Celestron G-8

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Celestron G-8
This telescope, eq head, tripod, and standard eyepiece and diagonal are excellent and deserve a 10. The only thing I do not like, that kept it from being a 10, is the dovetail bracket that mates it with the eq. head. It is scary - one set screw and another that turns with a knob are all that keep your valuable scope attached and keep it from crashing to the ground. I am terrified that they will become loose during a night's work and ...oops....there goes the scope!!!!

Anyway, the scope and everything went together in less than an hour right out of the box and this was the first scope I have owned. Most everything on the eq head was pre-assembled. It is heavy and easliy supports the tube. I do not understand why so many people rate the tripod and head so poorly. I got many comments during tonight's observation from other Louisville Astron. Society members about how impressed they were with the mount and how well it worked with the scope. Knobs were easy to use and slo-mo tracked objects with little effort. Polar alignment was a snap. No problems at all with the mount.

The optics are a solid 10+++. Many comments from others about how sharp they were! We spent 30 minutes on each of three fabulous objects - M31 Andromeda, M13 a gorgeous globular cluster, and the first object I found by myself -the Ring Nebulae.

No I did not do any star tests or stuff like that - I was interested in what I could see and what they looked like.

Andromeda with a 25mm ep was fabulous and took up a full 1/3 of the field - bright with lots of contrast. M13 was a sight to behold, very bright and lots of contrast. I could resolve many stars around outer edge and into center -I must have spent 45 minutes in awe of this object. The Ring Nebulae was also awesome - very bright and contrasty - easily resolved into a "Cherrio" shape with darker center with the 17mm ep.

We also observed the "Alberia" (sp???) double star. It was awesome - the small blue start on top left flanked by a burning orange companion lower right.

Saturn rose in the west late in the evening and I observed it until it was about 25 degrees above horizon. Air was not stable that close to horizon and there was some light from the city. It was still spectacular with 17mm ep (the 25 comes standard). The rings were crisp and well seperated from planet by dark sky. I could just start to see some banding on planet just above equator and perhaps Cassini's division but the unstable air and light made it difficult. If I could have stayed 2 hours more it would have been more awesome.

I tried to leave comments about what things look like so, if you are like me, you can use this review to make a scope buying decision. Mine cost about $1100 from www.optcorp.com Oceanside including shipping, a 2X barlow, and the 17mm extra eyepiece. The diagonal that comes with it is great, I don't see a need to upgrade it. The 6X30 finder looks good to me but I was surprised it did not resolve DSO - I am not good enough to know what or where I am looking so I either need a more powerful finder scope or learn the sky better!!:) It was not the finder's fault. I found the Ring Nebulae in the scope and not the finder.

If you buy this outfit you will not be disappointed! electricgolf@abac.com www.electricgolf.com

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39560

Celestron G-8
I left the comment above - I meant to say that the one blue star in Alberia (sp??) was a STAR and not a START - and Saturn certainly rose in the EAST and not WEST - sorry about all that!!!:)
electricgolf@abac.com www.electricgolf.com

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: <none>
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39561

Celestron G-8
Upon suggestion of the dealer and info found over the internet I bought the OTA mounted on a Vixen GP equatorial mount instead of the shattering CG-5.
When performing the star test, I immediately noticed that the two inter and extra focal images were different and that some tension was applied to the optics and the optics themselves were mis-aligned. I release the tension on the front plate, but the optics were still mis-aligned. Carefull alignement of the optics resulted in very good star test, but as soon as the OTA was aimed to a differet celestial body, the image become blurred and the mis-alignement was restored. After several nights spent trying to find best trimming I realised the alignement depended upon the position of the OTA with respect to the zenith and that the optics shifted when the OTA was displaced from initial position. Furthermore, a cork-like pad between the primary mirrow and its support was not properly set in place. I returned the scope to the dealer and probably I will buy a Vixen OTA. Never want to come through such a piece of junk again!

Overall Rating: 3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=39562

Celestron G-8
The Celestron G8 is the heir to a long line of Celestron GEM mounted C8s: the Super Polaris C8 and the Great Polaris C8, both on Vixen mounts. The G8, however, uses a Chinese-built CG5 (aka "EQ4") mount in lieu of the Vixen. Is it as good as a Vixen mount? No. The G8 is a bad scope, then? No, not at all. At considerably less than a grand (without drives) this is a decent value. In order to keep the price at this level, Celestron has had to forego the Vixen mounts for the Chinese CG5, but all is not lost.

The EQ4/CG5 is not the mount the SP/GP were, and the SP/GP were never themselves noted for being steadier than a fork mount C8, but the G8's mount _is_ salvageable. But the new owner MUST take pains to fine tune the mount, degreasing and relubricating it as outlined at . Once this is done, the mount peforms OK, and is certainly good enough for visual use--or even beginning photography. The mount has been improved over the several years its been out, now featuring a good ball-bearing system in the RA axis rather than the initial nylon pads.

Optics? Good Celestron OTA, no different from any other Celestron C8. The newer G8s arre Faststar compatible with the requisite removable secondary. If collimated and cooled, this OTA can and WILL do a heck of a job, even on the planets.

Bottom line? OK, with a little fine-tuning of the mount...but unless you really have to low-ball it, most folks will be happier with a basic Celestar or Meade LX10. And remember, once you add dual axis drives, the price goes up pretty close to that of the Celestar/LX10. If you want a C8 on a small GEM, I'd look for a used SP/GP C8, myself.

Peace,
Rod Mollise

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:8 Value:8
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=49216

Celestron G-8
poorly made, poor tech support, very cheaply made.

Overall Rating: 0
Optics:3 Mount:1 Ease of Use:3 Value:0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=86434

Celestron G-8
great celestron optics, mount was a little light. pinpoint stars across the field!
great value on an 8" schmit. highly recommended!

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:9 Value:9
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=109136

Celestron G-8
The G-8 was my first scope, and I must say it's perfect for the beginner. Very good optics, low cost, great fun, only mount should be a bit better. Thank's Celestron.

Overall Rating: 10
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=136110

Celestron G-8
Great scope for beginners. On nights I want a quick peek, I grab my G-8 (fully set up) and enjoy the great views. When properly collimated the performace is excellent. Mount is not heavy-duty and a little shaky, but it will due.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=136544

Celestron G-8
Great optics, very top notch. Mount leaves a little bit to be desired. This is especially true when I put a Televue 2 inch diagonal and large Panoptic on it. For normal 1.25 inch plossl
type eyepieces the mount is acceptable. I've done piggy back photography with this and it worked pretty well even though that was with a medium format camera. I got this at
Astronomics on sale with dual axis drives for under a
grand, but the DEC motor failed after a year.

Overall Rating: 9
Optics:9 Mount:7 Ease of Use:8 Value:8
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=204154

Celestron G-8
A cooled and collimated 8 inch celestron SCT is an excellent performer and value. Don't let anybody tell you it is'nt!

Overall Rating: No Vote
Optics:8 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=324707

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