CPC or GPS?

Does anyone know the pactical differences in these scopes, aside from price?

I'm concerned about the plastics of the CPC mostly. They don't look as
robust to me as those on the GPS models. Also, what about the new Meade LX90
series in 10" and 12" apertures? Are these more robust or less robust than
the Celestron 9.25 and 11?. While optics are obviously important, it is also
important that the mechanics of the mount be robust and long-lived.

I'm considering the purchase of a GoTo SCT for binoviewing (as I've
indicated elsewhere), and while 8" would be ideal for portability reasons,
10" or greater would better suit my skies, as well as help make up for any
loss of light in the binoviewer.

-Stephen

Stephen Paul wrote:
Does anyone know the pactical differences in these scopes, aside from price?

I'm concerned about the plastics of the CPC mostly. They don't look as
robust to me as those on the GPS models. Also, what about the new Meade LX90
series in 10" and 12" apertures? Are these more robust or less robust than
the Celestron 9.25 and 11?. While optics are obviously important, it is also
important that the mechanics of the mount be robust and long-lived.

I'm considering the purchase of a GoTo SCT for binoviewing (as I've
indicated elsewhere), and while 8" would be ideal for portability reasons,
10" or greater would better suit my skies, as well as help make up for any
loss of light in the binoviewer.

-Stephen

Hi:

The CPC doesn't use "North and Level" during its GPS alignment...this
is to avoid patent infringement problems with Meade. Instead, there's
SkyAlign, where you point the scope at 3 bright objects. It figures out
what these objects are with the help of GPS and completes your
alignment.

Redesigned fork...LOOKS sturdier than that on the GPS. We'll see when
Celestron releases the 11.

Redesigned tripod...somewhat better.

Cheesy plastic handcontroller holder instead of the hole in the fork
arm that made all the Nexstars look so cool and furturistic. ;-).

No carbon fiber tubes.

Bigger drive base with a larger azimuth gear assembly (should have
painted the base and arms black and the tub orange, though). ;-)

The 8 inch LX90 is a great scope, but I'm afraid the 10 and 12 OTAs
will "challenge" this fork/drivebase. We'll see... ;-)

Peace,
Rod

"RMOLLISE" wrote in message
oups.com...

Stephen Paul wrote:
Does anyone know the pactical differences in these scopes, aside from
price?

The CPC doesn't use "North and Level" during its GPS alignment...this
is to avoid patent infringement problems with Meade. Instead, there's
SkyAlign, where you point the scope at 3 bright objects. It figures out
what these objects are with the help of GPS and completes your
alignment.

Redesigned fork...LOOKS sturdier than that on the GPS. We'll see when
Celestron releases the 11.

Redesigned tripod...somewhat better.

Cheesy plastic handcontroller holder instead of the hole in the fork
arm that made all the Nexstars look so cool and furturistic. ;-).

No carbon fiber tubes.

Bigger drive base with a larger azimuth gear assembly (should have
painted the base and arms black and the tub orange, though). ;-)

The 8 inch LX90 is a great scope, but I'm afraid the 10 and 12 OTAs
will "challenge" this fork/drivebase. We'll see... ;-)

Peace,
Rod

Thanks for the feedback. I think astro cabin fever has been setting in
lately. I got up this morning at 3AM and wheeled the 12.5" Dob out for a
whirl at Mars. The seeing wasn't great (not atypical here) but with patience
I managed to see the SPC and a large dark area on the surface at 270x. If
nothing else, it was the first time in a long time that the skies were clear
and dark at the same time, when I found myself able to get out there, and I
enjoyed just looking up when not at the eyepiece.

That cured my fever for new equipment for the time being. ;-).

Be that as it may, I do see either a C9.25 or a C11 on a GoTo fork in my
binoviewing future. I can't wait to see how this pans out over the next 6
months or so. I've got enough other equipment to offer up for sale that I
can comfortably cover the cost of the 11".

One other question... whether I ultimately go with the 8", 9.25" or the 11",
will I have to add a counterweight system to compensate for the weight of
the BinoVue with two Ultima/Plossl/Ortho class eyepieces?