Product Description
• 11" EdgeHD high definition aplanatic Schmidt-Cassegrain optics
• StarBright XLT optical multicoatings for the highest possible light transmission
• Fastar compatible optical system for optional f/2 imaging
• 2" 23mm 82° field Luminos eyepiece (122x)
• mirror locks to reduce image shift during imaging
• tube vents for faster cooldown and greater temperature stability
• re-engineered drive train and roller bearing design for greater drive accuracy
• NexStar go-to computer hand control with 40,000+ object database
• 2-year warranty
• and much more
The Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD telescope has the most talked-about improvement in optics in years - Celestron's EdgeHD flat field optical system - a Sky & Telescope Hot Product for 2010.
With Celestron's renowned Starbright XLT multicoatings on every optical surface, the EdgeHD optics give you maximum light throughput across the widest possible visual and photographic spectrum. The CPC Deluxe 1100 HD's immense light grasp, almost 1600 times that of even the sharpest dark-adapted eye, can reveal to you star clusters, nebulas, planets, and galaxies in amazing visual and photographic detail.
Those award-winning 11" EdgeHD optics are mounted on a newly-upgraded Celestron CPC go-to mount with SkyAlign and GPS that makes finding over 40,000 of those stars and objects easy and automatic. You spend more time looking at celestial objects, rather than looking for them.
The sensible price of the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD with EdgeHD optics and Starbright XLT coatings puts true astrographic-quality imaging and tack-sharp visual astronomy within the grasp of almost everyone. While its two components are not exactly feather light at 93 pounds total, and with a heaviest single component weight of 66 pounds, the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD is still a scope that many dedicated individuals can set up on their own - either in their back yard or at a distant dark sky site. The new EdgeHD CPC Deluxe 1100 HD is a scope that virtually any beginning or advanced astronomer can enjoy for years and years to come, without ever running out of things to see and photograph through its superb flat field 11" EdgeHD optics.
This Telescope's Optical System . . .
EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube: 11" aperture (2800mm focal length f/10). Dual-element Schott glass field flattener lens permanently mounted in the central baffle tube. Guaranteed diffraction-limited optical performance, free from coma and corrected for spherical aberrations (aplanatic design). The optical design is a Sky & Telescope Hot Product for 2010. For more details, click on the "EdgeHD optics" link in the support tab above.
Starbright XLT fully-multicoated optics: This high transmission/high reflectivity optical multicoatings package is applied to all optical surfaces. Starbright XLT coatings give you visibly higher light transmission for visually brighter deep space images and shorter exposure times during imaging. They also increase the contrast on subtle lunar, planetary, and nebula details when compared with a scope with ordinary coatings or multicoatings. For more details, click on the "Starbright XLT" icon above.
Tube vents: Two cooling vents located on the rear cell allow warm air to be released from behind the primary mirror when the scope is taken out for a night's observing or imaging. This shortens the amount of time needed for the optics to cool down to ambient air temperature for peak optical performance. Each vent has an integrated 60 micron micro-mesh filter guaranteed to let warm air out without letting dust in.
Fastar compatible: For the ultimate in wide-field catadioptric imaging, the EdgeHD optical tube is Fastar/Hyperstar compatible to allow CCD imaging at a blazingly-fast f/2 focal ratio. An optional Fastar/Hyperstar lens assembly replaces the telescope's removable secondary mirror (an exchange that takes only a few minutes). Your CCD camera is attached to the Fastar/Hyperstar lens. This puts your camera at the f/2 position in the center of the Schmidt corrector lens at the front of the scope, rather than in its normal f/10 position at the Cassegrain focus at the rear of the scope.
Focusing: Focusing is accomplished by turning a knob at the rear of the scope body that moves the primary mirror fore and aft along a central baffle tube to adjust the focus. The Celestron focusing mechanism is supported by two pre-loaded ball bearings, minimizing the "mirror flop" typical of bushing focus mechanisms that causes image shift during critical focusing.
Mirror support knobs: Mirror support knobs hold the mirror in place after correct focus is achieved for imaging and reduce image shift when rotating the tube around the mount (while moving past the zenith during astrophotography, for example). Unlike other designs that have only one locking knob located off to one side of the mirror, the Celestron system uses three locks equally spaced around the mirror to distribute the mirror locking force symmetrically. The focuser itself acts as one of the locks, while two knobs spaced 120° away in either direction act as the second and third locks to hold the mirror in place without putting any asymmetrical force or pressure on the mirror. This keeps the image centered in the eyepiece (or on the CCD chip) no matter what the orientation of the optical tube.
Finderscope: 50mm straight-through achromatic design, mounted in a spring-loaded easy-adjust quick release bracket.
Star diagonal: 2" multicoated first-surface mirror type, with 1.25" adapter.
