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The heavy duty CG-5 Advanced Series computerized German equatorial mount has built-in DC-powered dual-axis worm gear drive slewing/tracking motors. The maximum slewing speed in both right ascension and declination is specified at a fast 4° per second. Snap-on covers keep the motor drives free from dust and debris.
The 35 lb. payload capacity mount is supplied with a car battery cord to operate from the cigarette lighter plug of your car or from a rechargeable 12V battery pack. The 7 amp hour capacity Celestron Power Tank #4512V is recommended and will operate the scope all night long without danger of running out of power.
Manual slow motion controls in both right ascension and declination are standard equipment. To make a casual polar alignment for visual use quick and easy, there’s a latitude scale and fine adjustment controls in both altitude and azimuth. If astrophotography is in your plans, an optional polar finder is available to increase the accuracy of your alignment.
The mount’s tripod has 2" diameter steel legs, with excellent damping characteristics. There’s a center leg brace for rigidity. The brace is drilled to form a convenient accessory tray that holds both 1.25" and 2" eyepieces to keep them up out of the dew-soaked grass. A review in Sky & Telescope magazine said, “When the mount was fitted with a short-tube 90-millimeter refractor, vibrations damped out in just 1 to 1½ seconds after I gave a sharp rap to the tube. When I placed vibration-suppression pads (a Celestron option) under each leg, the damping time was cut in half. This is performance as good as by any mount I’ve seen at any price."
One or more counterweights are supplied, depending of the weight of the optical tube. The sliding counterweight(s) are locked in place with a single hand-tighten thumbscrew each, making it easy to rebalance the scope if you add heavy accessories. The mount is easily capable of handling the scope and any reasonable combination of accessories you might want to add. If needed, an optional 11 lb. counterweight (#1711) is available to balance very heavy loads.
An adjustable dovetail slide bar allows the optical tube to be quickly and precisely balanced fore and aft on the mount, eliminating the need for an extra counterweight to balance a camera or other accessories. Setup and takedown times are exceptionally fast, as a single large hand-tighten knob holds the optical tube in place. A second lock knob prevents the tube from sliding off the mount should the hand-tighten knob loosen.
Periodic drive speed errors are a problem with all worm gear telescope drives, no matter what size the telescope or what its cost. It may be noticeable in the Advanced Series mount during long exposure astrophotography, due to the relatively small size of the drive gears. Since periodic error correction is not available, successful deep space photography requires careful manual guiding in such cases. Lunar and planetary exposures are all very short, so guiding is not required during this type of photography. Visual observing is not affected by periodic drive errors.
There are positioning encoders on each axis for go-to computer control using the supplied NexStar computer hand control. The mount has setting circles for manually locating objects by their celestial coordinates alone, should you want to observe the old-fashioned way.
The mount’s NexStar computer hand control has a built-in database of more than 40,000 stars, deep space objects, and solar system objects it can locate for you. These include the complete RNGC, Messier, Caldwell, IC, and Abell catalogs; selected SAO stars; the planets, the Moon, and more. You can also store and edit the right ascension and declination of additional 400 user-defined objects of your own choosing, such as the comet and asteroid coordinates published monthly in Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines. The computer control can quickly find any of those objects at your command, and track them with high accuracy for visual observing or casual astrophotography. A review in Sky & Telescope magazine commented, “To quantify the Go To pointing accuracy, I spent several nights slewing to 50 objects selected from the NexStar’s database. About one-third of them ended up dead center in the field, another third landed within ½° of the center, and the remaining third were within 1° of the center."
