Telescopes upgrade headache

[bern]

Hi All,

Need advise on below telescopes. I can't make up my mind on which one to go for for my next upgrade.

Celestron Advanced C9.25, CPC 9.25 Or Advanced C8-SGT & CPC800?

I want to use it for astrophotography and see more on our deep sky. what will be the pro and con of these scope?

TIA
Bern

[Mariner]

If you're going into AP, avoid the CPC range as it's still an alt-az mount. Field rotation will be an issue.

Deciding between the 9.25 and 8, its up to the mount and the weight you are able to carry. You'll need a better GEM mount than the CG5 for advance series for these 2 OTAs to do AP.

[bern]

thanks, ok i'll drop the CPC series model.

thot the advanced series come together with the mount? do I still need to upgrade the mount again? If say C8 & C9.25 not much diff in viewing than I'll just go for C8 cos the price diff by almost 2k.

btw, is this scope good?

[orly_andico]

The C9.25 is - generally - optically better than the C8 due to the longer focal length primary. Visually there will be some difference but the main thing will be for planetary imaging. Damian Peach used a C9.25 for many years.

The downside is that the C9.25 is much heavier than the C8, in fact it only weighs a little less than a C11.

A C8 can conceivably be carried on a CG-5 ASGT mount, but the C9.25 is not. You really need the CGEM to carry the C9.25. I have exactly this configuration - C9.25 and CGEM. It is one heavy boat anchor.

From a pure practicality perspective I think the C8 + CG-5 ASGT is a better bet. If you can swing a C8 EDGE HD, that's even better.

Also do not expect great results with astrophotography with a C8 or C9.25 on their stock mounts. These scopes have very long focal lengths - 2000mm and 2350mm - which requires extremely tight guiding to get round stars.

I know some people use the C8 on the CG-5 ASGT with the 0.63 Celestron reducer, and they can get decent deep sky astrophotos. But it is a lot of work.

I do not think you can use the same setup for visual and astrophotography, because the requirements are very different. For astrophotography, the mount is everything. For visual, the bigger the scope, the better. I have tried using my C9.25 on my CGEM and AP600 mounts for astrophotography. It is non-ideal. I think both mounts can - barely - handle it.

So, given what I own - I recommend you should get the CG-5 ASGT with C8 (or C8 EDGE if budget permits). Do note that to do astrophotography, you want the reducer so that the focal length is 1280mm instead of 2000mm. The C8 EDGE reducer is quite expensive, so that's another factor.

[orly_andico]

One more thing to add - a C9.25 + CGEM mount won't fit in a regular car boot.

So unless you have an SUV, MPV, or hatchback, transporting that thing will be a big headache. I basically carry the scopes in the back seat and the mounts in the trunk.

I noticed that your previous scope was an Astromaster 114 EQ.

Speaking from experience, it is better to upgrade to a really great setup, and be done with it, rather than doing incremental upgrades. And the Celestron (CG-5, CGEM) although they are not cheap here in Singapore, I do not consider them great setups.

The best setup is one that is stable, works well and is reliable, and that you use. Unless you have good upper body strength, a C9.25 / CGEM is going to be a huge hassle.

So for this reason again, I think the C8 / CG-5 is a better choice - weight-wise, cost-wise, even skills-wise. This is still not a great setup for imaging, but it's not too bad.

(off topic) in my opinion the best lightweight 8" setup for imaging would be a either a Vixen VC200L or a C8 EDGE - both of which weigh around 6kg - on a Takahashi EM-11 Temma 2 mount. Like I said, for imaging the mount is everything - and the price of the EM-11 shows that.

[bern]

The C9.25 & C8 I saw came with CG5 mount (astro scientific)
So the matching set will be C8 with CG5 mount? And almost 10kg diff in weight.

[orly_andico]

Celestron does sell the C9.25 with the CG-5, for beginners who think "size is everything."

The problem with that is the C9.25 is way too heavy and too long for the CG-5. It will be shaking badly - just like your Astromaster 114EQ.

The C9.25 needs a CGEM - minimum - to work well and be stable. the CGEM weighs 20kg for the mount, another 10kg for the weights, 5kg for the tripod - plus 10kg for the C9.25 itself. That weight really adds up.

[bern]

Ya 114 not easy to use due to shaking. So best bet will be C8 with CG5 mount.
At least I don't have to carry like hell just to view our dark sky and save almost 2k.

[bern]

One more thing to add - a C9.25 + CGEM mount won't fit in a regular car boot.

So unless you have an SUV, MPV, or hatchback, transporting that thing will be a big headache. I basically carry the scopes in the back seat and the mounts in the trunk.

I noticed that your previous scope was an Astromaster 114 EQ.

Speaking from experience, it is better to upgrade to a really great setup, and be done with it, rather than doing incremental upgrades. And the Celestron (CG-5, CGEM) although they are not cheap here in Singapore, I do not consider them great setups.

The best setup is one that is stable, works well and is reliable, and that you use. Unless you have good upper body strength, a C9.25 / CGEM is going to be a huge hassle.

So for this reason again, I think the C8 / CG-5 is a better choice - weight-wise, cost-wise, even skills-wise. This is still not a great setup for imaging, but it's not too bad.

(off topic) in my opinion the best lightweight 8" setup for imaging would be a either a Vixen VC200L or a C8 EDGE - both of which weigh around 6kg - on a Takahashi EM-11 Temma 2 mount. Like I said, for imaging the mount is everything - and the price of the EM-11 shows that.

message well noted, thanks.