Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe


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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Truly outstanding optics. Rock solid mount with an accurate drive. What more would you want? I do think Celestron compromised too much with the basic Celestar. The great mounting and upgraded finder makes a significant difference.

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
My dec motor broke shortly after the warranty period expired. The optics on my particular scope are only so-so. Also, why can't they design the thing so that the RA encoder can be left on the scope?

Overall Rating: 7
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Very nice optics. Full pass for star testing. Much detail on Jupiter on nights of good seeing. Transportable. EZ to power. Great for pictures.

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Need intsruction book with glossary for beginners, and software with glossary. Produces are adequate...just need more illustration with product.

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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
No question about the optics- really breathtaking the first time.What really bothered me was the hardware:allen head bolts on the wedge instead of thumb screws;tiny screws to access the batteries where a pop-off cover would do;and most of all the leg clamps on the tripod-if you don't wail on them the scope slowly falls over.Another mystery is the location of the Latitude scale on the inside of the wedgepod renders it useless.The tracking was good at temps above 32F,below that it was a little unpredictable.I also found the STICKERS used to align the setting circles were slightly misplaced.I don't understand what all the Meade bashing is about-superior quality from what I've seen.I have since returned my Deluxe 8 and am planning to get an LX 200.

Overall Rating: 6
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
This telescope is a godsend. The first night out I swear I could almost see footprints on the moon. Now, seriously, this is a great scope. The 26mm EP is excellent and finder scope is superb. Very portable. It easily fits in the back seat of my Taurus. It took a bit of getting use to aligning it, but after the first couple of days I can get it all set up and ready to go in 5 minutes.

Buy this scope--great value at $1799

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
High marks: Very good tube optical performance, stable and easy to set-up mount, accurate RA tracking motor, easy polar alignment with deluxe alt-azth option, std 9x50 finder helps star-hopping.
Low marks: Dec drive runs poorly (slow) with internal (2) 9 volt batteries (you must provide external 12vdc power), deluxe alt-azth option should be included hardware with scope (very hard to polar align dec without the $38 option), mediocre diagonal, std 9x50 finder should be provided with the necessary counter weights to correct tube unbalance.
Summary: Very good general purpose scope.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Been really satisfied

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
This is my first scopeand I have been very happy with it. I wouldn't hestitate to
recommend it to someone else. The only problems that I have is first and most important is the telescoping legs of the tripod. Its hard to clamp them down to the point where they won't slip. And once you do its almost impossible to unclamp them. Secondly, the allen bolts on the mount are a real pain. I was lucky enough to come across a knob screw set for my scope. It should be standard with this scope.

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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
For the price, this is a nice scope. The optics show a bit if overcorrection (1/4 wave?) but in rare steady seeing stars show near-textbook airy discs with rings. The focusser does have some image shift, worse in cold (0defrees F) weather. The large 9x50 finder is surprisingly good, although I modified mine to a right angle design. I added counterweights to offset the seight of the dec motor and my 2" diagonal and the scope stays put with the clamps off-very nice. The drive seems to work well, although I have not tried imaging or photography. One word of advice: Celestron Vibration Supression Pads (VSP) - DON'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM!!!!!! These little gadgets take out the high power fucussing jiggles. The scope isn't perfect but it does a fine job for a mass-market telescope. I plan to keep mine a long time.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
The basic Deluxe is great...maybe a 8 or so rating. No real weak spots other than the PEC which doesn't work correctly...the fix is coming out this week for free from Celestron for users. The drive on mine is extremely accurate even without the PEC. I routinely go 2 minutes unguided CCD images and have gone as much as 4 minutes several times...that is pretty amazing performance.

The reason I give it a 10 is because of its Fastar optic option. I have that on my scope and along with the required SBIG ST237 and a color filter wheel if you want color will give incredible images in very short times. This is a great CCD imaging setup that will easily match the best images you have see in magazines from much more expensive and larger setups. The two most impressive things about this setup and CCD....you can get incredibly difficult images from semi light poluted areas no problem. And it will capture a mag. 18.8 star in only 60 seconds! For evidence of what this scope can do...go to my clubs web site and take a look at some of my pictures posted there:
http://zennla.com/sfaa/images/ all lower case

You can also click on the word Fastar there for a writeup I did of the system and my observing site.....ok....want evidence of what the scope is capable of...go to that web site and check out my Horse Head Nebula and the Veil Nebula....now realize that those two and ALL of these images posted were shot from my backyard only 1/2 mile south of San Francisco...hardly a dark sky spot! And the HorseHead took me 4 minutes to image in black and white...and 5 minutes each through a R,G,B and a Luminance (clear) filter. The Fastar images at f 1.95. At f6.3 you would have needed a 10 time longer exposure time....now do you see the advantage of Fastar....this has to be Celestron best kept secret. Sadly they only have this on the 8" Deluxe and U2K and the 14" SCT. This would be a killer feature on their 11" scope.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
The optics of the telescope are remarkable and the fastar option is great for CCD lovers.
Optically i was able to see the arms of M51 from Fremont Peak and it was breathtaking, almost like a picture. Let me tell you, aperture makes a difference.
The PEC is an excellent plus but i personally do not use it too much. I love doing photoes and this telescope is great to align and use for picture. The mount is solid enough to allow me to have an 80mm short tube piggybacked for some widefield pictures. Only problem i found the mounting has rubber pads which are making the telescope trembling a lot. The celestron pads accessories are vital to this telescope. The drive is compatible with different autoguider (SBIG ST-4 or even 201XT) increasing the flexibility of the scope.
I strongly recommend this scope for astrphotography beginners.
Fabrizio Montauti

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
I'm satisfied with this scope:

OPTICS: Star very similar either side of focus.
Resolution test 1: Seperated binary stars 0.7" sep. cleanly.
Resolution test 2: Faintest star seen in dark skies -- 15th Magnitude!
Resolution test 3: Five craterlets seen on the floor of Plato.
Resolution test 4: Rima Hadley seen on Moon.

