Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain 2800mm Telescope with Tripod and Tube

Update January 2018: I used this scope for the solar eclipse and have been photographing deep sky objects with a wedge. It's still going strong and working fine after I replaced the front cell. I've had a few issues with the GPS receiver that I've been able to resolve. I recently replaced the nylon ball bearings in the base of the mount with stainless steel bearings in order to get smoother tracking for astrophotography. Update March 2016 - Parts are difficult to obtain from Celestron!! I had an unfortunate accident with my telescope while setting up a outreach demonstration in a gym on a cloudy night. I forgot to tighten the thumbscrews that secure the scope to the tripod, and then tried to adjust the tripod! It was a dumb mistake and entirely my fault. I typically am more careful but guess I was in a hurry. The telescope fell and dented the front cell (the bezel that the lens cap attaches to). I've since tested the scope with an artificial star and found that the optics are still very fine! The collimation was off a bit but not by much. I added "Bob's knobs" and was able to get a nice diffraction pattern during the fine in-focus collimation adjustment. Celestron refused to sell me the front cell!! They offered the option of sending the scope back to the factory but it will take 20 to 40 days and cost an estimated $300. I don't mind the $300 so much, but don't want to be without the scope for a month as the weather is just getting nice and Jupiter is nicely placed! I continued bugging Celestron, and they reluctantly agreed to sell me the front cell. It wasn't too hard to replace and I collimated the optical tube. It's been working fine ever since! Update November 2015, a few months after purchase: =========================================== I'm still happy wit this purchase. This telescope has rekindled my interest in amateur astronomy and helped me to see the sky in a "new light". It's also been a hit with my neighbors when I've invited them to star parties. The GOTO feature is really useful and helps keep things moving. The tripod and telescope are a bit unwieldy to carry into the field, but that's subjective. It takes me about 15 minutes to unload the stuff from my car and set up at my favorite field not far from my home. I'd seen the planets before in my old 4.5" Newtonian scope that were OK, but have got some great views of the lunar eclipse, Saturn, Venus, and the moon with the CPC800 in the couple of months that I've owned it, and I'm dying to see Jupiter when it rises high in the night sky for me in the spring of 2016 (I'm not a morning person!). Meanwhile this CPC800 has helped me to discover the beauty of deep sky objects such as galaxies and nebulae. I say this with some trepidation because you shouldn't expect to run out and see images as you see them in magazines. The great ring nebula in Lyra for example, still looks like a small fuzzy doughnut. But it is resolvable and unmistakable in this telescope, whereas in my 4.5" Newtonian it was barely recognizable. Such objects will never look as you see them in a magazine because the human eye is not as sensitive as long exposure photography, and we're bound to do our observing from under a thick layer of atmosphere. Speaking of which, I'll note that I'm located in a rural area with low light pollution and at about 1000' above sea level. I've gained a new appreciation for how special and rare dark skies are. Pity the city-dwellers who cannot see the milk way! That's the way the ball bounces. I've started experimenting with astrophotography through this scope and have seen some colors in the nebulae through an inexpensive used DSLR camera from eBay. It's opened a whole new world for me but I see this as a specialized area that will take me a long while to master. One of the first things you'll run into with this Schmidt-Cassegrain scope as opposed to a Newtonian telescope is dew. Moisture in the air will condense on the corrector plate and end your viewing session before you're ready. It's inevitable. I made a primitive dew shield from flexible black foam craft sheets. This works well, is inexpensive, and buys you a couple of hours before the dew forms. I eventually constructed a 3-watt dew heater. These things can be easily purchased as well, but I like DYI when possible. Learning these things is a natural progression if you take this hobby seriously. Astronomy requires patience and endurance. Summer buzzing bugs - winter freezing feet - cloudy nights. But you'll be rewarded if you stick with it. Have fun! ... It's a very nice instrument. I'm happy with it so far. I've had better luck using the one-star alignment method by just pointing it to a known object than by using the three star alignment. One star alignment is pretty quick and gets me close enough to find other objects pretty well. The tripod is very solid. That tracking works well. Images are quite crisp with the supplied eyepiece. The controller is fairly intuitive, although it feels a bit dated with the menu-driven two-line LCD display. I found the power switch LED to be too bright as it shines up from the base pretty much into your eyes. I covered it with a piece of black tape. The underside of the tripod has six triangular cavities cast into the aluminum. I added red LED light strips in these compartments shining down on the accessory tray and found these to be very helpful. The light shines down onto the tray and not into your eyes since the LED's themselves are well hidden in the cavities. I power the telescope and other accessories (including the LEDs) from a 20 aH sealed lead acid battery that I carry in a canvas bag. I had a great time with this during the lunar eclipse star party on September 27th. The GOTO feature was extremely useful during the eclipse. As the skies darkened and stars started popping out, I could quickly slew to the ring nebula or Andromeda, and then easily slew right back to the moon to check its progress. The DC power connector has a locking ring that is supposed to engage with threads on the DC socket. It doesn't. Celestron used a DC socket with threads that don't protrude