CGEM mount????

[nobbygon]

Hi,
Does anyone own a Celestron CGEM mount?? Im thinking pretty hard about getting one but hav'nt heard much about them in terms of tracking performance and accuracy.
I was just wondering if anyone owns one, if so, is it better than an EQ6 or on par with it?? Do you like the mount in other words???

Cheers, Angus

[tlgerdes]

I am in the same boat. Looks good on paper. I think though it has only been out 6 months, havent seen it advertised without a scope attached yet.

[wasyoungonce]

It costs about the same as an EQ6 in USA & it is obviously designed & marketed to rival the EQ6. But in Australia there is a vast gulf between each in price.

The CGEM has also had some teething problems.

The CGEM is touted with a RS232 port for connection & control by a computer but I do not see any ASCOM drivers from Celestron.

THE CGEM's Nexremote is very good & so is it's all star align but....ASCOM & EQMOD really make the EQ6 a much more capable mount...IMHO.

Edit:

It states it uses Nexremote software for connection & control from a personel computer....I don't know if that means there will be no ASCOM?? Edit from Celestron (http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?CatID=16&ProdID=548#idTab7) site:

"Includes NexRemote telescope control software, for advanced control of your telescope via computer"

Edit edit:
ASCOM standards.org (http://ascom-standards.org/Support/Scopes.htm) lists the Nexstar remotes as ASCOM capable, it doesn't mention the mount as such but I suspect it is ASCOM capable. There is some talk regarding CGEM & ASCOM at the yahoo ASCOM group (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ASCOM-Talk/). It appears there are some niggiling errors but I suspect Celestron will fix those.

So the choice may only come down to price & the abilities of the EQMOD utilities?