About to spend a big wodge of cash!

[BlueAstra]

I have an 8se, but I do not carry it together. It comes in 3 parts, the OTA, goto head and tripod. The goto head is permanently on the tripod, but the OTA I leave detached and carry separately. Its very easy to clip the OTA dovetail into the goto head and tighten the screw. A red dot finder (I think it comes with one, not sure because I replaced mine some time ago) is very useful for initial alignment to point the scope close to the first or second star, then fine tune through the EP. I level it with a small bubble level before alignment, but it doesn't need to be too critical.

To be honest, although setup time is quick with the 8se, I can setup the OTA on my EQ6 Pro almost as quick. With the 8se you set the tripod, mount the OTA, level, star align, observe. With the EQ6 you set the tripod (spots marked on patio), mount the oTA, level, visual polar align, star align, observe. The EQ6 setup is only marginally longer, and I guess the same comment would apply to any other Equi mount with goto and a polarscope.

[jonathan]

I think the 8SE Goto mount will probably only be suitable for other SCT OTAs as there just wouldn't be room for a long reflector or refractor, besides the gearing is no doubt set up for a short tube of specific weight and I wouldn't want to strain them. For longer telescopes you'll probably need a better mount, either Alt or EQ, one that looks more like the Skywatcher HEQ mounts which have no restrictions for tube length.

You could no doubt fit other SCTs, smaller or the same size, providing they have a dovetail fitting. A smaller SCT might give better views of certain objects than an 8 inch one using the same eye pieces, from what I've read.

[legion48]

Have you seen this?

In the For Sale section :Celestron Nextstar 8 GPS with various bit and bobs.... £750.

http://stargazerslounge.com/sale/114438-testing-water.html

[RobH]

Don't waste your money on the dewshield. They are floppy heavy things and you can make your own for a fiver from a camping mat, and it'll be more effective and very much lighter.

I bought a commercial one for my old 14 inch SCT and it was a waste of space.

Cheers

Rob

[Gilps]

Have you seen this?

In the For Sale section :Celestron Nextstar 8 GPS with various bit and bobs.... £750.

http://stargazerslounge.com/sale/114438-testing-water.html

I would love to, but I haven't got enough posts yet to be able to view it. I'm sure I'll have bought something by the time I get to 50.

[brantuk]

For those who asked and no-one in particular:

The CPC is a doddle to move around. Yes it's heavy but it has very convenient lifting points and you barely have to bend your back. You won't want to lift it with the tripod on however. Not only is the combined weight around 65lbs but the tripod is best levelled on it's own first. Then it's simplicity to place the scope on top.

It's a beautiful scope in all respects - near observatory class, the optics are brilliant and set up is a piece of cake - plug in switch on and 15 mins later you're ready to align (it gps's on 3 satellites that need to pass by first).

It takes about 45mins to an hour to cool down - for best observing. And the handset is most user friendly and intuitive - you don't even need to know which alignment stars you're pointing at - any three and it's set.

The only down side is the fully comprehensive but sometimes confusing manual, and the fact that it needs a wedge for astro photography of dso's (which is a whole nuther lifting proposition requiring a helper to set up).

It's a lot of scope for a very reasonable price nowadays - I'd be torn to ever part with mine - just love it in all respects

(sorry to go on - I just enjoy talking about my best scope sooooo much lol)

[jonathan]

Thank you all for your advice in this thread and others, it's really been useful to me.

Just ordered the following:

From Maplins:

5-in-1 Maplins power tank

From First Light Optics:

Celestron NexStar 8SE

Meade ND96 Moon Filter

AstroZap flexible dew shield

AstroZap Dew Heater Tape

AstroZap Dual Channel Dew Heater Controller

Hopefully that little lot will be enough to get me started, will look at eye pieces later, although if anyone has any specific recommendations (brand, type/model) for this telescope I'm all ears.

Now to get my warm clothing ready...

[ollypenrice]

If you have any aspirations to do any deep sky imaging it will be more difficult using the kit you have listed. It would be fine for observing and imaging the Moon and planets.

It's long focal length and slow focal ratio number would make it's more demanding for imaging DSO's.

I first started off by buying a large 10" SCT Alt/azimuth mount wanting to image with it but quickly found that I would have to spend £500 more to buy a wedge to make it track the sky like an equatorial mount. It's something I sorely regret buying and I wish I had found SGL and all the info here before I had made my purchase.

The mistake is to buy the biggest scope you can afford thinking it will produce better pictures. It more to do with the accuracy of tracking the stars and low F number scopes. All that apeture will give you is more resolution but this is ultimately limited by the atmosphere.

Regards

Kevin

This is exactly my own experience and that of many people whom I know as friends, guests and club members...

I have nothing against SCTs for visual or planetary imaging, though.