enough from the base. I find it a curious oversight. The correct socket is probably only worth a couple of bucks. I worry that the power cord might pull out and mess up my alignment, so I tie the cord through the handle on the fork. The finder scope inverts the image and has a non-illuminated reticle, and the adjustment screws protrude further than I would like. I found that they interfered with my piggyback camera mount. So I'm not really nuts about the finder scope. I've generally been pretty pleased with purchases on Amazon. However, this is the most expensive item I've bought from Amazon so far. In retrospect, I would buy it from another supplier. Amazon chose to ship this using a freight carrier from a warehouse about 1000 miles from me, which took about a week. It arrived on time and in good condition, but later I later discovered that I could have bought this from another supplier in a neighboring state who would have shipped UPS without charging sales tax. I probably could have received the telescope in two days instead of a week. It's a nice scope and expect to get years of enjoyment from it.

Note: my review is for the CPC 800, since the reviews on this page seem to be a combination of 800, 925, and 1100 reviews. Also, I should point out that I'm an amateur with limited experience, and this is my first "real" telescope purchase. So I'll start with a few words of advice up front to help anyone who might be new and unsure of what to buy. First of all, if you are telescope shopping and are considering this scope, DEFINITELY consider the fact that it is big and heavy. The scope is about 40 lbs, and the tripod is about 20. I don't have any trouble carrying it around by myself, and it has well-placed carrying handles that make it easy, so that's no issue. But it is certainly not a telescope that you can just pick up and go stargazing with on a moment's notice. It takes time and effort to set up, and that can be a disadvantage if you get a "spur of the moment" urge to use it! You should also know that it doesn't hide away in a tiny corner of the closet (or your car, for that matter), so you'll need some space to store it and transport it. Now that my disclaimer is out of the way... All I can say is that I absolutely love this telescope. The quality of the scope and tripod are evident in the size and weight alone. I've used it many times already, and have no complaints whatsoever, aside from wishing I had a better yard and less light pollution! I've had no trouble doing alignments, and have even aligned it using the moon, Jupiter, and Sirius when they were all in the same general area in the sky. (The manual recommends that you align using objects that are as far apart as possible). Once aligned, the goto feature works extremely well, although there are times when the object doesn't center perfectly. I'm guessing that this may be because I align using objects that are close together in the sky. Unfortunately, my viewing area (so far) hasn't allowed me to use widely spaced celestial objects for alignment, but I will update my review later, if necessary. The hand control is fairly easy to use, and the layout of the buttons is easy to get used to. The display is a bit dim, but not uncomfortably so. It's nice to be able to choose between deep sky objects, named stars, planets, and even a sky tour with just a touch of a button and some scrolling. That means that you don't have to be an expert on constellations and star names, and can get right to viewing. And the view from this scope is outstanding, even in my light-polluted back yard. When I was researching telescopes, I didn't know much about eyepieces, so I'll offer my own opinions in case you're new to this too. When I bought my telescope, I also bought the Celestron two-inch eyepiece kit. In hindsight, it was a good move, and the 2" size is amazing. The CPC800 includes a 1.25" diagonal and a single 1.25" plossl eyepiece. If I hadn't ordered the EP kit at the time I purchased the scope, I KNOW that I would have been very impatient to try different magnifications. The view from the included EP is fine, but having more options is something you'll want right from the start. I definitely recommend purchasing an eyepiece kit (or separate eyepieces, if your budget allows) along with the scope. To be honest, the Celestron kit doesn't really include any "higher" magnification EPs, so I had to order a 10mm EP after a few weeks of using the lenses in the kit. SO... if you are a first-time buyer like I was, the 2" kit is a good start (it has 26mm, 32mm, and 40mm EPs, which give you 75x, 62x, and 50x magnification), plus a barlow lens that doubles the magnification of each lens. It also includes several color filters. It doesn't come with a moon filter though, so you might want to add one, because the moon is a target you'll go to a lot. I bought a 10mm (200x magnification) EP, and plan to add a 17mm and 13mm EP at some point. I may consider a higher power lens (like an 8 or 5mm), but I don't think there will be much use for such high magnification, so it's not a pressing concern. As other reviewers mentioned, the scope does NOT come with a power cord (which seems a bit odd), so you'll need one of those, or a power tank. I bought the smaller Celestron powertank, and couldn't be happier. It's a must-have if you plan to take the scope to the country for clear, dark skies and don't want to drain your car battery. To be honest, I've never even used the AC power cord, even though I've only used my scope at home so far. If I could do it over, I might not even bother buying it. The powertank is easy to use, and has built-in flashlights, so there's really no point running an extension cord to use the power cord. All in all, I am extremely pleased with this telescope, and highly recommend it if you are prepared for the size, weight, and time it takes to set up. There is definitely something to be said for a scope that you can carry and set up in a few minutes, but that's really the only drawback of owning a larger telescope like this. The quality of the images you'll see more than makes up for the "longer" setup time. I am glad that I made this purchase, and would do it again in a heartbeat!

