Telescopes

Celestron C9.25S-GT XLT SCT

The second scope I bought in Ithaca (August 2004) is Celestron C9.25-SGT - a great scope! It is a Go-To computerized scope on CG-5 German equatorial mount. After using 4.5" Dobsonian for a while I really felt that bigger aperture is needed, but I was not sure if I want a Go-To scope: I have always enjoyed star hopping. Well, after long considerations I decided to "go Go-To" and I never regretted it. I have long observing lists and not so much time to spend outside, so I want to spend as much as possible time observing, not just searching. I am still exploring some patches of the sky without a Go-To assistance - but now I have a choice. And when considering astrophotography it is a real time saver. The quality of C9.25 OTA is superb and completely agree with many online reviews (eg. here or here) that is is especially good design from Celestron. I have bough it with the new XLT coatings based on the reviews, however I never was able to compare to the regular (non XLT) C9.25. The mount itself is good, mine is able to guide well for up to 1 minute exposures - can't complain. Go-To accuracy is usually good, but can be easily screwed up with improper 3-star alignment. My advice is to choose the stars carefully - far from Meridian and far from each other, and do the final approach with only "up" and "right" arrows (see Yahoo! Celestron AS group's FAQ for more). The mount remembers your previous attempts, so if you cannot get better, just do a factory reset and start over. I have marked my deck so I don't need to align mount to Polaris each time - a very good idea as well (this 1 min exposures were done without Polar align - just with the marks). The scope comes with a good quality Celestron 25mm Plossl and 1.25" diagonal - the first thing I did is to buy 2" diagonal (also from Celestron).

I sold this scope on Astromart after I bought CGE1400 so I don't have it anymore .