Celestron NexStar 8

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Celestron NexStar 8
The scope is optically perfect. You could not ask for much more. Planets look fantastic, as does the moon and any reasonably reachable deep-sky object. Had a mounting problem with the scope initially, it appeared to be the scope, but after further investigation it was a poorly machined tripod. A matter quickly cleared up by the distributor. After 3 months of searching I came down to the NexStar 8 as my scope of choice, it is very portable and optically perfect. I even use it for terrestrial viewing. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I've used this scope now for two nights and it's a wonderful machine. The optics are excellent, with pin-point stars and good contrast for deep-sky. The electronics are very easy to use, with separate lists for stars, planets, Messier and NGC objects, and the Go-To system is fast and accurate. Even after hours of viewing each selected object turns up in the view of a 22 mm eyepiece. Impressive !

However, I was not so positive when I unpacked the scope. The installation sheets look sloppy, with different fonts and poor alignment. I tried the focus knob and it didn't turn evenly. Then I couldn't fix the scope to the mount: I had to scrape some metal from the holes in the scope before the bolts fitted. NOT GOOD ! I almost went back to the shop to ask for a refund, but my first night viewing made me keep the scope.

Conclusion: a 10 for optics & design, a 6 for finishing. I guess quality of individual scopes varies widely. Thoroughly check your scope in the shop before you buy it !

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron NexStar 8
This is a fun telescope to use and is very good optically. It is accurate in the goto mode and is nice and quiet while slewing. The images are excellent with nice contrast. I highly recommend this telescope.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
Had fun with this scope, but after checking out even smaller scopes such as prontos and some apo and semi-apo refractors, I sold mine. Just too wobbly to use any sort of heavier eyepieces or equipment with. I give it a 7 because it makes a good beginner scope and is certainly better than either of the ETX scopes I've owned.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
My NexStar 8 meets all my expectations for what it is, except there is one glaring design problem. That ridiculous "finder" on the side should be trashed for a real optical device with a right angle mirror. What is supplied is absurdly inconvenient to use as the scope moves closer to zenith. Meade makes a little right angle job for their ETX and I may try to adapt one of these, or try a slightly larger right angle unit from Lumicon.

Ironically, I switched to the N8 because of a severe back injury. I could no longer handle my Astrophysics unit. Imagine my surprise when on a consistent basis, my back when miserable on me using that dumb star pointer!

I give the scope a 10 but the star pointer idea a zero. Overall, an 8.

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron NexStar 8
Great telescope. "Go to" is fast,accurate, and quiet. Very easy to set up. Instructions are precise and easy to understand. A great telescope package for someone with limited experience and time to observe. Optics are excellent. I rate it a 10.

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Celestron NexStar 8
Rating: 9.5 Hey, it works GOOD!

I'm a novice stargazer, with a few extra bucks. Started at Sears (!!) and got a 3" reflector for $120. Started reading, realized "mistake", though, it wasn't THAT bad. Then got an ETX60, looked cool, but then though, for $50 more, I'll get an ETX 70. First night at home-- noisy bugger, I thought "this thing will break in no time, an expensive toy". Got a NexStar 5-- it was fun for a night, but realized, not going to be THAT big a change over cheaper scopes, forget nebula and faint objects in town, no way. The Nexstar did seem 200% better quality than the Meade ETX's, no question, though at a big price jump- but who wants to spend $300 on an ETX plastic toy- I'm not a 14 year old kid (I'm a 46 year old kid!). So, for what, a few hundred more (gulp) I got the big scope, (okay, for a beginner), the 8" Nexstar 8-- and I can say "I'm happy!"