My telescope arrived damaged. Not shipping damaged, but defective. I contacted Celestron and they instructed me to take the telescope apart, remove a part, and reassemble it for shipping. I had to repackage it and send it to their repair department. Their department received it on the 23rd of January and they STILL have it. It's now Feb 25th. I bought a BRAND NEW telescope and I have yet to use it. They told me that their repair department has up to 30 days to process a repair. Or what? Nothing. I call and they simply tell me that I have to keep waiting. There is a line. Wait for an email with your shipping information. No consolation prize, no rush on the repair, NOTHING. Simply, too bad, you have to wait longer. Not only that, but their customer support line services the entire world. They even tell you that when you call. So the wait time can be extremely long. If I knew this is the customer service process, I would not have bought this product. The telescope is no doubt a great one. I just wish I could have found out by now. Unacceptable customer service that I have no choice but to accept. If customer service is anywhere near the top of your list, do not buy from Celestron.

After all of the delays, messed up shipments, defective electronics etc. I finally was able to get the CPC 1100 out and was able to use it the way it was intended to be used. Despite rather poor weather with lots of haze and clouds, I set it up in my driveway for a quick test. Setting the scope is easy, but requires a strong back! The optical tube assembly (which includes the forks and drive system) is *heavy*. It goes around 65 pounds, and even when the scope is folded into transport position it is more than a handful. While the carrying handles (one on the side of one fork, the other under the bottom of the other fork) are well placed, it is still a very heavy object. If you have any sort of back problems, knee or hip issues, you are NOT going to be able to handle this thing by yourself. This scope is actually probably more than I really should be trying to handle by myself. Set up is simple. Just place the tripod in position and level it with the built in bubble level. Pick the scope up and rest it on top of the tripod. There is a center guide pin that slips into the base of the scope. Wiggle the scope around until the guide pin slips into place. Then push up one of the self-contained bolts on the base of the tripod and slowly turn the scope until the bolt hits the hole. Screw in the bolt, and the two others to secure the scope to the tripod. You need a 12 volt power supply for this scope (power cord with a cigarette lighter plug on one end is included). I'm using one of those automotive jump-start packs which should provide enough juice to keep the scope going for several hours. I went through the 3 star alignment procedure. Once turned on and you begin the alignment procedure, the scope's internal GPS takes a few minutes to acquire a signal and download the data it needs. Once it has done that, you can do the alignment, which is extremely simple. You use the slewing buttons on the controller to guide the scope to three different bright objects (they can be planets or stars). You don't even need to know what they are. Once the alignment is done, the scope is ready to go. After alignment, the scope worked flawlessly. Every object I selected from the menu on the controller appeared in almost the exact center of the field of view, requiring some tweaking occasionally, but pretty darn good considering I hadn't been real precise in aligning the thing. I looked at Jupiter first. Brilliant, crystal clear, sharp image, although small because the 40mm eyepiece only gives around 50x. Despite a considerable amount of haze and horrible light pollution, the view was excellent, with 3 moons lined up on one side of the planet and a 4th on the other side. After fiddling with the focus and as my eyes started to adjust, I could begin to make out some of the atmospheric bands on the planet. I went into the menu system, selected Messier objects and entered M42, the Orion Nebula. The scope slewed around quickly, came to a halt, and I looked through the eyepiece to find it almost perfectly centered in the field of view. The view was quite