Sunday, May 26, 2013
A Celestron VX Comes to Chaos Manor South
Hokay, where
was we, muchachos? Uncle Rod had just returned from the Deep South Regional Star Gaze Spring Scrimmage. I had bagged a
passel of Herchels, well over 100, with my new OTA, Mrs. Emma Peel, a Celestron
Edge 800 C8. The scope rode on my time honored CG5 for the star party, but awaiting
me at home was what might possibly constitute the elusive more better gooder, Celestron’s replacement for the CG5, the VX German equatorial mount. It
had arrived on Friday, day two of the star party, and Unk was itching to try it
out.
As I told
y’all last week, even though I arrived back at The Old Manse by early
afternoon, I was tuckered out. I’d been up Sunday morning till after three shooting
Herschels, and was back up before
seven to pack. Twenty years ago, that was not a problem. Today? Takes me a while
to shake off the star party aftereffects. I puttered around, returning most of
the gear to its assigned places, took a long, hard look at the big box sitting
in the front hall, and decided I’d be better off waiting till the morrow to
open it.
Comes the
dawn, Unk was up bright and early, you betcha, and after a cup or two of java
to lubricate the ol’ mental gears, it was time to attack the VX. First order of
business was dislodging Growltiger
from his wonderful new sitting place,
which was the VX’s box. After an entire weekend of enjoying his box, the
striped cat was awful put out when I suggested he find another spot. All he did
was give me a dirty look. What finally got him going was when Unk pulled out
his knife and began cutting the box’s strapping. Growltiger did not like the sight of Unk armed with a
knife and decided discretion was the better part of valor.
OK, let’s get this thing open. More slicing with Unk’s knife
revealed—yet another box. Wisely, Celestron had double-boxed the VX, since the container
holds not just the GEM mount head, but an 11-pound counterweight and the whole
tripod. Inside, everything was in good shape. Step One would be getting the
tripod together so I’d have something to mount the VX on.
The tripod,
in its own slender box, was soon extracted. It was well protected with
Styrofoam inserts at either end and the whole shebang was covered with a
plastic bag. I did note the Styrofoam at the head end of the tripod had been
broken into two pieces thanks to the tender mercies of the Brown Truck Guys, no
doubt. There was no damage, and I soon had the tripod standing on its own in
Chaos Manor South’s front parlor.
If you own
an Atlas or a CG5, this tripod is going to be awful familiar. The VX tripod is
identical save for the peg on the tripod head. This peg, which gives the GEM
head azimuth adjusters something to push against, has been redesigned and
repositioned. It is covered with a layer of plastic, unlike the old bare metal
peg, and is located on the outer periphery of the tripod head. The manual now
gives instructions for repositioning it “over” a tripod leg instead of “between”
two if’n you feel the need. Supposedly, with it between legs, the tripod might
be less than stable, but I’ve never had that problem with a C8 payload and left
it alone.
Otherwise?
The tripod spreader/accessory tray is the same. The 2-inch steel legs and the
locks for their leg extensions are the same. The tripod tips are the same. The
hand control holder is the same (as on the CG5). If you’ve never owned one of
Synta’s standard field tripods, all I can say is that this is the best
inexpensive tripod I have ever used and is more than adequate for a GEM in the
VX—or even Atlas—class.
Rubber meets
road: get VX head on tripod. The GEM head, sans counterweight bar, was
nestled in its own box in a foam cutout, the whole thing protected with a layer
of thick foam. With some trepidation, I mounted the head on the tripod,
threading the central rod up into the hole on the head’s base. This is where
I’d run into trouble with my original VX—the hole was not properly threaded. On
this one, it threaded-in easy, same as my CG5 and Atlas and all was well.
The only
major assembly that remained was installing the declination counterweight bar. As
with the CG5, you thread the rod into the dec housing and secure it with the
large nut. The counterweight bar on the VX is not the same as the one on the
CG5. It’s the same diameter (larger than on the Atlas), but it is longer, five
inches longer, 14-inches instead of 9-inches. This makes packing more of a pain
but balancing easier. A C8 will balance on the VX with a single 11-pound weight
with adjustment to spare. On my CG5, it takes two weights.
