Fred wrote:
Hi *,
I'm considering upgrading my old EQ5 which came with my C8 with GOTO
capabilities and I'm almost set for a Skysensor 2000-PC (I'd love a
Celestron CGE or a Losmandy but not for now )
Now the big question is where to find the toy (at a decent price, of
course). I found a couple of potential sources around USD1200 but with
no immediate availability. Is there a shortage or something similar? Do
you happen to know where I could buy it, preferable online, within a
fair timeframe?

Bonus question for existing users: is the 'PC' option worth the delta or
could you live without it?

Thanks in advance.


Consider the Celestron CG5 Advanced Series GT mount. It seems to have
accurate aiming capabilities provided it heads off in the correct
direction (I've seen it fail this a couple of times), and there's an
optional accessory that provides an auxiliary port, hand controller
port, and serial port for Nexremote (formerly HC Anywhere) PC control.
It also has an autoguider port on the main controller board which is
mounted on the RA axis.

I just did a transplant of the complete GoTo system to my Vixen GP. I
_finally_ got it out for a trial run thanks to a break in the clouds the
other night, and the accuracy was identical to the CG5. Using just a
quick centering of Polaris in the polar scope, and rough centering of
the alignment stars in a 1 degree TFOV eyepiece, all objects were off
center in the same location, but within the field of view.

The next ideas:
remote control
aiming correction using the Meade DSI as a field star imager
autoguiding with the Meade DSI
remote focus of a DSLR