Celestron Ultime 2000 8 inch telescope

[doug_parkes]

Celestron Ultima 2000, 8 inch/200mm schmidt-cassegrain telescope.

First Celestron fully-automated telescope (see http://www.company7.com/celestron/products/sch8.html)

Comes with 7x50 finder, 9, 15 and 25mm eyepieces, hand-controller and sturdy tripod.

Telescope comes in large sturdy case. This telescope is part of a deceased estate.

Asking $1000. Location is Sylvania, in the Sutherland Shire. Pick-up only please.

[tileys]

Any photos Doug ?

Have you powered it up and checked the mount ?

Condition of optics ?

Sounds like it could be up my alley...

(The link you've given is for the binos you're also selling ?)

[doug_parkes]

hi,

I don't have photos: will take some tomorrow.

I haven't powered it up yet: it will be Monday before I can get to it.

correct link is http://www.company7.com/celestron/products/sch8.html

[OICURMT]

Biggest concern will be the firmware version in the handset.

I own a U2K and can tell you that the OTA is a classic. Made and tested in the USA, the optics are very good and the mount is great given its age (i.e. late 1990's).

This scope unfortunately sufferes from the dreaded Y2K bug, depending on when it was manufactured. I have the updated firware and have spare M27C1001 ROMs to update the scope, let me know if you require it.

Personally, I'm very tempted to buy this one, as I'm a big U2K fan.


OIC!

[OICURMT]

I've had a few PM's regarding my last post, so I thought I'd dump a little history here... even though this is a sales thread. (Mod's may want to move this or delete if deemed inappropriate).


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Almost all U2K telescopes prior to 1999 were affected by the Y2K bug. Celestron handed out free of charge replacement ROM's up until about 2001. After that there was an after-market for the ROM's, each selling for about $99. The company supplying the ROM's sent out of business and consequently, none are left.

In May 2013, after a very long series of attempts, Anthony Mitchell of the UK finally found a working U2K with a Y2K compliant chipset. He obtained access to the handset (also in the UK) and downloaded the ROM into a .bin file, which is now stored on the Yahoo Ultima2000 group site here (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ultima2000/files/Y2K%20Firmware%20Update/). The datasheet for the ROM is located here (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ultima2000/files/Updated%20EEPROM%20Info/).

If you have a ROM burner, you can roll your own easily by downloading the .bin file and burning it onto a M27C1001 EPROM. These can still be purchased and are getting less and less expensive, as they have limited use in industry (being so outdated).

So, how do you tell if you have a Y2K compliant ROM or not? You will need to start up the mount and then enter the setup menu. From there scroll down until VERSION appears, then hit enter. The version you are looking for is 15051604 or greater, which is confirmed by Anthony Mitchell to be Y2K compliant.

A final note: The Y2K bug ONLY affects the ability for the telescope to find planets, as the handset points the scope to where the planet *was* 100 years ago (i.e. 1915). Everything else works perfectly with the old ROM. Also, there is no need to upgrade the ROM if you drive the scope with a planetarium package, as the telescope with obviously be driven to the correct location.

Hope this helps...
OIC!