The
counterweight itself? Yes, it’s an 11-pounder, but otherwise it is completely
different from the standard Synta pancake weights we all know and love. It is
of a much more modern shape, has a large easy to manipulate t-handle setscrew
knob, and, in a real fillip, Synta has protected the end of that screw/bolt
with Nylon so you don’t mar the mount’s counterweight bar.
It was now time to examine the hand control, which was well padded in its own
package. The HC shipped with this mount is Celestron’s new version, the NexStar
Plus, which brings both good and bad. The good is that it has more memory, a
faster processor, and a higher resolution display.
The “bad” in
the opinion of this old boy (and Thomas Aquinas, “Tommy,” Chaos Manor South’s
resident black cat, who didn’t seem impressed) is that the buttons have been
rearranged and relabeled to make them more “user friendly.” Famous last words,
those. Not only do we now, confusingly for old-timers, have “Back” instead of
“Undo,” the wonderful “M” and “NGC” buttons are gone. Now, you have to wade
through a menu to get to Messiers and NGCs. A Celestron symbol key has been
added that supposedly functions like a “shift” or “Ctrl” key, but I’m not sure
what it is good for at this time—if anything.
Finally, I noted the hand control cord is ridiculously short. Contrary to what you may have heard on the dadblamed Cloudy Nights BBS, though, it’s only an inch or so shorter than the (still too short) cable of the original model. All this is really of little consequence to me, since I will likely operate the mount with NexRemote almost all the time, just like I do the CG5.
Finally, I noted the hand control cord is ridiculously short. Contrary to what you may have heard on the dadblamed Cloudy Nights BBS, though, it’s only an inch or so shorter than the (still too short) cable of the original model. All this is really of little consequence to me, since I will likely operate the mount with NexRemote almost all the time, just like I do the CG5.
HC plugged
in, that left only two things in the big box, the manual and the accessories. I
did refer to the manual during assembly, but VX assembly is purty much
identical to that of a CG5, so a quick look or two was sufficient. I’ve never
seen a good manual from any telescope
maker, but the VX manual is an improvement, at least. If nothing else, it now
includes the instructions for doing an AllStar polar alignment the CG5 book
lacked. Since NexRemote is now
distributed freely on Celestron’s website, there was no NR DVD in the package.
There was one containing the basic
“First Light” edition of TheSky X.
That left
the accessory box, which was in one piece, but had taken a bit of a beating
from the counterweight container, I suppose. Inside was an HC holder for the
tripod, a computer interface cable (first time I’ve found one in the box with a
Celestron-branded mount or scope), the declination cable, and a 12vdc power
cord.
The HC holder
is the same as the CG5’s. It snaps onto a tripod leg and does a good job.
There’s a hole in the bottom to pass a serial cable through to connect to the
HC. Nice, and always has been. The coiled declination motor cable is similar to
the one for the CG5. I’d like to have seen the dec connection routed
internally, but at least the VX’s cord is shorter and less likely to snag on
sumpin. Have to have a way to power the mount, of course, and the method
Celestron provides for the stock VX is a 12-volt DC cable with a cigarette
lighter plug on the end.
The 12vdc
cord is, like all other Celestron 12vdc cords, excessively long. I suppose they
think you will plug into your vehicle’s ciggie lighter. I urge you not to do that
at a dark site unless you want to be stranded. The CG5 was purty dadgum power
hungry, anyway. At least the cable is of heavier gauge wire than the CG5 power
cord. One other change is that there is now a threaded collar à la the CGEM on the scope-end plug.
That’s it
unless you choose to buy options. I have no use for a GPS receiver since I
mostly use NexRemote and NexGPS, so I didn’t pony up for that. I
did buy an AC power supply. I like to run on mains current down Chiefland way.
The supply for the VX (and CGEM, I believe) is a nice one that looks like a
laptop power brick rather than one of the old-timey wall warts. According to
its label, it can furnish the VX with five amps of juice, which is more than
enough.
New mount
assembled, the next thing I always do is a “fake” alignment inside the house to
make sure everything works more-or-less like it should. Before we do that,
howsomeever, let’s take a closer look at the VX’s GEM head.
As you-all
can see, this is not a gussied up CG5; it’s been redesigned. The RA housing is
much more modern looking, considerably better finished, and appears stronger.