Eyepiece: 2" 23mm 82° Luminos (122x). The eyepiece field of view is 0.67°, over a third wider than the the diameter of the full moon, for bright wide-angle deep space views. The Luminos eyepiece is optimized to deliver pinpoint images when used with a flat field telescope such as this EdgeHD model.
This Telescope's Mount . . .
Fork mount/drive system: The heavy-duty die-cast aluminum dual fork arms are rigid and damp vibrations quickly. Carrying handles are built into the fork arms. There's a convenient detachable mounting bracket for the NexStar computer hand control that lets you use the hand control and view information on the two-line display hands-free while using the scope.
The redesigned and re-engineered drive train of the CPC Deluxe mount includes DC slewing/tracking motors with encoders in both altitude and azimuth. Motor resolution is 0.14 arc seconds. The redesigned electronics deliver constant regulated power to the motors, making them capable of driving the telescope smoothly, even when it is not perfectly balanced, and without sacrificing smooth tracking motion and pointing accuracy across the entire sky.
The new larger 6" diameter 180-tooth brass altitude and azimuth drive gears are driven by new 0.75" stainless steel worms in spring-loaded worm blocks to provide smooth slewing and tracking. There are 9 user-selectable speeds from 3° per second slewing down to a precise 0.5x sidereal rate for photographic drive correction. The drives work in the altazimuth mode (right/left up/down) to locate and track objects for visual use and casual solar system photography. If long exposure deep space photography is planned, the scope can be converted to equatorial operation by adding an optional wedge.
The fork arms and optical tube are supported by a unique roller bearing system that uses both steel and nylon ball bearings rotating around a large 9.8" azimuth bearing track designed to provide an ultra-stable and smooth polar axis motion and smoother tracking accuracy for long exposure astrophotography.
The scope includes three preprogrammed drive speeds - sidereal, solar, and lunar. It operates in an altazimuth mode, as well as northern hemisphere equatorial and southern hemisphere equatorial (using an optional equatorial wedge).
The scope is powered by external 12 Volt 2.5 Amp DC power (a car battery or optional rechargeable 12V battery #4517V). The scope cannot be powered by short-lived flashlight batteries. The standard equipment car battery cord and optional AC adapter plug into the drive base. Power and command signals to the declination motor are routed through cordless internal slip ring signal paths. There's no separate external declination cable to connect the drive base to the dec motor as with other scopes, so you don't have to worry about losing a cable or breaking it by tangling the cable around the scope inadvertently while observing.
NexStar Computer: The scope's NexStar computer can show you the planets and thousands of deep space objects at the touch of a button or two the very first night you use your scope - even if you've never used a telescope before! The Celestron CPC's built-in GPS system and easy-to-use SkyAlign software will have you lined up on the sky and observing in minutes. For information on many of the features and capabilities of the NexStar computer and the unique SkyAlign software, click on the "NexStar computer" link in the support tab above.
NexRemote software: NexRemote telescope control software allows you to control the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD from your personal computer or laptop. NexRemote provides full emulation of every aspect of the Celestron computerized hand control. It lets you align in any tracking mode; go to any database object; setup user objects; put the scope in hibernation; connect to popular planetarium programs; etc.
In addition to emulating the NexStar hand control, NexRemote adds powerful new features that let you keep your eyes on the stars instead of the LCD by enabling talking computer speech support using your computer's built-in speaker. You can control the objects you want to see and the order that you see them; create and save custom tours by launching NexTour; take wireless control of the telescope with optional gamepad support; connect your personal GPS device to NexRemote using NexGPS; download NexRemote updates online to add the latest features; and more. The NexRemote software includes an RS-232 cable to connect the CPC Deluxe 1100 HD to a PC.
Adjustable height tripod: The new heavy duty tripod has 2" diameter steel legs. It has a metal lower tensioning spider and an upgraded aluminum upper center leg brace for rigidity and rapid vibration dampening. The leg brace also doubles as an accessory tray with holes to safely hold eyepieces up out of the dew-soaked grass and close at hand. A locating pin on the top of the tripod automatically centers the scope on the tripod for easy assembly in the dark. A single hand-tighten lever per leg locks in the tripod height adjustment. The levers are on the insides of the legs, to avoid snagging on clothing in the dark. The tripod adjusts in height over a 30" to 45" range.
Two-year warranty: All Celestron go-to telescopes have a two-year warranty, double that of competitive go-to scopes.
Tech Details
| Aperture | 11" |
|---|---|
| Focal Length | 2800mm |
| Focal Ratio | f/10 |
| Heaviest Single Component | 66 lbs. |
| Highest Useful Magnification | 560x |
| Motorized Controls | Computerized GoTo |
| Weight | 93 lbs. |
| Optical Coatings | Starbright XLT |
| Resolution | 0.41 arc seconds |
| Supplied Eyepiece | 23mm 2" |
| Telescope Type | EdgeHD |
| View Finder | 9x50 |
| Visual Limiting Magnitude | 14.7 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
Reviews
The Pros:
The optics are superb, and came perfectly collimated right out of the box. Views of the moon, planets and deep sky objects are beautiful through this scope. Stars are round even at the edge of the field of view. This scope ships with a 2" 23mm Luminos eyepiece, which is one of the premium offerings from Celestron. The sharp, flat field performance of the CPC DX and the wide field of view of the 23mm makes you feel like your looking through a window on a spaceship.
