Whitaker]

Hi brantuk, do you use a focal reducer with your cpc, I did notice a difference compared to my 10 inc schmidt newt, a much narrower field of view than I was expecting.

Not sure about asking for bino veiwers as I am getting a Dew Not system.

I wonder if the 10 inc band will work on the 8 inc cpc or will there be issues with over heating on the cpc, any ideas on this.

Cheers.

[Buzz Dark Night]

Hello Martin

I got a new CPC800 GPS on Tuesday and have not had chance to use it yet so was quite interested in your first impressions and the replies from other users.

The cloud situation looks promising for Saturday night here in Lincolnshire so, fingers crossed, I will get chance to use my CPC. I was lucky enough to get a set of William Optics Binoviewers following a post written by Brantuk (a fellow CPC 800 owner) so will let you know what I think to them also.

Buzz