How did the CGX perform?

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jrkirkham United States of America
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How did the CGX perform?

#1

Post by jrkirkham »


When the Celestron CGX mount was first released I read a lot about its features and capabilities. Recently I haven't noticed much discussion about it. I thought it looked like an interesting mount. Enough time has gone by for its strengths and weaknesses to become apparent. Does anyone know if it lived up to its potential? Does anyone have one? Were you pleased? How does it compare to other mounts in the same range?
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#2

Post by AntennaGuy »


I've been thinking about a system that would use one of these, so I'd like to hear more too. They seem to get positive reviews generally. Even so, for anything electro-mechanical, I'd sure like to see long warranties (at least 5 years). Celestron's 2 yr warranty beats Meade's 1, but both are far too short, IMHO.
* Meade 323 refractor on a manual equatorial mount.
* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
Prof. Barnhardt to Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still: "There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.”
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JimMinCT United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#3

Post by JimMinCT »


I've had mine for just over 2 years now...
I didn't dare open it during the warranty period, but now that it's up, I will probably go in and do some tweaking.

Pros:
It does what it says... Slews 20° past meridian before needing a flip, which means I almost never have to flip.
Beefy. Solid and very stable. the image barely moves on the screen while I'm focusing manually
Guides OK. (Getting back to that tweaking I mentioned earlier.....)
With built in home positions for each axis, it can be reset from a bump without having the redo the polar alignment.
Just tell it to go back to the switch positions, and it will zero itself and you can resume your night of imaging, or gazing.
Belt drive makes it a lot smoother and quieter while slewing and running

Cons:
It's still a mass produced, mid-priced mount, with all the issues that entails. Do not expect to go without guiding...

Overall, I'm happy with the purchase, and would buy it again.
Hope that helps a little...
Cheers
OTA's: Kson 1026-C, 4" Carbon Fiber ED Refractor, Home-built, 6.1", f/2.? APO refractor... (In Progress) 8" Meade LX2 SCT Mounts: CGX Imaging: ZWO ASI 1600MM, Canon 550D (T2i) Software: PixInsight, APT, PHD2, SharpCap, SGP, Stellarium, Registax, Stuff: Astro-Tech 0.8x FR/FF, Hotech SCA FF, ZWO 7nm 31mm LRGB-SHO filter set, ZWO 8 position EFWObsy: "Maybe Spaceship" Observatory
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jrkirkham United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#4

Post by jrkirkham »


Thank you. I've been curious about them. They looked like quite a step up from earlier mounts of their size range. I have an Orion Sirius. I like it, but the CGX looks v e r y interesting.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#5

Post by JayTee »


Hi Rob,

You could also PM Tom (UlteriorModem) as he has the CGX-L and then you'd have both bases covered.

Cheers,
JT
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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JimMinCT United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#6

Post by JimMinCT »


JayTee wrote: Fri Sep 13, 2019 11:20 pm Hi Rob,

You could also PM Tom (UlteriorModem) as he has the CGX-L and then you'd have both bases covered.

Cheers,
JT
That's the one thing I never really cared for...
If he PM's UM... :D Then he finds out, but not the rest. There should be some kind of "page" on the forum where you could just draw somebody's attention to a thread, or post...

Sorry for the rant
/rant off
Later ET!
:D
OTA's: Kson 1026-C, 4" Carbon Fiber ED Refractor, Home-built, 6.1", f/2.? APO refractor... (In Progress) 8" Meade LX2 SCT Mounts: CGX Imaging: ZWO ASI 1600MM, Canon 550D (T2i) Software: PixInsight, APT, PHD2, SharpCap, SGP, Stellarium, Registax, Stuff: Astro-Tech 0.8x FR/FF, Hotech SCA FF, ZWO 7nm 31mm LRGB-SHO filter set, ZWO 8 position EFWObsy: "Maybe Spaceship" Observatory
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JayTee United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#7

Post by JayTee »


JimMinCT wrote: Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:36 amThat's the one thing I never really cared for...
If he PM's UM... :D Then he finds out, but not the rest of us. There should be some kind of "page" on the forum where you could just draw somebody's attention to a thread, or post...

Sorry for the rant
/rant off
Later ET!
:D
That's actually a very good idea. I'll bring it up with the staff. There may be another way to skin this cat that I'm unaware of.

Cheers,
ET

PS, I was always afraid to use that phrase over at AF because there were so many cat avatars! jt
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

Searching the skies since 1966. "I never met a scope I didn't want to keep."

