Celestron C11A or EDGE-HD 9.25 ?

[guym50]

:question: Hi all,

I am now thinking of eventually upgrading from my old Celestar 8, and I have narrowed my choice down to one of those two OTA's.

Both have XLT coatings and a 9x50 viewfinder.

I do want to get into astrophoto in a big way, so I am very keen on the EDGE-HD: sharper pictures, a flat FOV, and also it will fully use the sensor area of a full frame DSLR, which would make it a futureproof purchase (upgrading from my Sony A57 to a full frame Sony DSLR is a purchase consideration at some stage). It minimises mirror shift and supposedly adjusts to temperature variations faster than the standard OTAs, and lastly, it is a few kgs lighter than the 11" OTA, and that matters.

The few negatives of sorts are the limiting magnitude, 14.4 on the 9.25" as opposed to 14.7 for the 11", and the slightly better resolutions for the 11", however I wonder if those are really enough to go to the 11", despite the strong lure of a "bigger" scope...

Right now, I can also get the 9.25" EDGE HD for at least $800 cheaper than the standard 11" OTA, at not much over $3k; that definitely matters.

I welcome recommendations / comments by owners of either of those two OTAs.

Thanks in advance :)

Guy

[casstony]

9.25 Edge better for imaging and planetary visual use - it cools faster, it's lighter and has the flat field.

C11 better for deep sky visual use due to significantly greater light gathering.

[Rod771]

Unless you plan on taking the scope out of Sydney metro LP, I wouldn't think the C11 has much of an advantage over the 9.25.

What mount will you be using? If you want to do astro photography make sure you have the best GEM mount you can get your hands on.

[guym50]

Thanks all :thanx:,

It's a progressive thing... first I am upgrading to a CG-5 GOTO mount which at $999 from Andrews Comms. right now, is great value and seems to have served lots of us well over the last few years. I'm picking it up on Monday next week. I would love a PRO mount, however it is well outside my budget.

I am set on the EDGE HD 9.25. which is still a few months away though. For now, the old Celestar 8 will be removed from its old fork mount and be fitted to the CG-5. This should be next week; I already have the ADM dovetail plate fitted to it :)

Cheers

Guy

[dannat]

the big CATS you're talking about might be ok for visual on a cg5 but the mount is prob underrated for photography - the c9.25 might just be ok with cameras & access etc loaded on the mount