At least one vendor is selling the Celestron 102mmED below the cost of what many 80mmED scopes go for. The reviews appear to be scant on the internet but the ones I've read are quite positive. It appears Ed Ting threw one up against a Tak 102 and an AP130 and the Celestron held up pretty well:
http://www.scopereviews.com/page1c.html#8
My questions:
1. Overall optical performance: anybody star test one of them?
2. It comes with a vixen style dovetail bar. Would it be compatible with a CG5 go to mount or would another dovetail be required?
3. Would the CG5 go to mount be enough to handle this scope:
http://www.astronomics.com/main/product.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/SUDHCRDFMJ4L8JCTGS591LJ9R0/product_id/C102EDOTA
4. Would the scope work well for CCD imaging purposes?
5. Any comments on the focuser?
http://www.scopereviews.com/page1c.html#8
My questions:
1. Overall optical performance: anybody star test one of them?
2. It comes with a vixen style dovetail bar. Would it be compatible with a CG5 go to mount or would another dovetail be required?
3. Would the CG5 go to mount be enough to handle this scope:
http://www.astronomics.com/main/product.asp/catalog_name/Astronomics/category_name/SUDHCRDFMJ4L8JCTGS591LJ9R0/product_id/C102EDOTA
4. Would the scope work well for CCD imaging purposes?
5. Any comments on the focuser?