All of the database and scope operation information is displayed on a double line, 16-character, liquid crystal display on the hand control. This display leads you through the steps necessary to line up the scope on the sky, locate objects, control scope functions like the brightness of the hand control display, and much more. It shows you basic information about the object being viewed (such as the object’s name, catalog designation, type, magnitude, and so forth). In addition to this basic information, there is enhanced information on over 200 of the most note-worthy objects. The display also shows you the right ascension and declination coordinates at which the scope is aimed. The Sky & Telescope review said, “After using several NexStar-equipped telescopes in recent years, I can attest to the quality of the software and hardware for Celestron’s Go To system. The package is reliable and offers quick access to an excellent array of databases. I especially like Celestron’s Tour mode, which steps a user through an eclectic choice of deep-sky objects, quirky asterisms, and fine double stars, the latter being a class of objects great for urban observing that many Go To systems ignore. Using NexStar scopes, I’ve been introduced to many fine double stars."
There are 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons that glow a soft red in the dark to make it easy for you to control the computer without affecting your dark-adapted vision. An RS-232 communication port on the hand control allows you to operate the telescope via a personal computer. The Sky & Telescope review said, “The author tried Windows and Mac programs, including Desktop Universe, ECU, MegaStar, SkyMap Pro, Starry Night, and TheSky, and all controlled the mount without any problems." There is also an Autoguider port that can use a CCD autoguider to automatically control the drive motors during long exposure astrophotography. A high precision pointing subroutine (“precise go-to") in the computer lets you point accurately at objects that you want to photograph that are too dim to be seen though the scope.
Several different alignment methods are built into the NexStar computer, allowing you to choose a level of computer accuracy in automatically finding objects with which you are comfortable. Both the two star “quick align" procedure and two more accurate three star alignment methods (one computer-guided) are easily accomplished in only a few short minutes. You can be observing in less than 15 minutes after you first take the scope outdoors.
In addition, the NexStar computer hand control is GPS-compatible (using an optional inexpensive CN16 GPS module) for full GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite accuracy. Adding GPS to the computer is something no competitive scope can do. Once the scope is approximately polar aligned, the optional 16-channel CN16 GPS system uses signals from government satellites to calculate the scope’s location on earth with an accuracy measured in meters. The system also calculates the current time based on the split second accuracy of the GPS time signals. After the CN16 quickly completes these calculations and enters the information into the computer control for you automatically, the computer then orients the scope with the sky, slews to a pair of guide stars, asks you to confirm that the stars are in the center of the field (and center them if they’re not precisely aligned), and then starts finding and tracking over 40,000 objects for you at your command. With the Advanced Series go-to mount and the CN16, orienting the scope in time and space on earth and aligning the scope on the sky becomes almost as easy a task as simply turning the scope on.
The review in Sky & Telescope magazine concluded, “The Advanced Series CG-5 mount is an ideal platform for a 3- to 5-inch refractor, a 4- to 6-inch Newtonian reflector or Maksutov-Cassegrain, or a 5- to 9¼-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. The smaller, shorter, and lighter the optical tube assembly, the sturdier the combination will be. When mated to a 4-inch short focus refractor or a compact 5-ince Maksutov or Schmidt-Cassegrain, the Advanced Series mount forms an amazingly solid platform that is virtually insensitive to vibration. Yet the complete package is light enough to be carried outside fully assembled.
“The Advanced Series’ strength is serving as a mount for a telescope used visually and for snapshots or webcam imaging of the Moon and planets . . . for an affordable customized telescope with Go To capability the Celestron Advanced Series mount is a great choice."
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Terms of Sale | PRIVACY POLICY 7/1/2004 | Fine Print
Toll-Free Telephone Astronomics: 800-422-7876; Christophers, Ltd.: 800-356-6603
Alternate Telephone: 405-364-0858 24 Hour Fax Line: 405-447-3337
Telephone Hours: Monday 8 AM - 6 PM CST
Tuesday-Friday 8 AM - 8 PM CST
Saturday Noon - 5 PM CST
Store Hours: Monday-Friday 9 AM - 5 PM CST
Saturday Noon - 5 PM CST
Astronomics / Christophers, Ltd.
680 S.W. 24th Ave.
Norman, OK, 73069
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