Olly

[Ford Prefect]

Get a Hyper star compatible SCT and you have the best of both worlds

Jon

[Gilps]

I would like to add my thanks too. I have found this really useful and helpful. I'm going to be going for the same set up as Jonathan, mainly due to portability and the relatively light weight compared to the CPC. We won't be imaging so that's not an issue.

Jonathan - can I ask you why you have opted for the separate dew shield and heater tapes, as opposed to the flexi-heat dew shield which seems to be the two things combined. Is it a simply a cost thing or do the two items work better as separate items?

[jonathan]

Jonathan - can I ask you why you have opted for the separate dew shield and heater tapes, as opposed to the flexi-heat dew shield which seems to be the two things combined. Is it a simply a cost thing or do the two items work better as separate items?

I think the main reason is that I hadn't heard of the flexi-heat dew shield until you mentioned it just now.

One advantage to my choice that springs to mind is that I have a separate controller that can manage two heater tapes, which I can place anywhere required - one will go around the top end of the telescope, another (which I have not purchased) could be for the bottom end, or the eyepiece. I don't know what kind of controller comes with the flexi-heat dew shield (if it even has one), but being able to finely control the amount of heat produced and the energy used has to be better than just having the thing plugged straight into the 12V supply and running on full power, in fact I read that this can overheat the telescope and cause unwanted heat vectors.

I'm still new and still learning - if I followed all of the advice I read on here I would have several different telescopes on several different mounts by now, and would probably have given myself a nasty electric shot from a home-made dew shield heater controller! Not to mention a hernia from trying to lift a 12" Dob. There's nothing like making your own mistakes to learn stuff, but I'd rather waste some money than burn my fingers.

[Earl]

Definitely get 2-3 good eyepieces over getting a set of eyepieces.

1) you will not use them all.

2) you will replace them.

[Gilps]

I found it on the FLO site with the other Astrozap stuff. Here the link

Dew Prevention - Astrozap Flexi-Heat Dew Shields

It's slightly more expensive than the separate tapes and shield. I just wondered if it might be a neater solution. From what I can see on there it still needs a controller, so I presume with the dual channel controller another tape could be placed elsewhere.

I know what you mean about information overload. I'm 100% certain what I'm going to buy, then I keep coming on here and reading more stuff, going to check that out, and then finding myself all undecided again.

[johninderby]

It would be better if you could see the 8SE and the CPC 800 side by side just so you could appreciate the size difference. The 8SE looks tiny in comparison.

The SE mount was designed for a 5" SCT OTA. The CPC mount was designed to handle an 11" SCT OTA so it doesn't even notice the load of a little 8" OTA. The CPC 800 will feel rock solid, whereas the slightest touch will cause the 8SE to wobble about.

So the 8SE wins on portability and the removable OTA, but the CPC 800 is much nicer to use as it just feels so solid. You can also fit a crayford focuser to the CPC.

John

[Martin-Devon]

I have a CPC800 and can vouch for the superb quality. Yes you have to detach the scope from the mount to move it, but it is very straightforward - since it has inbuilt GPS the setup (place scope on mount, tighten 3 screws) and aligning just takes me 10 minutes before I'm ready to go. The extra weight of the fork gives it superb stability as well especially if there is a breeze.

[BlueAstra]

I went for the separate dew heater band and dew shield. With the combined shield/heater its difficult to get the heater part exactly where its needed, on the OTA metal just behind the plastic band at the front of the scope. With the band its easy, and you can leave it on the OTA.

[jonathan]

I am aware of how the 8SE can suffer from vibrations, I will be finding out for myself soon enough what that's like as my order from FLO is on it's way, hurrah!

The Maplins power tank arrived with an enormous crack down the front of the plastic casing (probably been dropped) so that went back the same day, with any luck a replacement will arrive tomorrow. Have to say I was quite impressed at how slick and easy the Maplins returns procedure was, the same guy who delivered it was despatched again the same day to collect the faulty one! It will no doubt be him who delivers the replacement too.

[jonathan]

It has arrived....

I took some photos of the unpacking, will post them later. I was surprised by how chunky the OTA it is, it's very difficult to gauge size from photos! The tripod looks very solid and sturdy too. I definitely would not have wanted anything bigger. It's a fantastic clear night tonight so I'm very eager to get out there, however I'm feeling a bit miffed that there's no lead and no mention of how to attach the telescope to a power tank, the instructions just say 'optional 12V car battery adaptor', nothing about where it plugs in or what it looks like, not even a model number. Also a bit disappointed that nobody mentioned that I might need to buy a separate power lead on here either. Hmm. It will have to be AA batteries tonight, could be a short session...

Still, I have my dew shield and heater so my telescope should be nice and warm at least.

[dmahon]

Power tanks tend to come with a lead. Maplins usually have them on offer.