The plastic RA motor cover is more attractive, much smaller, and less likely to
snag a cable. Same goes for the declination motor, which, unlike the one on the
CG5, does not rotate with the declination axis, a big help in reducing the
chance of snagging cables or rubbing on another part of the mount. A small but important improvement is that the
RA and declination index markers are a million
times easier to see in the dark than the pitiful labels on the older mount.
I never had
much trouble with the altitude and azimuth adjusters on the CG5, but they did
have small and hard to grasp knobs or were just bolts with minimalist handles.
The VX is mucho different, troops. Big knobs for the azimuth adjusters and the
rear elevation bolt, and a large T-handle for the forward elevation (locking)
bolt. The design of the VX allows you to tilt the head down for latitudes well
below 30-degrees, a problem with the CG5. Bigger knobs are also a feature of
the bolts that hold the OTA in the mount’s saddle. The CG5 had one bolt and one
safety screw. The VX has two bolts with large knobs, larger than those on the
Atlas EQ-6.
The VX
control panel has also been completely redesigned. It is now horizontal,
protruding from the RA housing east side, rather than vertical and on the motor
housing as with the CG5. The declination port has been moved from the control
panel per se, and is on the right side of the control panel housing facing up.
There is now less chance of the dec cable interfering with anything and much
less chance of plugging the declination into the wrong port as Unk has been
known to do. The connections on the panel are, from left to right, “Auto Guide,”
“HC,” “Aux 1,” and “Aux 2.” There’s a large but not offensively bright red LED
pilot light, and, wonder of wonders, an adult-sized power switch that looks
like it, unlike the CG5’s tiny, pathetic one, might last a while.
The VX’s
RA/Dec assembly, like that of any German equatorial, has to ride on a base that
allows it to be tilted up and down and turned side-to-side for polar alignment,
and the one on the VX is not only more modern looking than the CG5’s, it is
obviously sturdier. I don’t have much use for a latitude scale, but the orange
anodized one on this mount shore is purty. It’s easy to read, too, with a black
scale and numbers that stand out well against the orange. The elevation axle is
luverly: it is, like the latitude scale,
finished in orange anodizing.
Minor
details? Guess what the CG5 has that the VX does not? Setting circles. It’s not
like anybody ever used ‘em. Oh, and that “falls off if you look at it sideways”
cover for the rear of the RA housing? It’s been replaced with a nice molded
screw-on job. Finally, the forward cover for the polar bore now has a Celestron
symbol molded into it.
Big Milestone
One time: fake alignment. Tommy and I plugged the power cord into the mount.
The thread-on collar is nice, but we also took the precaution of gently spreading
the pin halves on the mount-side power connector a wee bit with a jeweler’s
screwdriver—ain’t never seen a Celestron other than the NS11 that didn’t need
that—and powered her up.
After a
short pause while the HC computer thought about this or that, the backlight
came on, and from there it was a two star alignment as per normal. Well,
almost. The higher resolution display on the HC has smaller characters that are
hard for my late middle-aged eyes to read. Apparently, you can adjust the font
size, but I ain’t tried that. I entered time, date, and location like always.
Only potential difference there is that, like the CGEM, the VX has an onboard
Real Time Clock that, if turned on, will keep date/time updated. Unk shall probably
leave it off since I will mostly use NexRemote,
which uses the PC’s date and time.
I told Miss
HC to begin a 2-star alignment, and things proceeded as they always do. I just
pressed “Enter” and “Align” when the mount stopped. I said she could forget
Calibration stars, and told her to go-to “M002.” Yes, it was annoying to have
to drill down one menu level to the Messiers, but she went right to the general
area where TheSky X said M2 ort ta
be. Success.
I know the
question you little rascals are itching to ask:
“Unk, how loud are the motors compared
to them screaming Mimis on the CG5?” You can hear for yourself. I filmed a
video of the fake go-to and put it on my cotton-picking Facebook page, but
suffice to say they are noticeably quieter than the notoriously loud CG5
motors, if maybe not as quiet as the Atlas EQ-6’s steppers (like the CG5, the
VX uses servo motors).