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Graeme1858 Great Britain
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#8

Post by Graeme1858 »


JimMinCT wrote: Sat Sep 14, 2019 1:36 am There should be some kind of "page" on the forum where you could just draw somebody's attention to a thread, or post...

Good idea, then I wouldn't have missed it!

My CGX is brilliant. It's built like a tank but just about moveable/put awayable with the mount on the tripod. I try to choose a star to the north for polar alignment otherwise the adjustment knob is a stretch from the eye piece. It still takes me a while to set up but that might just me and my lack of practice. (Another half a dozen Vegas scattered about would be helpful!) Once setup, the goto is spot on and the hand controller is easy to use, it has a large database and a few tours. For AP I use CPWI which does the job of setting up, polar aligning and goto but then you have to use some other programme for image capture. I would like to learn to control the CGX using APT then plate solving would become available. I've done it during the day in the front room but not at night in anger. Unguided tracking is really good. An unblurred 30 second image on a 2350mm F10 is pretty impressive.

Dylan O'Donnell has produced some stunning images with his rasa mounted on a CGX.

Regards

Graeme
______________________________________________
Celestron 9.25 f10 SCT, f6.3FR, CGX mount.
ASI1600MM Pro, ASI294MC Pro, ASI224MC
ZWO EFW, ZWO OAG, ASI220MM Mini.
APM 11x70 ED APO Binoculars.

https://www.averywayobservatory.co.uk/
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UlteriorModem
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#9

Post by UlteriorModem »


Or you could just wait until I blunder into the thread :D

Or just pm me and point me to this thread ;)

Have had my CGX-L for a couple of years now and it is still running quite well. Although I did have a bit of trouble software wise this week when I re-set the date on the hand controller and it got totally lost in the weeds requiring a factory reset. But that is not really the mount's fault.

Early on it had a few other software issues, for one it was not reporting side of pier which was an issue when it came time for meridian flip. Also if you sent a park or 'home' command it would move to the home position but keep on tracking. In my case it kept on tracking until it was hard against the mount and had probably been there for an hour or two. Both of those issues were resolved quickly with a software patch.

Speaking of software patches, the instructions for updating the firmware in the manual are plain wrong. I have a lengthy post on that other forum "The correct way to update" or something like that. I will look it up later today.

One hardware issue that I dont know if it was addressed or not is that the drive belts would 'walk' out to the ends of the drive cogs and would literally be hanging off the end of the cog that drove the worm gear. The issue was that the drive cog on the drive motor was not perpendicular to the drive cog on the worm gear. The result would be an occasional 'bump' in the guiding rate. It was resolved by me by putting shims under the drive motor mount. I 'think' this has been addressed since but kind of lost track of it. I don know Celestron was aware of it and was going to consult with whoever manufactures the CGX & L mounts and address it.

The screws on the plastic covers for the ring gears are extremely easy to strip out. In fact they will strip out with 'normal' use. Be cautious with them!

Performance wise it is superb. Very well aware of where it is pointing, smooth tracking, spot on goto.

They do not come with a polar scope. I bought the add on scope and have used it twice :( All it does is get you in the ball park. I highly recommend using a drift alignment to fine tune the alignment. In fact I tried the "Precise Polar Alignment" routine last night and it was so far off initially I did not even turn a single knob. Went back to a drift align and was well under an arc minute of error, more like .3 or so.

All in all with a few minor quibbles I am very satisfied with it and the results speak for themselves.
Tom

Current Equipment:
Mount: Celestron CGX-L
Scope: 130mm f7 APO
Cam: ASI071mc-pro
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jrkirkham United States of America
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Re: How did the CGX perform?

#10

Post by jrkirkham »


Thank you. That was very helpful.
Rob
Telescopes: 50mm refractor, ED80 triplet, 90mm makcass, 10" dob, 8"SCT, 11"SCT
Mounts: Celestron CGX, Orion Sirius + several camera tripods
Cameras: Canon 6D, Canon 80D, ZWO-ASI120MC
Binoculars: 10x50, 12x60, 15x70, 25-125x80
Observatory: SkyShed POD XL3 + 8x12 warm room
AL Projects Completed: Lunar #645, Outreach #0280, Universe Sampler #93-T, Binocular Messier #871, Messier #2521, Messier Honorary #2521, Constellation Hunter Northern Skies #112, Planetary Transit Venus #1, Galileo #26, Outreach Stellar 0280, Meteor Regular #157, Solar System Telescopic #209-I, Observer Award #1
AL Projects Currently in Process: Double Stars, Comet, Lunar Evolution
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