Celestron C10N-GT

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Brand and Model:Celestron C10N-GT
Price ($USD):$1149.00
Type:Newtonian
Attributes: checked Go-To un-checked PEC
Aperture:10" (250mm)
f Ratio:f/4.7
Focal Length:1200mm
Finder:9x50
Electric Power:12V DC
Mount:AS CG-5
Tripod:Adj. Heavy Duty
Weight (lbs):
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:Heavy duty CG-5 German equatorial mount with setting circles, manual slow motion controls, and adjustable height steel leg tripod with combined spreader bar/accessory tray; dual-axis slewing/tracking motors and go-to computerized hand control with 40,000+ star and object database; 9x50mm straight-through finder; 20mm 1.25" Plössl eyepiece (60x); 2" rack and pinion focuser with 1.25" adapter; 10" 1200mm focal length f/4.7 parabolic mirror Newtonian optics in aluminum optical tube; TheSky Level 1 star-charting CD-ROM software.

Vote Highlights Vote
Celestron C10N-GT
This is my second scope. I wanted a goto system basically because I'm a lazy astronomer who doesn't want to be bothered with the technical "2 degree this lat this long and 4degress this lat this long, etc...". This scope gives me just that.

If you can't lift more than 50lbs - "do not buy this scope". You'll be asking others to carry it for you and they will slap you once they've felt taken adantage of enough by you. Don't laugh - you deserved it!

This scope has great light-gathering power and the 20MM supplied Plossl actually is pretty good. In town with light pollution I could still see the Blackeye, Whirlpool, Sombrero, M102, Ring neb, Eskimo neb, etc. All of which I was able to slew right to.

All I had to do was a rough polar alignment by putting Polaris in the FOV where the polar finder scope would fit. Then do a three star alignment and BAM! every object was in the 20MM FOV. Very nice for astro geeks such as myself. The tracking holds up great as well, but for astrophotography will require fine tuning handled by the Nexstar controller.

Words of advice: Don't waste your money on the Celestron eyepiece kit - I did for you - learn from my mistake! Buy good quality eyepieces for this fast Newtonian or you will only be dissapointed. Televue Powermate with University Optics Orthoscopics work excellently together for stunning lunar, solar, planetary and multiple stars.

Secondly, spend the money when you get it and buy the $249 optional GPS accessory kit - It's worth every penny not to have to put in the date, time, lat, and long every time you want to set up. And it's great when your locale changes and you want the most precise settings when photographing. Your tracking is greatly improved as well.

Thirdly, Orion makes excellent padded covers for both the OTA and tripod - get them, you will pat yourself on the back for the fact that they make it much easier to move this behemoth around! Both units fit perfectly in the back seat of my Ford Escape.

Lastly, don't walk out of the shop without getting a portable power source for this scope. $59 will get you a 7AMP hour Celestron (or Orion) power station. I did this! Learn from my mistake!

Once you've set up and torn down and aligned three or four times, it begins to get much easier and quickly becomes second nature. With good eyepieces and clear skies you will get great quality views with this scope. I know I'll be using mine for many years to come. :-)

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Mount:8 Ease of Use:5 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=361118

Celestron C10N-GT
This is my first scope, so when I bought it I wanted a scope that would have good light gathering power. Although this scope made by Synta, is different from the Orion XT10 and the Skywatcher in that it has a moderately smaller secondary. The views of the planets have been good, but I believe the seeing has particularly bad where I live for this time of year (Spring). Anyway, the primary has the textbook perfect star-test optics. However, the diffraction circles appear much more defined and thinner that the comparison central obstruction star test pattern. There also seems to be more light in the first 2 rings, and the last outer ring having slightly more light than the middle rings. Inside and outside focus exactly the same though. Anyway, the goto works accurately. The mount is sturdy for the 10", very little shakes. The focuser is the generic cheap but functional focuser of these Newtonians; however, it does exhibit focuser slop (which can be tightened up though). And finally, I am 6' tall 215 lbs. and pretty strong dude; however, be prepared to work to set this one up. I have a Ford Ranger, and this thing takes up ~ 75% of the bed. It's a little bit of a work-out, but that comes with the territory of larger apertures. When the weather gets good, I will post a more detailed follow-up on the optics.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:9 Ease of Use:2 Value:8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=355272

Celestron C10N-GT
Finally, a clear night. I setup right before dark. I fine tuned the polar alignment when Polaris was visible. The index marks are off a little, but I can live with that. Did the three star alignment and went to M57. Used the 32mm Plössl to center, but I could have used the 24mm because it was already centered without having to adjust! WOW! I was impressed with the accuracy, epically with a newbie behind the wheel using a goto scope. That was easy. Since I was in the neighborhood, I went to M56. Bam! Center of eyepiece! Went to M27. Still center. I always thought it looked more like an eaten apple that a dumbbell. Checked out Mars, M71, M13, M31 and M45. Couldn't find M1. I lost count after several Messier objects. I only had to re-align once more. I accidentally bumped a button on the handheld unit and the scope went slewing to who knows what. It was off after that. Did another three star alignment and was back on track in about five minutes. The dew started to get bad about 3 AM so I packed it up. I did take some piggybacked photos and posted one of M31. Check it out here
http://www.astromart.com/messages.asp?message_id=127049&page=

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=331537

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