Posts Made By: David Albertson

Well I guess the speculation was correct. Celestron now has a replacement for the Celestron Nexstar that gets them out of their Meade royalty payments. Looks like my Nexstar 9.25 GPS is a collectors item. The CPC isn't as attractive IMHO. I just recieved an email tonight.

Funny this is if you click on the link on the upper left hand side of the product page there is a shortcut jump to the different models on the screen. It says "Availible models". Below that it names the scopes Nexstar 11"(also 9.25 and 8) CPC. I guess they held onto the nexstar name. The link is below.

http://www.celestron.com/prod_pgs/tel/cpc_index.php

hey i know we were talking a few months back about the product death of the old nexstar scopes because of the meade settlement. it happened. i just made a post in the equip. forum

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=296265

I want to know more about the use of radial guiders in the digital imaging era. First some background on my setup.
I have a few questions regarding my current prime focus astrophotography setup. I have a Celestron Nexstar 9.25 GPS, and a Canon Digital Rebel. My current configuration attaches is with a Celestron radial (off axis) guider attaching to the rear cell, followed by a barrel connector(a rather long one at that), a t-ring, and the camera body. Attempts made at maneuvering the camera by spinning the camera body to frame different frames are difficult because of the placements of the flash portion of the camera, and the eyepiece portion of the radial guider. With a little planning before I threaded the t-ring it wasnt a huge problem, but out of convenience I got a barrel connector. In this current setup with the radial guider at the rear cell, followed by the barrel connector, and the Digital Rebel it did present a clearance issue for me with the base of the scope. It was not that limiting because the scope is mounted on an equatorial wedge, and the part of the sky limited is not usually optimal.
The more I have started to practice, the more I am coming to the conclusion that I dont need the radial guider for my application. I guide my scope with DSLR Focus. I drift align the scope during alignment before my I start imaging with an illuminated eyepiece. Could I simplify my setup with just a straight t-adapter, t-ring, camera config? Am I loosing any real functionality by eliminating it since I dont do any film photography, and since I guide with my laptop? Thanks for the advise.

Moving to Los Angeles has killed my astronomy life over the last few years. I have a beautiful, but large scope, a Celestron Nexstar 9.25 GPS. I'm hoping that getting something smaller will help me get out more often. I've spent more than $3000 on the equipment, but haven't decided on what I should ask when I resell. Any suggestions? More photos at the link below. Thank you so much!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/115007313641044548138/925CelestronNexstarGPS?authkey=Gv1sRgCPfb8vmj1J-0BQ&feat=directlink

- Celestron 9.25 Nexstar GPS Telescope w/ Starbright XLT Coatings (w/ carbon fiber tube)
- Mount and AC & DC power adapters for Celestron 9.25 Nexstar GPS Telescope
- JMI Hard Case for Celestron Nexstar 9.25 GPS
- Celestron Wedge
- Celestron Laser Alignment Tool
- Burgess Binoviewer (Binocular Viewer) with 2 Bino-Lite 20mm Burgess Optical Eyepieces
- Eyepieces
o Celestron Sirius 4mm Plossl
o Celestron 6mm Plossl
o Celestron Sirius 7.5mm Plossl
o Celestron 9mm Plossl
o Celestron Sirius 10mm Plossl
o Celestron Sirius 12.5mm Plossl
o Celestron 15mm Plossl
o Celestron H-Lux 40mm Possl
o Celestron 32mm Plossl
- Celestron 7 piece filter set
- Telrad Alignment Tool
- Celestron 2x Barlow Lens
- Celestron Star Diagonal 1 ¼
- Celestron Radial Guider
- Celestron f6.3 Reducer/Corrector
- 2 Eyepiece Cases
- Weight balancing system with attached dovetail rail
- Kendrick Dew Remover

So it seems the crayford is what I will do, but how long of a draw tube will I need. I do have an extension I use on my off axis guider so I can connect my camera and not hit the guiding eyepiece so I do have a longer than usual length, but I also do allot of visual astronomy. Is there any reason I would need longer than the typical 1.5" of drawtube travel? It isn't that much more so I don't mind do it right if I need it, but I don't know much about this particular subject.

Now I am a little more confused than I was before I hadn't much thought about clearance issues because as you can see from my original photo my scope is on a wedge. When photographing zenith I thought I would have plenty of clearance. Am I wrong in that respect? Also I had considered the weight issues but I was hoping my weight system I bought would be able to counteract the imbalance created by the extra equipment. I have the system from Starizona. http://www.starizona.com/teleacc/show.cfm?StockNo=CWGPS925-CS&Show=1 I am not quite sure I know what to do now, I was heavily leaning towards the crawford style because I figured the less I moved the mirror the less vibration I would have allowing me to get more shots off. Is there anyone out there using the Nexstar 8, 9.25, or 11 inch that is fork mounted and has done the crawford style focuser? And from what the other gentleman said, is remounting my OTA a possibility? (i'd rather not mess with that)

I have a celestron nexstar 9.25 gps. I have enjoyed it very much. It has proved to well engineered. I do suggest though, that if you buy any nexstar you buy a landing pad for it (that is if you are doing visual, non-wedge), getting that scope to line up on the tripod with only one person is .... i guess the word for it would be dangerous, for your scope and you All and all a great product, but I have also used the Meade GPS scopes and they seem to be very similiar in quality.

Oh one more tip. If you get the 9.25 inch Nexstar GPS remember that it is much harder to find assosories made for it (usually items are designed for the 8 and 11 GPS) because its a new member of the nexstar line. Also the 9.25 GPS isn't Nexstar compliant either, but that didn't stop me and I dont regret it. Let me know if you have any questions or need some pictures taken of the Nexstar, I would be glad to.

David Albertson

I hope this doesnt mean they won't continue to develop the scopes. If the 40.40 firmware never becomes final and they stop devlopment on the Nexstar line and leave all their customers high and dry, I will be pretty angry. I hope this isn't true for my own selfish reasons I don't want my 4 month old scope to be a dead platform.

HAHAHA

You called it man.

http://www.astromart.com/forums/viewpost.asp?forum_post_id=296265

You know guys I was reading the product description again and i noticed there is no mention of the wedge align utility. Is it possible celestron no longer supports wedge align on their new models? That would be a major drawback to this new line.

David