I am not an ASTRONOMER, and 18,000 objects in the Nexstar database should keep me happy for a while. I can see some nice clear details- cloud belts, bright moons, Casini rings on Jupiter and Saturn, the thing is quiet and tracks well, finds objects, though I usually have to adjust slightly and hunt a little bit after the GoTo function- its not absolutely pinpoint perfect thus far-- might be my imperfect alignment (I need to get a level to level the thing at the beginning.) But I've found some incredibly faint nebula and clusters which I would NEVER find otherwise. The "FUN" in amateur astronomy seems to be "Can you see something there?" Treasure hunting...Rather than, can you see a photographic color picture perfection?" (No way, Jose!! You'll never see anything like the 20 minute photoexposure images)

It's portable, and the 8 is not at all much heavier than the 5, but twice as bright. I like the "Info" function that tells me what I am looking at! I don't know what all the complaining about aluminum tripods is about, it of course jiggles when you focus, but let go, and in 1 second, its all very still. I had a REALLY strudy tripod, and it was WAAAYYYY too heavy to carry from the car to the middle of the viewing area-- forget it, go aluminum. I carry this thing outside to the front and backyard, light weight is nice. I don't even have to disasemble the scope from the pod.

I've tried various lens, of very good quality-- the 40mm comes with it, a barlow (Meade 2X is good with this lens and others. I added a Celestron ultima 18mm, still looks pretty good even with the barlow, but above that, things get a bit fuzzy, a 9.7 Meade super plossel is pushing it, and a 6.7mm, what's the point?- blur city. Tried color filters on Jupiter and Saturn-- what's all the excitment folks?- not much difference. Moon filter helped, I may take back the plain one step filter, and go for the polarizer adjustable filter and/or a nebular filter- those nebula (in the city) are faint stuff, folks.
- Neil Slade
http://www.NeilSlade.com
The Amazing Brain Music Adventure

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Celestron NexStar 8
Beautiful views. Collimation was good right from the factory. The supplied eyepiece isn't worthy of the scope. Toss it. Backlash is terrible and getting a good alignment is much trickier than it should be, largely because of slop in the gears. The software is kind of kludgy and the user interface was not well thought out. Tripod isn't great, but is OK. The whole thing is pretty manageable, weight-wise.
All in all, it's been a satisfactory scope that is worth the bother.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
OTA and optics are great. Original scope arrived with faulty starpointer and computer. Had to send it back. Diagnol needed work. The 40mm eyepiece was dirty. After receiving a second scope and star pointer I am very favorably impresses. The optics are very good and the GOTO features on this one work very well. I like it.

I give it an 8 instead of a 10 because the quality control of the shipped scope and accessories is so poor that you may have to use the warranty and a good retailer to make it up to you. You shouldn't have to do that. Once you get a good scope you will like it.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I give it a 3!
The optics were fine, the were what you would expect from Celestron. The
rest of the package is garbage!! If you have never used a fine scope, then
I can see why this one would appear nice. I bought one and returned it two
days later. The tripod is a joke, it won't hold my 3.5lb dog let alone the
OTA. The finder is useless, the eyepiece it came with is very poor quality.
The backlash is a pain in the neck, the initial setup is not as simple as
it should be. I bought a 10" LX200 instead. It is rock solid and very
accurate. I would seriously suggest that people look elsewhere. Maybe
a Meade LX90, LX50, LX200, even an LX10 is better. If you do buy it or
already bought it, get a new finder, and look for a tripod replacement
and get better eyepieces and then it would be ok.

Just don't wast your money.

Overall Rating: 3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I recieved a Nexstar 114 GT for Christmas. I don't know much about astronomy, but after trying this scope I found it had some defects ( mostly computer generated faults ). I returned it and, since the store had no replacement, upgraded to a nexstar 4. This scope had similar problems, so I returned it. In this process I found out ( through Celestron)that the computer interface using the R 232 cable dosen't work with the software supplied with the instrument? They said it would be fixed by March 2001, but how are all these people going to get the updated version ? Well anyway, I ended up with the Nexstar 8 ( minus a few more bucks) and I think it works well. Like I said, I'm new at this, but following the instructions with the scope and reading other text on collimation, it seems to have very good optics. I agree the eyepiece that came with the instrument isn't the best, but the computer is easy to understand, easy to align, points at what you select and follows it almost flawlessly. I satisfied enough to give it a 9, however I think Clestron should step up the quality control, I went through four scopes to get to one that finally worked correctly.

