Celestron C9¼S-GT


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Brand and Model:Celestron C9¼S-GT
Price ($USD):$1,699.00
Type:Schmidt-Cassegrain
Attributes: checked Go-To checked PEC
Aperture:9.25" (235mm)
f Ratio:f/10
Focal Length:2350mm
Finder:6x30
Electric Power:12V DC (not included)
Mount:Advanced Series CG-5
Tripod:Heavy Duty
Weight (lbs):
Dimensions (w/h/d):
Description:This telescope puts the optical excellence of Celestron's 9.25" multicoated hand-figured Schmidt-Cassegrain optics on a rugged computerized go-to German equatorial mount with a 40,000+ star and object database. It's a lot of optical and go-to performance at a low price that makes it an exceptional value.
Supplied Accessories


Multicoated 9.25” f/10 optics; 1.25” 25mm E-LUX eyepiece (94x); 1.25” star diagonal; 1.25” visual back; 6 x 30mm straight-through finderscope; heavy duty CG-5 computerized German equatorial mount with setting circles, manual slow motion controls, adjustable height steel tripod, accessory tray, and dual-axis DC slewing/tracking drives; computer hand control with 40,000+ star and object database; TheSky Level 1 star-charting software CD-ROM.

Vote Highlights Vote
Celestron C9¼S-GT
The optics (xlt) are marvelous. The mount, although upgraded, is still not substantial enough to handle this tube. Damping time is between 6-9 seconds. Some Gotos are in field of view of 25mm eyepiece, some are not. I have had instances where the telescope will point towards the ground when performing Gotos. When performing the initial alignment, the scope will sometimes point to stars that are within 1-5 degrees of the horizon.

I took it back to dealer for a refund. Can't justify spending $2,000.00 on something that does not consistently work well. I will most likely purchase a Nexstar 9.25GPS!

Hope this helps,
Brock

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:9 Mount:6 Ease of Use:7 Value:7
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=310610


Celestron C9¼S-GT
I am a structural engineer and a serious hobby level astronomer. This is the second large SC that I have owned, the first a Meade 8" SC quite a few years ago. I recently moved to the NC mountains, constructed a permanent observatory and have been using this scope for about 6 months regularly.
I find that the advanced series mount is a dream to use. Alignment is very easy just using "Quick align" and the GOTO's usually put any object right in the finder- not in the scope's eyepiece, since I'm telling the quick align routine that I'm 45 miles away from where I really am (The nearest city in the scope's alignment index), pretty darn good for an alignment that takes three minutes.
I don't use the tripod, since the scope is mounted on a pier, but I traded it to a friend to use with his 8" MAC/NEWT at 22 pounds and he says it's steady as a rock.
The scope's optics are sharp and that's a plus, since my main interests are the Moon and planets. The scope arrived from Celestron slightly out of collimation, but the manual has a clear, well-written proceedure for collimation.
For a telescope and computerized mount in this price range, I think it's a great deal and I would buy it again. I am really enjoying the scope and think the cost to value rario is excellent.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:8 Mount:7 Ease of Use:10 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=572372


Celestron C9¼S-GT
I have the 9.25 with goto on the new CG5 mount with heavy-duty steel tripod legs. I highly recommend this scope and mount. In a recent star party, the views through my 9.25 were as sharp and had better contrast (aperture is important) than a 6" APO refractor set up next to me. Using the precise goto function is easy and produces dead center goto slews on deep-sky faint objects. Precise goto asks the user for the faint object then goes to a nearby bright star. After the user centers the nearby bright star the scope then slews to the faint object. One observer next to me suggested a better finder scope, however, the precise goto method is an excellent workaround to a more powerful and wider field scope. While most observers were looking at M31 or the Orion Nebula (relatively bright targets), I was looking at the Crab and Pelican nebulas (hard to spot in a finder scope). The mount seems to be quite steady. Vibration is around 2 to 3 seconds if the scope is bumped. Setup takes me about 20-25 minutes and definitely requires reading the manual. I did not really get proficient (accurate gotos) with the scope until about the fourth viewing. For the money spent it is hard to beat this scope and mount.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Mount:9 Ease of Use:7 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=401262


Celestron C9¼S-GT
I've had this scope for over a year. I've had the computer mount in for warranty repair once already due to a short that would reset all my settings. After I got it back it has been working as expected for such a low cost mount. I am not at all impressed with the tracking, set up and alignment procedures. Sometimes it works but more times then not it doesn't. However the optics are phenominal. If you want great optics and don't care so much about the mount then go for it. You can always upgrade the mount at a later date.