The only
true test of any piece of astronomy gear is in its natural habitat, an
observing field under the stars. I planned to do that this past Saturday night
at the Possum Swamp Astronomical Society dark site. Maybe. The weather
forecasts had looked iffy for a day or two, and on Saturday morning, when Miss
D. and I were off to Mobicon, The Swamp’s
yearly comic book/SF/anime/gaming convention, they were sounding worse. Whatev.
Lot of hours till darkness, and we would see what we would see. Amazingly, at 6
p.m. the sky did not look that bad. Unk loaded up the 4Runner, but only
minimally so: mount head, tripod, Edge 800
OTA, accessory box, utility box, eyepiece case, cupla jump-start batteries.
The hour’s
drive to the PSAS dark site was not unpleasant—when I didn’t look at the sky,
that is. The farther west I got, the more clouds I saw. Still, when I arrived
on the field at seven it didn’t look awful. A beautiful crescent Moon was
riding high, so I would be all by my lonesome this evening, but that was OK.
Given the conditions, my only goal was to align the scope and do a few go-tos
to verify its proper operation. One sweet
thing about buying an update to the C8 and an update to the CG5? It didn’t take
me any longer than normal to get the mount and OTA ready to go. Just a few
minutes and it was time to get my new finder aligned.
Now, I love
the Telrad, you-all, but I must admit it does look a mite big and clunky and I
didn’t think one would look too classy on my beautiful Edge C8, Mrs. Emma Peel.
She deserved something more elegant,
I thought. But something as functional as the Telrad. That, I decided, was the Rigel Quickfinder. An “upright” style, red-reticle
rig. It’s smaller than the Telrad, and the base looks OK secured to the tube with
double-sided tape. I ordered my Quickfinder from one of my fave
astro-merchants, Agena Astro Products, who got it to me in time for the Saturday
tests.
Pointed the
scope at the windsock at the far end of the airfield runway and soon had the Quickfinder
aligned with my 16mm Zhumell and, after that, with the 12mm Meade reticle
eyepiece I use for alignments. I noticed almost immediately that the mount was easy
to work with unpowered. The C8 stayed where I pointed it much better than it
did with the kinda springy CG5.
Finder
aligned, I looked up, and was not exactly thrilled with what I was seeing. More
clouds. Darker, thicker clouds. I had intended to do a normal alignment, but I
wasn’t sure the sky was gonna last that long—it wasn’t yet dark enough to see
alignment stars. How about a Solar System Alignment, then? I fired up the
mount, selected “Solar System Alignment,” specified “Moon,” and the mount was
off for Luna.
She stopped surprisingly
close to our satellite—the VX was not even roughly polar aligned, just pointed
more or less north with my compass. I centered Diana up and hit align. Before
doing anything else, I wanted a good look at the pretty crescent. In my el
cheapo 16mm Zhumell 100-degree AFOV
eyepiece, she was beautiful. Dead sharp almost to the very edge of the field.
As I said last time, the Edge optics almost
make the sow’s ear Zhumell into a silk purse Ethos. But not quite. I removed
the Zhumell, inserted the 13mm Ethos (154x), and dern near had my socks blown
off. The terminator was tack-sharp from one field edge to the other.
I sent the
mount to Jupiter, and while the planet was close, it wasn’t in the eyepiece.
Which was what I expected. I really needed to do a Two-star to assure myself
about how well the mount would work. Looking north, I saw Polaris was in the
clear, so I lined up the hollow polar bore of the VX on the star while waiting
for a little more clearing. Those big altitude and azimuth adjusters were
indeed a joy to use.
So, I waited
and I waited. Just as I was about to give up hope, there was a sudden
semi-clearing at astronomical twilight. I judged there might be just enough
stars visible to do a real alignment. I cycled the mount’s power, returned it
to the index marks, selected “Two-star” and away we went.
The first
star, Capella, was close but not in the finder reticle’s middle circle when the
slew stopped. I centered her up, and the mount headed for star two, Procyon.
Very interesting. This time the star was
in the center circle of the finder. It was not in the eyepiece field (45-degree
apparent field at 166x). But dang close. Next were Calibration stars. I did all
four because I could, but I sure didn’t have to. Cal Star 2, Mizar (I’d had to
reject Spica, which was cloud-covered), was in the eyepiece field when the
mount stopped. So were stars 3, and 4. The CG5 has never done this well. Not at
f/10, anyway, for god’s sake.