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Celestron NexStar 8
Great optics. If you are looking for a GoTo scope, this is the one! It points to Mag 12 objects and puts them right into the FOV of a 14mm EP. You can spend all night trying to find the same object with a manual scope.

The scope takes some time to get comfortable with alignment and tracking, but it is worth the effort. Very portable. Several good user groups on-line where you can get good ideas and suggestions.

Downside - supplied 40mm EP isn't top notch. Standard tripod is weak. Some retailers offer a "Heavy Duty" tripod. It is worth the effort to find the better tripod.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I have owned this telescope for about 6-months now and it has proven to be very reliable with good image quality. It is very quiet and the goto is pretty accurate. I finally collimated the scope after 6-months of use and the images are great, especially on the planets. The tripod is very light but the telescope is very sturdy on it. Any vibration stops quickly. This telescope is well worth the money and is a lot of fun to use.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
The primary optics are of course very good. The mount is terrible. I had to file out one of the mounting holes to get the scope to fit on the mount. The tripod is very bad. The screws cannot be tightened and the whole affair is very wobbly. The backlash (slop) in the goto drive is very pronounced. The star finder is not very good either; the brightness of the led cannot be adjusted to low levels so that you can align on dimmer objects. I would have expected a better eyepiece for the price. Overall, I wish that I had invested in something of better quality.

Overall Rating: 5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I CAN'T FIGURE THE FUSS W/NEX8. THE PICTUE QUALITY TO MY EYES AND OTHERS WHO LOOKED THROUGH IT ISNT AS GOOD AS MY 6" DOB. BY PLACING A BARLOW ON THE DOB, THE IMAGAE OF BOTH SCOPES BECOME THE SAME IN SIZE, BUT THE DOB IS STILL CLEARER. SO I HAD A NEIGHBOR, A CELESTRON TECH, MAKE SURE THE COLL WAS RIGHT ON THE NEX8, AND IT WAS. AND WHY FIGHT WITH THE DEW? THE GOTO FEATURE WORKS LIKE A DIAMOND FOR SURE, AND WILL SAVE TIME ON LOOKING FOR A PARTICULER OBJECT, BUT AGAIN WEIGH TIME VS PICTURE QUALITY. IN MY HUMBLE OPINON, AND IAM VERY NEW TO THIS WOULD NOT A NEX114GT FOR 499.00, TAKE YOU TO THE GOTO, USE THE HAND CONTROL TO GET THE RA/DEC NUMBERS THEN SLEW ANY 8" NEWT OR DOB TO THAT CORDINATE, (8"NEWT OR DOB FROM 549 TO 649.00)AUTO TRAKER 49.00 TO 119.00 AND FREE WITH SOME SPEACIAL RIGHT NOW. AND YOU HAVE THE SAME THING? OR OTHER WORDS $1,200 VS 1,700 AND YOU HAVE 2 SCOPES? BUT THEN IF YOU TAKE/WANT TO TAKE PICTURES THEN THE COMPARISION IS MUTE, THEN NEVER MIND!!

