Advice Needed - Looking to Purchase an SCT (9.25 inch to 11 inch)

[ausmensan]

Hi all,

I am looking to purchase an SCT, with an aperture from 9.25 to 11 inches.

My last scopes were a 10 inch Newtonian, and an 8 inch SCT (Nexstar), things I am looking for, as in a basic list of requirements are:


Aperture: 9.25 to 11 inch (Pref for 11 inch)
GPS
Goto Facility (accurate, and quick alignment process), updatable and customisable object database.
Long exposure astrophotography possible
Ease of use, and quick setup
Stable Mount
Preference for lower overall weight, as I am now 59 yo
SCT preferable
High quality, and problem free equipment
Setup done by the shop I buy it from, so it is ready to use


Price is important to me, and my budget is from $5K to $7K, depending on what is on offer.

Can anyone provide any info on the current range of scopes in this category, and some basic recommendations on a specific model that is reliable and has good reviews?

I want to use it for:

Planetary observation, Deep sky objects, Messier/Caldwell marathons, Astrophotography, Observation of comets and asteroids/minor planets primarily.

This is probably going to be my last major scope purchase, so I want to get it right.

Any advice gratefully received, and if you need additional info, let me know.

Regards

[TrevorW]

Honestly I think you budget may be a little low for those specs ;)

[ausmensan]

Hi Trevor,

Binocentral have a CPC1100 for the top range prices, not sure a fork mount is what I really want, but it would be fine for most of what I want to do.

Cheers

[Merlin66]

Simon,
Having used many (!!!) SCT over the years I would honestly recommend a C9.25 but mounted on a HEQ5 Pro (or similar) mount.
A great combo, easily handled and very capable.
You won’t be disappointed.

[Zuts]

I have an Edge 9.25, but I think a Standard 9.25 would be fine. I use mine for visual gives great views, planetary with a 2.4 powermate and deepsky with a 0.7 reducer.

The edge reducer is hideously expensive but with the standard 9.25 the reducer prices are far more reasonable.

These days you can also get reasonably priced autofocusers from celestron.

It is a jack of all trades when extended with a powermate and reduced with the reducer. It wont give shots as good as a triplet for deep sky but if its only one scope you are after I think it would be fine.

I would also go with just the tube and a seperate EQ mount, for astrophotography I have never had much luck trying to use a wedge on a CPC type setup.

[The_bluester]

That is effectively what I did with my C925. I deforked it about 5 years ago when I was using purely for visual and put it on the Orion version of the AZEQ6. Since then I have added the 0.63 reducer and a luminance filter (To combat reflections) and I have been using it for AP for about a year. I am sure an Edge HD would be better, but I would have to go to an 8" to be able to afford it. If I was sure the Edge 8 would be a step forward I would put the C925 back on the CPC mount and sell it as a visual scope and move to the Edge HD.

Regards automated focusers, I would go with the ZWO now that they have a mounting bracket for the C8-C9. Unless they have added one to later versions, the Celestron motor lacks a temperature sensor. The C925 changes focus rapidly enough with temperature changes that I have it do a focus run every half an hour all night and the time to do that adds up, that could be spaced out significantly if there was temperature information to work with.

The Edge HD 925 on CGX mount is about $500 over your max budget, though then there would be a reducer to consider.

[ausmensan]

Ok, having had a look this weekend at (actual) Perth stock availability, it is going to be either:

Wait until September(ish) for new supplies to come (maybe),

Choose from available stocks, which in the category I want, is a Celestron 11 inch CPC for around $7K plus extras,

Go to Leederville cameras, and see what they have available. They seem to have some Meade models available, LX90 10 inch seems worth looking at, but knowing Meades situation ATM, it might be difficult to get warranty/things fixed, OR

Leave it for a few months, and wait and see if things improve with Covid/Deliveries etc.

Nothing like reality to change your choices!

[AstroJunk]

Edge HD optics are a class above so if its going to be a long term investment, I'd start there (and mount it on an AZEQ6).

I'm a fan of bigger is better, but the 9.25" is much more manageable than the 11" and has all the resolution and aperture needed for visual Lunar and Planetary work, and enough grunt to enjoy DSO's from a decent site.

[Merlin66]

Over the years I've had and used all the Meade SCT's ( 8", 10" 12") and a few Celestrons 6", 8" and 9.25".
The one I honestly miss the most was the 9.25" I've got through three of these over the years - bought, used and sold and each time regretted the decision.
If my wife had not bought me the C11 a few years ago, I'd still be more than happy with a C9.25.

[gregbradley]

Sounds like the best setup. SCTs are not the best astrographs. They are typically very long focal length. They typically give images with bloated stars. The Alt Az mounts they are often sold with are very poor trackers. Its highly unlikely you would be able to do long exposure photography with one. I could not even get round stars with a DSLR and lens piggybacked onto an LX90 Meade Alt Az.

The Edge Celestron models and the ACR Meade models are more designed to be suitable for astrophotography.

Skywatcher sells several mounts and offer the best bang for buck.

If its mainly astrophotography you want to do an 8 or 11 inch RASA on a Skywatcher mount is one of the hot astrophotography setups these days.

Also very suitable for one of these small CMOS cameras like a ZWO ASI1600. Prices for these cameras are falling as newer models with better specs are out now and more coming. So you can get a bargain. There's one in the classifieds right now.

Greg.

[JimsShed]

I see Andrews have the XLT 9.25 in stock. I have one of these and use it mostly for visual and occasionally for photography. Coupled with good eyepieces it's a great scope. Be aware that these SCT scopes are quite weighty and if you go for an 11 inch and have to setup/teardown each session, then weight and lifting up onto an EQ mount may be an issue.
I'm 60 yo, not too tall, but fit enough, and have no desire to be lifting on/off something bigger.

[Zuts]

I see you are still looking at a combined scope mount like a CPC. As many people have already said this is not beginner appropriate for deepsky, though fine for planetary. For deepsky you will need to add a wedge and then deal with all the difficulties this entails.

[redbeard]

If you were to get a Meade, get one of the LX200's GPS (second hand) or LX200 ACF. These work well with a good wedge, (Meade Ultra wedge/Milburn wedge/Mitty wedge). Don't get a LX90! You will also need a guiding setup for astro-photography as with most scopes.



Meade/Celestron toss a coin. They both make good scopes and easy to use.:)

[sharpiel]

Evan has this for sale in the classified section now

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=188996

[ausmensan]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I have decided to get the CPC1100, and deal with mount issues later. Astrophotography was not my primary goal, and having viewed a few nights now, I am pretty happy with my purchase.

Seeing Uranus was a big plus, and 47 Tuc is always a pleasure to view.

Will save my pennies for an Equatorial mount/Wedge, but for now I am pretty ok with what I have.

A huge change from my old Nexstar 8i (which I still miss..)

Cheers all.