The mount tracks very smoothly and goto performance is very accurate. The OTA/fork assembly is a bit heavy but the well placed carrying handles make the job of setup easier. The tripod is very sturdy, and attaching the mount and scope to the tripod is as easy as 3 captive, spring loaded bolts.
The focus knob is smooth, the finder is a standard but functional straight through 9X50. The Edge HD CPCs have mirror locks the same as the stand alone Edge OTAs. The CPC DX is also fastar ready, so you can use a hyperstar imaging system. Fit and finish are nice. The tube paint is pearl white, and the scope and tripod have some nice anodized orange accents.
The Cons:
This scope is just fine out of the box for visual only astronomy. But if your looking to use it for astrophotography you will need a equatorial wedge to take long exposure images. Without one, you are limited to about 20-30 seconds before the field rotation inherent to alt/az mounts becomes apparent. If you are looking to do astrophotography only you would be better served with an Edge HD scope on a equatorial mount. I do both visual and photography, so I like the versatility of switching between alt/az and EQ wedge modes.
Focus shift is inherent to the SCT design because of the movement of the primary mirror during focusing, and the CPC DX is no different. While it is not a deal breaker in any way, it is something to keep in mind. The mirror locks will prevent the mirror from flopping, however.
This scope is not light. The OTA/fork mount assembly weighs over 60 pounds. The carrying handles and where they are located make the task of moving it very manageable, but be aware of the weight. Adding a wedge will add another 30-40 pounds to the setup, but the wedge is attached to the tripod separately. The real chore is getting the OTA/fork mount onto the wedge, there is no easy way of doing this.
Lastly, because of the optical design of the Edge HD scopes, purchasing accessories compatible with the Edge scopes can be expensive. A focal reducer for a standard SCT can be had for under $150, an Edge HD focal reducer for the 1100 is $600. Just another thing to keep in mind.
Overall I have found this scope to be a solid performer. Excellent Edge HD optics and great goto performance in a proven alt/az design make this scope worth the investment. (Posted on 8/4/2017)
The included accessories, the 2" diagonal and the finderscope are functional but inexpensive and were replaced. The included eyepiece, a 23mm Luminos, is sharp but has very poor light control that leaves a bright ring of light in the outer 15% of the field of view. If one used only this eyepiece to look through the scope you would consider the scope defective. Most any other eyepiece will show the Edge HD delivers on the promise of a well corrected flat field.
The scope is fairly easy to set up, but it is heavy and somewhat awkward.....right on the edge of being too much to handle. This is what you get with a fully-mounted 11" SCT so know your limitations prior to purchase. A semi-permanent set up or a rolling set up would be ideal for this model.
There are some issues with my unit, usually small QC items that show up from time to time and are user repairable. Even at a price of nearly $4000.00 you cannot expect perfection. Fix them yourself or sent it back to Celestron and wait for the scope to return.
Cold weather performance is not good. At 10 degrees F the grease on the baffle tube becomes impossibly stiff and focusing becomes difficult to say the least. The C11 has a heavy mirror and regardless of the temperature focus shift due to the weight of the mirror can be a problem and is something to consider at purchase. I also had the secondary loosen and spin this past winter, again I believe due to the cold. The good folks at Cloudy Nights helped me fix this so yet again I avoided shipping the unit to Celestron.
To conclude, know what you are getting into and expect a few bumps in the road. When all is well and conditions permit the CPC 1100 HD gives terrific views of deep space objects and the planets. (Posted on 8/4/2017)
Supplied Accessories
- 11" f/10 Starbright XLT multicoated EdgeHD flat field optics in aluminum tube
- Mirror locks
- Tube vents
- Go-to fully computerized go-to dual fork arm mount with carrying handles, supported by a steel and nylon roller bearing on a 9.8" diameter track, dual axis worm gear DC motor drive with spring-loaded worm blocks and a 6" brass gear and 0.75" stainless steel worm gear in each axis
- Heavy duty adjustable height metal tripod
- NexStar 40,000+ object computer hand control with SkyAlign three-star alignment, plus auto two-star align, one-star align, EQ align, and solar system align
- One star polar alignment using unique built-in All-Star software
- PPEC (Permanent Periodic Error Compensation)
- RS-232 port for connection to a PC
- Separate CCD autoguider and auxiliary ports
- 50mm finderscope in spring-loaded quick release bracket
- 2" star diagonal
- 2" 23mm Luminos 82° eyepiece (122x)
- 12V DC power cord
- Dust covers.
Celestron EdgeHD optics 
NexStar computer with SkyAlign and GPS