[Chaos-l] Telescope Advice: New Celestron NexStars or Used Celestron Ultima 2000

[Derek Williams]

Hello,

I am interested in opinions from the group regarding choosing among the
following telescopes:

*1) New Celestron NexStars SEs (the 5, 6, or 8)*

   - the advantages for the new scopes are newer technology and generally
   a more portable grab-and-go design (total weight 25-45 lbs). As far as the
   technology goes, I am mainly concerned with having some GoTo capabilities
   for some deep-sky objects where I am a complete novice. The older offering
   below has an early incarnation of GoTo offering 10K objects, versus 40K in
   the new - plenty either way.

*2) Used Celestron Ultima 2000 Fastar 8-inch (~7-10 years old, one owner,
good to well-above average condition)*

   - the advantages for this scope is that it comes with a set of
   accessories (three eyepieces, photography wedge, and a nice hard case), it
   is built more stable/substantially (steel instead of aluminum tripod, a
   mount that uses two forks instead of one, and seemingly better mechanics -
   total weight ~50 lbs). Moreover, this scope can be easily pointed manually
   without concerns of stripping gears while also keeping its positioning to
   continue using GoTo. It seems like the new NexStars rely completely on the
   computer and motor to drive them.

I am leaning towards the older scope; it seems really well built and I can
get a great deal of items for what just the new 8-inch telescope alone or a
new 5-inch with comparable accessories cost.

Any experience or testimonial with the Ultima would be appreciated as would
any considerations regarding the new technologies in the NexStars.Thank you
and look forward to seeing you all out soon at upcoming meetings.

Happy Holidays,

Derek Williams
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