Overall Rating: 7
Optics:10 Mount:5 Ease of Use:6 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=375025


Celestron C9¼S-GT
SCOPE: The 9.25 CF XLT has excellent optics. This is a superior scope that is relatively cheap for what you get. It is sharp, contrasty and has some aperture muscle relative to its weight and bulk; 22 pounds, dressed out with a 2" diagonal and a 27mm Panoptic eyepiece. I clearly see more detail than with my fine, 22 pound Meade 127mm (5") ED APO (which, by the way, when properly aligned shows less color on bright objects than my TV-85 -- alignment and collimation really matter!)

DOVETAIL: However, don't use the orange Celestron CG-5 dovetail mount for this scope. For $68, you can get the much more stable Baader CG-5 dovetail for this scope from Alpine Astronomy (alpineastro.com) which has much more surface area contact with the scope ends, is stiffer and is better in every regard.

MOUNT: With the Baader dovetail, Celestron vibration dampening pucks under the feet of the mount and my dampening times are under a second for power under 350x. In short and what matters is I do not have to wait for settledown in order to focus. I could not believe someone was getting more than 5 seconds or so with this rig. Something must have been wrong with what he had.

I might fill and seal off the 2" steel tubular legs with sand or lead shot and I bet I could get dampening times < .4 seconds. However, doing so would add considerable weight I would have to lug around and am not sure I want that when dampening times are no problem for me now. I would be solving a problem I don't have and doing so at a price.

It really and truly is hard to beat the 9.25 XLT AS GT rig for the price and it is a great way to learn the night sky painlessly and in good optical style. This AS GT mount cannot be fairly compared with the old CG-5 mounts of yesterday. They really should have changed the model number of this mount when they started using ball bearings on the rotational axes, tighter tolerances and when they put in more precision, better machined worm gears, with a proper lubricant and then seriously beefed-up the tripod and mount head plate. It is a different mount altogether that deserves it own reputation and not that of the earlier CG-5.

GO TO: The Go To mount feature works well enough for me. From my backyard, my view of Polaris is blocked, but I get excellent results by using a compass to point the mount due north and then be sure the latitude adjustment is as accurately set to 33+ degrees as I can get it. I use a hand held GPS, an accurate watch and the three star auto align, where I select the alignment stars. Doing this, I have had good results locating searched for objects in a Nagler 16mm T5 and can navigate the night sky quite well with the Go To feature. No real complaints.

OVERALL: A real steal in regard to what you get, optically and educationally, that is not too heavy so that it cannot be lugged around without hyperventilating first. Very recommended.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Mount:8 Ease of Use:9 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=367349


Celestron C9¼S-GT
Optics: The XLT coatings give a superior image to other SCTs.

Mount: Once you get the hang of aligning the scope it becomes quite accurate. If you forget the power supply you can forget about quickly finding some objects, a dob is better in manual mode. When "GOTO"ing at high speed it is very noisey.

Ease: Somewhat bulky, once set up itis very easy to use.

Value: With all the price fixing in the industry, it is priced right where it should be in the scheme of things.

Overall: This scope is barely portable but it is fun at a star watch. Once aligned on the chosen object fine tuning is quiet, but until then cover your ears. As for the $99 eyepiece offer, save your money and look around.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:8 Ease of Use:10 Value:5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=350702


Celestron C9¼S-GT
The alignment of the goto system seemed to be quite inaccurate at first but once the polar alignment and leveling of the mount on a stady surface was done, it goes to objects within a 15mm eyepiece consistantly.
One or two minor issues with the polar scope and the handbook for the GPS system, but they were soon sorted out by Celestron Tech Supplort. Optically the scope is excellent and I find the CGE mount is stable enough for good CCD photography, no matter what others may say.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:10 Mount:8 Ease of Use:6 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=340717


Celestron C9¼S-GT
As mentioned earlier in another vote, the mount is a little eratic. Also a little light for the ota. I found damp times to be about 5 seconds. Optics are incredible however. Pinpoint star images.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:10 Mount:6 Ease of Use:8 Value:7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=314555


Celestron C9¼S-GT
Has a couple of software bugs, but I have worked around them.
The optics are great and I really am enjoying this scope.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Mount:8 Ease of Use:8 Value:9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=305265


Celestron C9¼S-GT
This is a new system. It has a few software bugs, and Celestron's support group is overloaded because of Mars Mania, but they're going to get it worked out, and this is a marvelous system for the price.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:10 Mount:8 Ease of Use:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=303429

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