Not only was
the VX’s go-to accurate—as slews to Jupiter and M35 showed—at f/10, she was
quiet, seeming even quieter than she had in the front parlor, if not
little-mouse-quiet. The only question in my mind now was “What shall we look at, Mrs. Peel?” The answer, alas, was “Not
much.”
The night
was steadily growing worse, with my new iPhone app, Scope Nights, now saying the remainder of it would be “poor.” One
more trip to the Moon, which was smack in the center of the 13mm, and I was
ready to shut down—and not just because clouds were now pouring in from the
southwest.
“What was the problem, Unk? Come on,
now…did you get spooked again?” Maybe I felt a little nervous on the
dark field as the clouds began to close in and make the night blacker than the
inside of Thomas Aquinas, but it wasn’t the
Mothman, the Little Grey Dudes from
Zeta Reticuli II, and the Skunk Ape that got me loading the gear
in a hurry. It was the little
monsters. The skeeters. I thought I had a can of Deep Woods Off in the utility
box, but I did not and I was simply being eaten alive. I was quite happy to be rolling back to Chaos Manor South
with Miss Van Pelt’s air-conditioner blasting. The bugs are back and so is the
humid Possum Swamp heat. Summer is here well ahead of Memorial Day.
Back in the
den, watching the pea-picking Ghost
Adventures and enjoying a dose of Unk’s favorite beverage, I was a happy and relieved little camper, muchchos.
Yes, go-to as implemented by Celestron is pretty foolproof (ahem) these days.
But you never do know. I told a buddy I’d be happy if the VX worked as well as
the time-proven CG5. The verdict after Saturday night is “better than the CG5.”
Maybe considerably better. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I have a
Chiefland trip planned in a month or two, and I should know even more about the
new scope and mount combo after that. Y’all stay tuned.
In addition to the video, you can see
many more pictures of the VX unboxing on Unk’s Facebook Page.
Next Time: What this Country Needs is a Good Five Cent Cigar…
Comments:
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Just a question. You seem to get a lot of new equipment. Do you buy these scopes and cameras, or or are they given to you by S&T advertisers because of your association with the magazine?
# posted by 
: 1:13 PM
: 1:13 PM
I wouldn't say I get a lot of new equipment 'round here. What I do get is paid for by my banker, not S&T. ;-)
Let me add that while I do not usually answer questions about business, personal business, affair related topics like "Anonymous" asks, I thought it was important to answer this one, since a lot of folks have come odd ideas about the astronomy writing biz. ;-)
Finally, a relationship such as Mr. Anonymous posits would be UNETHICAL in the extreme. That is not the way we roll at Sky and Telescope, despite ridiculous stories that make the rounds. "Sky and Telescope never gives bad reviews to advertisers," being a particularly ridiculous and easily disproved one.
Soapbox mode off. Excelsior, y'all! :-)
Soapbox mode off. Excelsior, y'all! :-)
Hmm, i may just have to look into one of these EQ mounts next year. I do very much love my CPC1100, but my back seems to have lodged a Formal Union Protest against its 65lb weight of late. So no star watching for me for a few months. When i start up again, an EQ-mounted SCT + mallincam might be just what the doctor ordered...
-Mad Hungarian
-Mad Hungarian
# posted by : 4:25 PM
: 4:25 PM
Thank you for an interesting and informative review. The out-of-box experience is something many people want to know about.
I am considering buying a new telescope and mount. I have a Celestron C-8 that dates back to the Halley madness of 1986, and a CG-5GT mount that I bought a few years ago. I've gotten great use out of both, and am considering a VX mount with either a 9.25-inch or 11-inch Celestron tube.
I don't think the VX can handle an 11-inch, but do you think it can handle a 9.25-inch?
Thanks.
--VFS in Florida
I am considering buying a new telescope and mount. I have a Celestron C-8 that dates back to the Halley madness of 1986, and a CG-5GT mount that I bought a few years ago. I've gotten great use out of both, and am considering a VX mount with either a 9.25-inch or 11-inch Celestron tube.
I don't think the VX can handle an 11-inch, but do you think it can handle a 9.25-inch?
Thanks.
