Just ordered the C11 and CGE mount from Andrews, plus a few extra toys from WO. Normal delivery would be 4 to 6 weeks but the importer currently has one in stock! So I might have it by next week.
Boy o boy is it going to get cloudy now! Watch for the update in my signature below...
The C11 is a wicked OTA IMO, excellent choice. Deep space is going to be right in your face now and that CGE will have it purring across the heavens like a contented cat.
I'd be pretty interested in reading your impressions of the CGE - especially two factors - goto pointing accuracy and tracking accuraccy (periodic error).
Once its set up and properly polar aligned - it would be very interesting hearing how well it tracks. Could you measure this an give some feedback please?
Funny, the minister for finance queried me about my purchase last night:
Me: "Ordered my scope today"...
Minister: "So how much is this new scope costing? $3000?"
Me:
Minister: "$5000"
Me:
Minister" "more than that? How much?"
Me: "about 11 all up"
Minister: "I wish I had something really nice I could buy"
I asked her about the 40 inch that is mentioned on another thread and that DID get a definite shake of the head! I think she is looking forward to seeing this beast!
Faced with those choices I'd barebone the accessories and get a C14. GPS isn't needed to much unless you tour abit (away from areas where Google Earth can give you precise co-ordinates).
The 14" I have heard are special - not portable, but special - love to look through one - it'd be one of my dream scopes!
The extras arrived Monday morning around 9am and the scope arrived about 11:30am...so I took an "extended lunch" to put it together. At first the guys here were only mildly interested, until I got the tripod out and attached the EQ assembly. By then you could see it over the partitions in the room, so anyone walking past would see it. By the time I put the C11 on top, you couldn't miss it, then the dew shield....it nearly reached the ceiling.
I had a bit of a play last night to check out where all the knobs are, set latitude, balance etc. My first impressions of the CGE are it is a masterpiece of engineering. No spindly little bits, big chunky levers, dovetail is pretty beefy, tripod is well constructed but surprisingly light enough to lift with one hand, provided you haven't put the EQ head or counter weight on! Here is a quick photo I took last night to compare the C8N-GT to the C11-CGE....drool guys! Drool...
At the moment, it seems I will be sitting inside with it a lot...it is bucketting down in Melbourne at the moment, and this morning I was told I have to go to Adelaide for two days....yippee!... I hope to get there early enough in the morning before the place closes...
Hope to dabble a bit with imaging as I get the time available, which is pretty lean at the moment.
"I wish I had something really nice I could buy"
