Celestron cpc 925

[icytailmark]

im thinking about selling my 12" skywatcher Dob and buying a Celestron CPC 925 telescope. Im getting really sick of finding an object on my Dob and then bumping the telescope and having to find it again. It gets really frustrating.

My question is does anyone have this telescope and will objects look just as good in celestron CPC 925 then in my 12" Skywatcher Dob? Im still tossing up between buying a Meade or a Celestron.

[AG Hybrid]

Due to the laws of physics and the difference in light gathering power between the 9.25" and 12" mirrors, the CPC 925 will be a bit dimmer. CPC 1100 will be much closer. But I reckon, the ease of use with the comfortable viewing position and portability of the CPC 925 to take to a dark site will make up for this.

I myself am looking to get a cpc 1100 or a LX90 12". My local telescope shop has decided to start stocking celestron and meade all of a sudden, so lucky me!

[casstony]

Have you considered Argo Navis? I like push-to better than go-to; no negotiating with the computerised drive.

There will be a noticeable difference in brightness; you won't know if the C9.25 makes the DSO's you like to observe bright enough until you try it. If objects aren't quite bright enough for you the new scope could be disappointing.

[renormalised]

Unless you're in good physical condition and rather strong, I would suggest to stay with the 9.25 or 8" Celestron, or the 8-10" Meade. Even they can be heavy to lug around and if you have any physical impairments like arthritis and such. They can be difficult to handle although they're relatively small. You won't get the same degree of resolution or image brightness out of them as you will with the 12" dob, because they aren't as large plus you have the larger secondary mirror cell in the corrector plate. But, you have to look at some trade offs for getting other conveniences.

I can tell you now, to handle an 11" or larger Celestron or a 12" and larger Meade, safely, it's a two person job. Unless you're Big Arnie, of course:):P

[icytailmark]

yeah i use an argo navis with my 12" dob but still if u knock the scope u still gotta find the planet again and that gets really annoying especially when ur trying to show lots of people a planet. A goto would be faster to lock onto a planet and stay on it.

[andrew2008]

Hi Mark

I was annoyed with hand tracking also and sold my 10" dob with AN for a HEQ5 and 8" SCT because i wanted tracking. Living in quite badly light polluted skies the views have never really impressed me as much as the dob. Dark skies it's still very nice though. Currently thinking about getting a 12" or larger dob again to be honest as the tracking wasn't as useful as i'd hoped and the longer setup time makes things more difficult. I finshed work an hour ago and with a dob could be out viewing at the moment but it's too much work to setup the mount, balance, align etc in the dark. The fork mounts maybe quicker than EQ for setup but then you need to worry about tube currents and waiting for it to reach ambient temp. Then the dew problems.

End of the day it's up to you but i'd definitely try both setups a couple of times if i could before i changed. I'm not unhappy with my decision to change but both have their strengths. If i could own just one it'd probably be the dob. Could you afford to keep it and save for a CPC unit and have the best of both worlds???

[AG Hybrid]

I reckon the LX200 12" OTA and Fork at 34 Kilo's would get old pretty quick. The cpc1100 comes in at a middle weight 29 Kilo's. But the LX90 12" comes in at a feather weight 28 kilo's. :rofl:

LX90 12" should be easy enough to handle for a strapping young lad like myself who goes to the gym 4 times a week. Can hammer curl 27.5 kilos. How much heavier can .5 kilos feel anyway?

But all mentioned telescopes are very expensive. Have you considered the new Skywatcher collapsable dobs with the goto and tracking? 8" - 14" of mirror to keep you satisified and on target. Actually Im considering the 14" model myself. Might be a bit of a squeeze in the back of the corolla with chairs and tables and the picknic basket :P

[mozzie]

hi mark
as all the other posts have said there is trade of for appeture and portability so in saying that ive a 12"lx90 used it for 2 years setting it up all over the place and had no probs if your a strong block youll handle it easy,the only thing extra id buy is the telescope assist that sits on the head of the tripod as you put the scope on top it aligns it and is straight away able to be tightened up very easy.my scope is know in a pod and thats just for convenience everything there just open the dome. feel free to ask more questions on the meade scope if need be

[casstony]

Mark, you're not contemplating owning just one scope are you? :) You could keep the light bucket and buy a 6" scope for moon/planets.

I have a C11 and C6, the C6 gets used for moon/planets since my conditions don't support the resolution that the C11 is capable of and the C6 cools more quickly. The C6 can also go on a cheap, lightweight mount which lives on the back verandah ready to go at a moments notice.

[icytailmark]

sweet thanks guys i have decided to keep my 12" Dob for home and save up for the Celestron CPC 925 or bigger. Hopefully it will fit in my car :)

[coldspace]

There's a nice CPC11 for sale in the telescope sales section.