good considering the poor conditions we were having tonight. At a site that isn't surrounded by street lights and security lights, and with clear skies, it would have been stunning. Mars showed up crisp and clear. I tried adding my Tele Vue Barlow lens to increase power, but the atmosphere was too poor to let me get a good, crisp image. Unfortunately, I was working with only a small 'window' of sky that wasn't covered by clouds. Most of the deep space objects I wanted to look at were obscured. But Bode's Nebula (M81) was high in the sky, and even with the severe light pollution and, I discovered later, considerable dew forming on the corrector plate, I was just able to make out the ghostly image of that galaxy. So "first light" with the CPC 1100 was pretty successful, all things considered. Certainly the optics are wonderful. Even in the very poor conditions with high, wispy clouds, haze and severe light pollution, I was able to get some pretty impressive views of brighter nebula and galaxies. Pluses: Certainly the optics are wonderful. Crisp, clear, tack-sharp star images, beautiful low-power views of galaxies and nebula. The drive system seems pretty accurate. It almost always hit every object near to the center of the field of view. If I had taken more time to more accurately do the alignment it would have been spot on, I believe. Issues: Always issues, aren't there? First, of course, there's the weight. This is a heavy beast. If you are, like me, going to be out by yourself without anyone to help you lug the thing around, I would suggest you look for something less hefty. 65 pounds may not sound like much. Simply picking it up and setting it on the tripod isn't really the issue, it's moving it around, such as lugging it out of the house, getting it out of a car, etc. That's where things can get quite difficult. Second, vibration. Hands off, with just the drive tracking, it's fine, but if you reach for the focus knob, things are going to start to bounce around. Third: Focusing. Trying to focus this thing can be interesting, to say the least, and the vibrations set up by just touching the focus knob don't help. Tiny, almost microscopic adjustments are necessary. I'm not sure if this is an issue with all SCT type scopes or not, but it took me a while to get used to this, and I'm going to be looking into options to assist with focusing the thing. Fourth: The manual is outdated. The section on astrophotography, for example, discusses types of film to use, and pretty much no one has used film for astrophotography for years. While it is accurate as far as the basics are concerned, it needs to be updated. Fifth: The motors are very noisy when slewing at the higher rates of speed. When tracking or using the slower slew rates, you can't hear them at all, really. Sixth: All SCT type scopes are going to need to be collimated sooner or later. The secondary mirror mounted up by the corrector plate can be knocked out of the proper position for a variety of reasons. You need to turn a cover that hides the three collimation screws on the front of the scope, and somehow peer through the eyepiece, reach around the front of the scope with a screwdriver, make tiny, precise adjustments.... Well, I just don't see how it can be done without having an extra set of arms and a third eye on a flexible stalk. The scope is currently pretty well collimated right now, but I'm not sure how I'm going to adjust the thing with this setup. Again, I'm probably going to have to look into options to assist in that procedure, as I am with focusing. Do I recommend it? Well, that depends. So far I have mixed feelings about the scope, enough misgivings to keep me from giving it 5 stars. And I'm concerned about the drive system. This is the second unit I've had. The first failed right out of the box with an error indicating the controller couldn't communicate with the drive system. While Celestron sent me a replacement scope right away, a quick search on Google turned up the fact that I'm not the only person who had that particular issue. That makes me concerned about the overall reliability of the scope's electronics. But so far I'm pleased with the scope's performance. I can't wait to get it out to a really dark site on a clear night.