--VFS in Florida
# posted by : 9:19 AM
: 9:19 AM
HI Vinny:
The CG5 handles an 11 OK for visual use, and the VX should be slightly better. But, yes, the sweet spot, especially if you want to do imaging is a C8. I would also think a 9.25 would be just fine. For me, though, the 8 is my scope of choice day in and day out. When I need more, I go to the C11. Never been tempted by the 9.25...
The CG5 handles an 11 OK for visual use, and the VX should be slightly better. But, yes, the sweet spot, especially if you want to do imaging is a C8. I would also think a 9.25 would be just fine. For me, though, the 8 is my scope of choice day in and day out. When I need more, I go to the C11. Never been tempted by the 9.25...
You say in your article that the VX seems significantly better than the CG5 in goto accuracy. Could some of that difference be due to the upgrade to the hand control - Nexstar+ ?
Thanks
Don
Thanks
Don
# posted by : 4:06 PM
: 4:06 PM
I am not willing to say its go-to accuracy is better--not yet. I haven't been able to do much real testing due to weather. Its behavior seemed better...but we will see (the CG5 is pretty accurate itself). I would suspect mechanical reasons if it is better. The same code/HC is being used on CG5s, and I haven't heard anybody report better accuracy. Stay tuned... ;-)
Hi, I have a question. With this mount, and a DSLR attached to a refractor 4" OTA, unguided, how long can someone expose? I was told that the longest you can expose is like 90 seconds. If true, it sounds like you can't do much imaging with this. 90 seconds is quite short. So, do you have any experience or knowledge on this? Thanks.
# posted by : 11:13 PM
: 11:13 PM
Well, Mehmet, you can do plenty of imaging, but it must be guided if you want to go over shorter exposures. On the other hand, the same is true for much more expensive mounts like the Losmandy G11. If you need long exposures, you need to guide. BUT...I have produced excellent deep sky images with this mount by stacking 30-second unguided exposures. It can do plenty of imaging. :-)
Enjoyed your review of this setup in Sky and Telescope. I bought a similar setup back in May. As you point out, it hits a "sweet spot" for price, performance, and portability. It's the right telescope for those of us who are advanced astronomers but need to limit the cost, the bulk of the equipment, or both. As was the Criterion RV-6 forty years ago. Would it be too much to call this the RV-6 of a new generation?
# posted by : 2:35 PM
: 2:35 PM
Uncle Rod:
MANY THANKS for your review of the Celestron VX mount. I must say that Celestron customer service is about as helpful as balls on an armadillo (by the way never shoot an armadillo, the bullets bounce off) but I digress.
I found the supplied manual confusing with several important omissions. I have been an amateur and ATM since the early 70s plus an EO engineer in aerospace for 26 years so I'm not dumb.
I bought 12 of the 6 -inch Nexstar scopes while teaching at a local JC and had trouble getting the mount to align and track (let alone teaching college students how to do it).
I enjoy your columns very much. If you are ever out west (I have a house and observatory in Joshua Tree, CA. you are welcome to visit . We serve wine and beer to our guests, sorry no corn liquor,
Thanks
Paul L. Livio
Joshua Tree, CA .
MANY THANKS for your review of the Celestron VX mount. I must say that Celestron customer service is about as helpful as balls on an armadillo (by the way never shoot an armadillo, the bullets bounce off) but I digress.
I found the supplied manual confusing with several important omissions. I have been an amateur and ATM since the early 70s plus an EO engineer in aerospace for 26 years so I'm not dumb.
I bought 12 of the 6 -inch Nexstar scopes while teaching at a local JC and had trouble getting the mount to align and track (let alone teaching college students how to do it).
I enjoy your columns very much. If you are ever out west (I have a house and observatory in Joshua Tree, CA. you are welcome to visit . We serve wine and beer to our guests, sorry no corn liquor,
Thanks
Paul L. Livio
Joshua Tree, CA .
# posted by : 2:25 PM
: 2:25 PM
Visit Walmart, Adda, or a similar discount department store and have a look at their plastic storage ("Rubbermaid") containers. It may be necessary to remove the counterweight bar, but one can work well.
Hi rod, can I use the avx at 13 degree latitude? Can I remove the front latitude adjustment bolts?
Post a Comment
# posted by : 8:16 AM
: 8:16 AM << Home
