Posts Made By: Verle Keszler

I am a novice looking at purchasing my first decent scope - based on my research and neeeds/desires, I am looking very seriously at a C9.25 SCT. I have two questions:

One - has anyone been able to find out any details of the new 'Advanced Series' version of the 9.25 SCT? Looking at adds, the only differences I can pick out is that the tripod for the CG-5 looks to be a improved, and the standard 26mm eyepiece is replaced with a new 25mm E-Lux. If that is all, is this worth the $100 difference (probably depends on how much of an improvement the tripod is)?

Two - what would you recommend as minimum equipment to start out with - I will obviously add more as time goes on, but to start out with a reasonably useable system, what do I 'need'? I have in mind a 2x Barlow, 1 or two extra eye-pieces (something like a 10mm and 40mm), a dew-cap (or make my own), and vibration pads for the tripod. Any other ideas? How beneficial would a polar alignment scope for the CG-5 be? I have also seen recommendations to upgrade the finder scope - how necessary is this - i.e., could I wait without getting too frustrated? I would like to try to keep the initial costs of accessories down so I can possibly afford the new Go-To version of this scope - which raises one last question - anyone know any details about the computer for the Go-To versions of these Advanced Series scopes (ideally so I could get software for my laptop that could control, or at least get input from, the drive computer?)

Thanks,
Verle

I am a novice looking at purchasing my first decent scope - based on my research and neeeds/desires, I am looking very seriously at a Celestron C9.25 SCT. I have two questions:

One - has anyone been able to find out any details of the new 'Advanced Series' version of this scope? Looking at adds, the only differences I can pick out is that the tripod for the CG-5 looks to be a improved, and the standard 26mm eyepiece is replaced with a new 25mm E-Lux. If that is all, is this worth the $100 difference (probably depends on how much of an improvement the tripod is)?

Two - what would you recommend as minimum equipment to start out with - I will obviously add more as time goes on, but to start out with a reasonably useable system, what do I 'need'? I have in mind a 2x Barlow, 1 or two extra eye-pieces (something like a 10mm and 40mm), a dew-cap (or make my own), and vibration pads for the tripod. Any other ideas? How beneficial would a polar alignment scope for the CG-5 be? I have also seen recommendations to upgrade the finder scope - how necessary is this - i.e., could I wait without getting too frustrated? I would like to try to keep the initial costs of accessories down so I can possibly afford the new Go-To version of this scope - which raises one last question - anyone know any details about the computer for the Go-To versions of these Advanced Series scopes (ideally so I could get software for my laptop that could control, or at least get input from, the drive computer?)

Thanks,
Verle

I am purchasing a C9.25 SCT and was looking at my eyepiece options. I have had several people recommend I get a 2" diagonal (probably the Williams Optics). I would like to get 2 extra eyepieces and a barlow for now - I will expand my collection later (sticking to 2" eyepieces for the lower power EPs). If I get a 2" diagonal, and a 2" 35-40mm EP, it would seem I would need a 2" barlow to be able to use it with this EP. But, if I also want a 12-15mm 1.25" EP, (and the included 25 or 26mm EP is 1.25" also), do I need a seperate 1.25" barlow, or do some of the 2" barlows have adapters for both (the ones I have looked at on-line don't mention anything about being able to do both)? I know the WO diagonal has an adapter ring so I could use the EP's without the barlow, but it would be nice if I could find a Barlow that would work with all my eyepieces.
Thanks

I am looking at purchasing a new Celestron C9.25 SCT. I don't have any local telescope dealers, so I was wondering if anyone has a recommendation on a reputable online dealer.

Thanks

This is all great advice - I really appreciate it. One question this brings up for me though, is if I decide to get a 2" Williams diagonal, I am having a little trouble finding higher power 2" eyepieces - do you normally stick to 1.25 for the higher power stuff, or are the higher power 2" eyepieces just a little harder to find? I would like to find something in the 10-15mm range. Any ideas/recommendations?
Thanks again,
Verle