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Celestron NexStar 8
I CAN'T FIGURE THE FUSS W/NEX8. THE PICTUE QUALITY TO MY EYES AND OTHERS WHO LOOKED THROUGH IT ISNT AS GOOD AS MY 6" DOB. BY PLACING A BARLOW ON THE DOB, THE IMAGAE OF BOTH SCOPES BECOME THE SAME IN SIZE, BUT THE DOB IS STILL CLEARER. SO I HAD A NEIGHBOR, A CELESTRON TECH, MAKE SURE THE COLL WAS RIGHT ON THE NEX8, AND IT WAS. AND WHY FIGHT WITH THE DEW? THE GOTO FEATURE WORKS LIKE A DIAMOND FOR SURE, AND WILL SAVE TIME ON LOOKING FOR A PARTICULER OBJECT, BUT AGAIN WEIGH TIME VS PICTURE QUALITY. IN MY HUMBLE OPINON, AND IAM VERY NEW TO THIS WOULD NOT A NEX114GT FOR 499.00, TAKE YOU TO THE GOTO, USE THE HAND CONTROL TO GET THE RA/DEC NUMBERS THEN SLEW ANY 8" NEWT OR DOB TO THAT CORDINATE, (8"NEWT OR DOB FROM 549 TO 649.00)AUTO TRAKER 49.00 TO 119.00 AND FREE WITH SOME SPEACIAL RIGHT NOW. AND YOU HAVE THE SAME THING? OR OTHER WORDS $1,200 VS 1,700 AND YOU HAVE 2 SCOPES? BUT THEN IF YOU TAKE/WANT TO TAKE PICTURES THEN THE COMPARISION IS MUTE, THEN NEVER MIND!!

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Celestron NexStar 8
The main things I liked about the NS8 were its optical quality and portability.
But there are several things I dislike. Goto accuracy is pretty good, but tracking is poor. Objects quickly drift out of FOV. The tripod is a bit too flimsy for this sized scope. With no wind, it's maybe OK, but even the slightest breeze causes severe shakes making the scope unusable. Gear backlash is a pain, causing jerkiness in slewing and/or long delays before slewing starts after pressing the button.

The scope is OK for visual use, but poor for photography. Forget about long term exposure due to the shakiness and poor tracking. Even short exposure shots can be tough because the extra weight of the camera makes the slewing even worse and you have to fiddle with a clutch nut to handle the weight.

I think the Meade LX90 is a far better choice. It's very stable, tracks perfectly, and slews smoothly. Its only drawback compared to the NS8 is that it weighs 20 lbs more with tripod.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=40563

Celestron NexStar 8
I an new to the hobby but figured, buy cheap buy twice. I bought a nex 5 at first due to price of 8. Got the 5 home and it looked like a return. Blasted the store and they hooked me up with a good price on a 8. Got that one home and the corrector plate had a tiny crack ii it. Bought that one back and got one clean in the box. Perfect condition. Scope seems to have good com and it tracks nice. The mount is solid but not really that impressed with its pointing yet. Great views of planets and moon. Working on deep sky. Bought the skylight dust seal and only problem is now the star diag hits the base when almost at zenith.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron NexStar 8
I've owned a Nexstar 8 for almost a year, and I love it. The optics are excellent. I really like the "tour" mode.

The mount is fairly stable and tracking is not bad.

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron NexStar 8
I am new to astronomy, but had tried (pruchased and been unhappy with) several other scopes, among them a C8 and G8. I've read all the required books (the Night Watch series among them). Call them roboscopes, or whatever, this is a good way to a)get into astronomy and b)see stuff that you wouldn't see with a less expensive entry level scope.

Optics were perfect out of the box. Can do a quick align, then find just about anything I ask it to with a click of the buttons. The 40mm eyepiece with the scope gives a nice field of view. The tripod is plenty stable for viewing...and have even used it for some nice digital images using my Nikon CoolPix 990 digital camera. A 17 and 6mm eyepiece are worth the investment if you buy good ones. There is a good website showing a homemade mount for a Nikon digital camera with the c8 scope and it works fine on my nextstar8.

This is also a great scope if you want your young kids (my son is 4 and 1/2) to take an interest in the sky and astronomy and scopes and science. He loves looking through it...and unlike my c8 deluxe or g8 it finds the next object before he can get bored and walk into the garage.

One small drawback: it ain't great in finding stuff when the temperature falls below about 28 degrees F. Of course, it is a little cold to be out on those nights. serjak@mediaone.net

rating=10

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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