Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD Computerized Telescope 11009
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
The CPC Deluxe 1100 HD is a great telescope
By Venki Prathivadi
This is my first telescope and considering I am a rank amateur most people might think that the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD is an overkill. I bought it with the realization that buying a SCT that would meet my needs for at least 3-4 years was worth stretching the budget by 30%. I was particularly interested in the edgeHD optics and preferred the 11" diameter.
I live in Melbourne, Australia and used Borderlinx for shipping the packages from a local warehouse address in the US. The telescope arrived at my front door in 6 days from the time I ordered. Shipping and duties cost me roughly 25% of the total cost. Local stores in Melbourne sell the same telescope for almost 75% more than Amazon's price.
I had never imagined how big and heavy this telescope is. It is monstrous and quite a sight to behold when mounted on the tripod. While I can set it up by myself in the backyard, I suggest getting help particularly when aligning the locking pin on the base of the OTA to the hole in the tripod base. It can be tricky to do it alone.
My first ever viewing experience was a complete disappointment. While I could find the moon in the spotting scope I could see nothing through the eyepiece. I didn't know what to say to my family who were watching the whole show with amusement. The next day, I decided to read the manual again and after a google search, I discovered that I had to "align" the spotting scope with the view through the eyepiece on a terrestrial object and this was best done during daylight. I carried the 30 KG OTA and 15 KG up the stairs to our bedroom balcony and carried out the alignment (basically adjust the spotting scope mounting screws until the view through the eyepiece of the main telescope and the small spotting scope were almost centered at the crosshairs.
That night we had our first OMG and HS moments when we saw the quarter crescent moon through the 23mm Luminos wide angled eyepiece. Our neighbor joined the fun and couldn't believe what he was seeing. We have now seen the Jupiter and its moons several times. But that's all we have seen in the one month that we have had the telescope - our moon and Jupiter. I am yet to see other planets or galaxies or ny of the DSO's. I am still a rank beginner. Perhaps I need to wake up or stay awake till when the sky is darker. Perhaps I need to learn how to use the GoTo hand controller better.
I have also joined the local Astronomy club and look forward to attending their sessions to learn more. It will be great to meet and discuss with other CPC 1100 owners in Melbourne or anywhere in Australia to learn from them.
Overall, I am very happy with the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD telescope and am looking forward to adding the equitorial wedge to the collection and do some astrophotography.
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