Have been able to keep star inside reticle ( after drift method of polar alignment) for a 4 minutes with no tracking adjestments once the P.E.C. was trained. Accurately measured seperations on a variety of close binaries using micrometer eyepiece. For photos: good tracking, if polar alignment done well.

Main Beefs:

1- Battery pack location is "insane" for the user -- I wonder WHY they did it!?!
However, since I mainly use an external battery pack, I can ignore it.
2- There should be knobs instead of HEX bolts. Replaced them.
3- An easier to use latitude adjuster would be great. Purchased the add-on.

Bottom line? Very nice machine. Tracks well. Good optics. Finderscope useful. Have not used the Fastar option, but nice to know it's there. When used with a comfortable adjustable observing chair -- paradise. Very satisfied overall.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=38468


Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Upgraded from a G-8 to the C-8 Delux. Same great optics (however, I found more image shift with my new OTA!) but much more solid mount, and tracking far superior to the "add-on" drive of my G-8. Also, I have found the set-up time to be quick and painless...especially after replacing the allen bolts with thumb screws. On the downside, is the lack of interface (compared to Meade) for auxiliary items such as electric focuser. But in general, I love this scope!!

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
I had done a previous review of this scope here. I was the one who talked about the Fastar option and how incredible it was. The time since than has only reinforced my opinion...to the point where I raised the scope rating to the highest rating of 10. No it isn't perfect....no scope is....but it is becoming obvious that this is one of the most versatile scopes out there. I have added quite a few images to my collection that prove the value of the Fastar setup. The scope has been pretty much trouble free. The only problem I had was the original tripod was a run that had a problem with the leg lock. That was changed out on warrantee by Celestron. The tripod that comes on the Deluxe is a beauty...very heavy duty and solid. I did add the Extra HEavy Duty wedge although the stock Deluxe wedge was fine...got a good deal on it and it does have some nice features. I also added the Deluxe latitude adjusting kit which is also available for the Deluxe Wedge. This is mandatory if you are doing CCD or film astrophotography to make it easy to polar align.

The one area that became more and more obvious as I got more into CCD imaging was just how accurate the tracking of the drive was. And how fine the tweaking you could do with the control pad. There was NO backlash, hesitation or wobble. Those who are into CCD imaging value a really excellent drive and mount as being more important than a good scope in the final mix. I have friends with Meade LX-200s that would kill to get the quality of tracking and unguided durations that I get.

Are there any areas that I would want improved down the road? The main one is that the mount is almost too rigid and prone to vibrations. But this is easily eliminated by a set of the Celestron Vibration Reducing Pads. These are phenomenally effective. With them the scope/mount/tripod is rock solid and vibration is not an issue at all. I feel that a set of the VRPs should be a stock item with every scope sold by Celestron...or other manufacturers for that matter!

I have been learning more and more about getting the most from this scope and the results are consistently amazing. I can't think of any other CCD/Scope combo I would recommend over this one.

Again...if you want to see what the Fastar can do go to my club's site:
http://zennla.com/sfaa/images/
Go to images with my name attached...also click on words Fastar Technology for a writeup of the system. Believe it or not...ALL of these images including the Horse Head and Veil Nebula were taken from my backyard...only 1/2 mile south of San Francisco in a residential neighborhood...hardly a dark sky spot.

Bob Berta

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
The Celestar 8 Deluxe is a well designed scope with excellent optics. Some units have vibration problems that can be resolved with vibration suppression pads. Be cautious of quality control since some units shipped are not assembled correctly or have poorly machined gears.

I recommend this scope for visual observer and for part time CCD photographer.

If you are considering purchasing this scope, for the price and capabilities this scope can't be beat. Purchase your unit from local reputable dealer who will stand behind the product in event of quality control issues.

Marlowe_observatory@ameritech.net

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
I find yhr celestron deluxe to be a fine scope to use. The images are superb and the intra and extra focal images of stars appear text book! I have a friend who uses a Meade 8" LX50 and he thinks that the imaging through the celestron is superior to his scope. I would like the mount to be able to be adjusted in both axis by an adjuster, this would help in polar aligning, but that said, I can observe for five minutes or so before any significant shift becoming apparent, after spending 3 - 5 minutes aligning the scope to the pole.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Celestron Celestar 8 Deluxe
Follow-up to earlier vote: I have tried ccd imaging with my C-8 and can am pleased that 30-second images (at f/3.3 with focal reducer) have more sharp images than trailed ones because of drive error. Biggest problem is polar alignement since the optical axis is not precisely perpendicular to the declination axis. A permanent pier helps with that. The scope is still a keeper.

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