The main optics and glass came full of black dirt which lowers the quality of the view, after expending 4,000 us you dont spect having this kind of problems in a brand new telescope. I will have to open it first day of unboxing due to this dirt

I started off with a 130mm reflector, but quickly fell in love and decided I had to see more. I researched a LOT. I read reviews, I joined forums and asked opinions, I checked specs. This scope is comparable to the Meade LX200 series, but costs the same as the LX90 series. The general opinion of the community is that although it's an 11" and the Meade LX90 12" is an inch bigger, the coatings and performance of this telescope is equal or better. After using it for a month, I'd have to say I'm simply amazed. I've started taking pics - which requires a lot of additional purchases. If you want to take photos of deep space (other than planets), you'll absolutely need the equatorial wedge (or buy the CGEM instead of this one). You'll also probably want an autoguider - I chose the Orion awesome autoguider package. 2" 99% reflective dielectric diagonal is also a must, this comes with a 1.25" diagonal that's nowhere near 99% reflective. Then you have to get 2" eyepieces (EPs), which are a monster. I'd recommend starting with the Celestron 1.25" EP kit, as it comes with a variety of EPs and all filters, including a moon filter and color filters - no UHC or anything, but still a great starter kit. It's also cheap. Once you start going for decent or better 2" EPs, they're going to cost $100-900 EACH depending on style and size, so the starter kit at least gets you an array of EPs. Even if they're not the best quality, you have them and the kit is about $120 if I remember right. So, 1 EP for $100, or the kit with something like 6 EPs, a 2x barlow, color filters and a moon filter for $120'ish.. If you're spending $2700'ish on this telescope and you're an average person.. get the kit to start, and build expensive EPs later. Your wife, or husband, or parents, or whatever will thank you.

This is by far the most expensive telescope I've bought so far, and replaces a 5" Newtonian that cost about $300 a few years back. I've taken it out for a small number of long observing sessions, all in the summer of 2013, with the last one in the clear skies of Yosemite state park. I've been using telescopes for about 15 years on and off and would rate my familiarity with the subject as intermediate - definitely not an expert! First up, the mount is sturdy, easy to use and gives great vibration suppression performance. It easily handles the weight of the 9.25" OTA, and has a handy spirit level built in to make it easy to level the scope. Once the scope is set up, vibrations are quickly suppressed, with the image always returning to visual stillness within a couple of seconds even for harder knocks. The OTA itself is aesthetically well designed, and the carrying handle on the side is extremely welcome. It's not light, but I'm able to set everything up unassisted without too much difficulty (I'm in my late 20's and of very average fitness!). I was a little freaked out at the prospect of having to remove a couple of screws from the OTA to attach the finder scope, but once I confirmed that was indeed what you're supposed to do it went on just fine. So far I've aligned the scope with the 3 star method each time. This allows you to point the scope at any 3 of the 80 brightest objects in the sky and have it automatically figure out what it's pointing at. You have to be fairly precise when you aim the scope at those 3 stars - I've had the alignment process fail a number of times when I've not lined things up precisely enough. Along with the scope itself I ordered the following accessories: * Celestron 2" eyepiece and filter set - $220, mandatory. This kit is an absolute no-brainer. While 2" eyepieces are more expensive that 1.25", the visual experience is much better, and they're just much more satisfying to hold. This kit gives you 3 great 2" eyepieces, a 2" diagonal and a 2x Barlow lens. I have some higher power eyepieces but honestly I rarely use anything but the contents of this kit * Celestron battery pack - the scope requires power if you want to use the GOTO features. I ran it from my car the first time but the dashboard lights attracted every moth and mosquito ever born. And I was perpetually paranoid of killing my car battery in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere. This pack solves all that, and was easily able to cope with a 5 hour observing session last week Now onto the scope's performance. At 9.25" there' plenty of collecting and resolving power at your disposal. Uranus was clearly resolved into a disc, and Neptune was just within reach too, though I had to gaze at it for a long time to convince myself I was seeing it. Binaries down to 1 arc second are clearly split, and focus across the field is good. Nebulosity is apparent in several structures - the dumbbell nebulae look great, and the pinwheel galaxy demonstrates significant structure in its arms. The ring nebula in particular looks stunning. I've not had a chance to look at Jupiter, Saturn or any of the winter constellations yet but based on what I've seen so far I'm extremely happy with the purchase and can't wait to see what else it has in store for me.

i love this telescope. you should know this thing is a monster when it comes to weight. I don't have a designated place for it, so i have to move it in and out of the house, it can be a pain in the a**. but the optics so far are amazing. light gathering power is amazing. it is pricey but if it keeps performing the way it has, it's worth it. i took some photos of the moon and jupiter with it, i will post them. I am an amateur amateur photographer and stargazer, the photos are not as good as some taken by some of the more seasoned folks. Reason for 3 stars? well, star align was the reason why I chose this particular telescope, and it doesn't work. I have looked up and read a lot about this problem, and unless you have a very big sky where the weak GPS system can get signal through, you won't be able to star align. hills around your house, mountains near by or tall walls around the yard will hinder the star alignment, BE AWARE! otherwise, spend the green and enjoy :)