Celestron Ultima 8 PEC

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Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The Good: Images typical for 8" SC however I have not tried collimation. VERY portable. Btty operation is great! Manual slewing saves on btty (encoders built in). I use this scope more times per month than any other I've had including my C102. Computer goto is slick! It's great to see globular clusters come rolling into view.

The Bad: Very sensitive to balance! Weak altitude clutch. No switching from that 8mm aluminum Brandon to 20mm Nag! re-balance with included weights or additional weights may be needed. The hand control is very sparse. It takes a lot of clicking to find the right menu. I'll probably end up using a lap top eventually. Also only a few programs support it! But the hand control is very light and easy to read.

The Ugly: Not! it's silver gray tube paint job and heavy black painted tripod are cool! Plus the dual line beady red display looks neat at night.

Changes to make: I'd like to see a beefier altitude clutch and an option for a button-for-everything control with maybe an "all known celestial objects" database. Although the motors are supposedly quiter then the LX200, I think they could be even more quiter.

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37522

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
I own the Celestron Powerstar 8 which is a Celestron 8" SCT scope with a heavy duty wedge, tripod, and PEC battery powered drive. The driev is excellent, but the scope's optical performance was not as good as I hoped for. I finally sent it out to Celestron for servicing, and they corrected the optical system. I have not had a chance to evaluate it yet, as it will be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully the performance will be far better. I like the size, light grasp, and portability of the 8" SCT.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37523

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The information given at the begining of these comments is right on the money. This scope is not to be confused with the Ultima 2000. The mount and tripod: steady as a rock. Heavy duty wedge usually found on the Ultima 11. PEC operation provides tracking capable of long duration astrophotography. The optics always garner praise and envy from Meade 10 inch owners. Wait for just the right seeing conditions and the only better planetary views I've seen are from Takahashi and A-P 5 and 6 inch apos. Yes, I realize most people here are singing the praises of their own telescopes. But some of my other telescopes will come and go, but my Ultima 8 will always be here. I will buy more portable and less portable telescopes, but this is my "first scope".

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37526

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The instrument I owned had an excellent star test. Other very picky astronomers also noted the superb optics of that particular scope. Mount was extremely accurate and rigid, allowing astrophotography. Manual setting circles were also extremely accurate as was PEC drive. This scope made me an advanced amateur -- dozens of astrophotos, Messier catalogue, Herschell 400 all done with this instrument. Kept me busy for eight years until I finally ran out of things to do with it. Sold it two years ago and sometimes miss it.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37527

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
Like the guy above I bought the Powerstar version of the Ultima which has less solid fork arms and smaller finder. With the heavy duty tripod it's a fine light bucket, but I too reckon the performance on planets is below par. This scope was pshased out a few years before the Ultima becuase cheapskates like me opted to save the a couple of hundred dollars.

Overall Rating: 7
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37528

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The Ultima 8 PEC I own has almost perfect optics both on the star test and on the bench. All I can say is that it exceptional. It puts the new Celestars to shame on the mechanics. This baby is made to last. I can rest my elbow on the super heavy duty wedge while focusing at 300X and the image does not move. The forks look like they were made for the army they are so robust. The drive is a Byers drive and it is steady and reliable. As someone before said, everyone thinks their scope is the best but this thing probably is the best 8" SCT ever made. The only not so positive thing is the wieght. 66 lbs.! Ouch! Oh well, its either a few more pounds or a shakier mount. I have no doubt which one I would pick. Then again - maybe it's just me..........

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37529

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
This is simply the finest fork mounted 8" SCT ever made. Why Celestron ever got rid of this model, or at the very least the mount is beyond me. A true Astrophotographers dream right out of the box. I've owned mine for 7 years. Awesome.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37531

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The Ultima 8 PEC is simply the finest 8-inch SCT built. The Byers gears are excellent and steady with periodic error less than 5 arc seconds and no noticeable erratic error. Mount is very solid and puts all new
Celestron and Meade fork mounted scopes to shame. Works very well with CCD autoguiders like SBIG's ST-7 and ST-4! And handles additional weight very well. Optics are excellent. If you are an astro-photographer this is the scope for you!


Marlowe Observatory
Marlowe_observatory@ameritech.net

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 3 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37532

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
Took mine to a star party last weekend. Never really had the opportunity to campare it with other scopes. After doing so, I have a new respect for this scope! Viewing through a 12 Meade LX200 at Saturn, my 8" Celestron Ultima simply outclassed in every respect, contrast, brightness, sharpness. The 12" LX200 owner said "This is the best view of Saturn I have ever seen, WOW!". What surprised me even more was deep-sky performance. In the field were numerous 8", 12" LX200, and also some 12.5 Newt. I had comments after comments of how my scope compared to the others scopes of larger sizes. The view of the Dumbell was just as good through my 8" as a 12.5 newt with Discovery Optics. M42 was stunning in a 16", my 8" however was surprised the owners of the 16 with the amount of detail visible. 6 stars in the Trapizium were seen with no averted vision, F being the most difficult, while 8" LX200 only showed 4 with a hint of the 5th (I think A). I came away feeling very good about the Ultima 8 PEC.

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37533

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
I've used this scope for the last 8 years and love it. The mount is rock solid, literally and it tracks like a dream. The optics rarely require collimation even after a 4 mile off-road trip across the desert to my favorite observing site. My only wish is it had goto.

GJC
SD

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37534

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
My 2nd SCT . Tracks quietly and very accurately . Optics excellent . Vibrations dampen quickly .

Overall Rating: 9
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=37535

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
HI to all,I have my Ultima 8 PEC since 1995,and I think it was the last year that they were made.
This scope is a dream to use,the mount is very solid and rocksteady,the setting circles are very nice to use,with the mount carefully aligned you can easily find any object you want.
The optics are incredible sharp, images both in the deep-sky objects and planetary are superb and this one holds the collimation very well and a long time.
The tracking is great too,with a periodic error of 20 arc-seconds in RA without the PEC function on,with it can be reduced to 5 arc-seconds.Amazing.
This is a wonderfull and great telescope.Simple,easy to use and it can give a lifetime of fun and joy.
Fernando Magalhaes

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=367675

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
This is the telescope.The best,simple and ease to use.I f you see one in good conditions,don't think,buy it.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:10 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=437222

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
I have had mine sine 1995, and its used as often as possible. I have been somewhat disappointed of the views, but I think its related to my accessories. When I first started using the scope, the views were wonderful. Compared to a 10", it was simply better. Compared to a 6" Astro Physics, well you could see Saturns ring look like a line someone drew with a pencil (this was when they were edge on). In my 8" Ultima, it was fuzzy, but seemed to go in and out. BUT, the scope did not cool down at all, so I'm confident it would have performed better.

Overall, happy with the scope. Would love to have it optically tested however, to back up the claims of "best 8" SCT ever".

6 = Value because it was expensive at the time.
John k.

Overall Rating: 8
Optics:8 Mount:8 Ease of Use:8 Value:6
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=581316

Celestron Ultima 8 PEC
The best scope ever. Had mine since the 90's.

Overall Rating: 10
Optics:10 Mount:10 Ease of Use:4 Value:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=593661

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