Mariner 2
Posted 22 June 2022 - 07:41 AM
I have an opportunity to buy a black C8. Owner has no info, says there is no power socket or switch and that it is manual drive only.
Did Celestron make a model like this? The photos show no model number, nothing on the back of the secondary, or around the corrector plate.
Vanguard
Posted 22 June 2022 - 08:02 AM
I never saw a fork mounted C8 without a drive
The power cord will be on the bottom - or some used an internal battery - either a 9v or lead acid (in a few Ultimas)
Voyager 1
Posted 22 June 2022 - 08:03 AM
Not that I know of if it is a fork mount. Being a Black tube OTA then it was made most likely in the 90's and it could be mount that uses a 9 volt battery. I believe the Celestar models used only a 9 volt battery
- Dave
Edited by DAVIDG, 22 June 2022 - 08:22 AM.
Lift Off
Posted 22 June 2022 - 08:24 AM
I bought a used black tube in about 1986. It had a 9v powered clock driving the RA. Still have the OTA, but with a vixen plate on it.
ISS
Posted 22 June 2022 - 09:57 AM
A fork mounted scope? No. I mean who knows what you may have...some kind of a prototype or something? But it may be the owner doesn't know what he's looking at. If you can get a photo, we can tell you for sure WHAT'S WHAT. 
Mariner 2
Posted 22 June 2022 - 12:28 PM
Thanks. Owner is clueless. Reports no power connection or switches.I have a Celestar. Pain to change the battery.
I’ll take a ride and look at it next week.
ISS
Posted 22 June 2022 - 06:07 PM
I have an opportunity to buy a black C8. Owner has no info, says there is no power socket or switch and that it is manual drive only.
Did Celestron make a model like this? The photos show no model number, nothing on the back of the secondary, or around the corrector plate.
The SP C8 was about the only C8 i can think off without a drive. All fork mounts had drives.
Viking 1
Posted 22 June 2022 - 08:07 PM
This is stirring up an old memory...
I can almost remember an ultra budget SCT from celestron in an old copy of Astronomy, but I've long since tossed out all of them. Late eighties, maybe? I sort of recollect a simple model that was, potentially, within financial reach of a budding astro kid who worked at McDonald's in the nineties if he found one of these used, as astronomers who bought SCT's around this time pretty much universally wanted drives, guiders, and maybe goto.
Author
Posted 22 June 2022 - 08:09 PM
I second what Rod said. Now we all want to see photos of it! For all we know, it's a rare prototype!
Surveyor 1
Posted 22 June 2022 - 11:40 PM
As long as the optics are good, I'd say buy it if the price is good. You could always get another fork mount for it if the drive doesn't work or by some quirk it doesn't have one. And if its true it doesn't, that makes it likely unique as Michael says. On the GEM mounted Super Polaris, a drive was an option. I got a Super Polaris back 1989 and made sure I had the dual-axis drive.
Edited by Exnihilo, 22 June 2022 - 11:51 PM.
ISS
Posted 23 June 2022 - 05:53 AM
As long as the optics are good, I'd say buy it if the price is good. You could always get another fork mount for it if the drive doesn't work or by some quirk it doesn't have one. And if its true it doesn't, that makes it likely unique as Michael says. On the GEM mounted Super Polaris, a drive was an option. I got a Super Polaris back 1989 and made sure I had the dual-axis drive.
Meade also had the GEM back in 1987 that was a flop as they must not have sold many on a EQ mount.
ISS
Posted 23 June 2022 - 06:10 AM
Meade also had the GEM back in 1987 that was a flop as they must not have sold many on a EQ mount.
I bought a used Meade 8 inch SCT on the series 500 GEM. It didn't have a clock drive but it was on GEM.. It was the budget model, maybe meant to compete with the Celestar.
Jon
ISS
Posted 23 June 2022 - 06:17 AM
I bought a used Meade 8 inch SCT on the series 500 GEM. It didn't have a clock drive but it was on GEM.. It was the budget model, maybe meant to compete with the Celestar.
Jon
The Gem was to compete with the SP C8 around 1987. Not sure when the Celestar came out, 90's?
ISS
Posted 24 June 2022 - 03:13 PM
The SP C8 was about the only C8 i can think off without a drive. All fork mounts had drives.
Exactly so. You could crank the handles or pay extra for the drives.
We need a pic.
Greg N
Apollo
Posted 25 June 2022 - 12:59 PM
Bought an SP-C8 back in 1988 and it was $1050 then, without Starbright and no drives. I did acquire the Dual Axis drive a couple of years later.
It was my first serious telescope and I was quite pleased with it, but in retrospect it wasn't all that great optically. 1988 was just a couple of years past the great Halley boom in telescopes, and a lot of stuff was mediocre then. I recall selling it back 1995 for $500.
The inflation calculator shows the equivalent cost today of $1050 would be $2594.
Apollo
Posted 25 June 2022 - 01:16 PM
I have an opportunity to buy a black C8. Owner has no info, says there is no power socket or switch and that it is manual drive only.
Did Celestron make a model like this? The photos show no model number, nothing on the back of the secondary, or around the corrector plate.
I bought my Celestron black tube C8 in 1998 as part of the Celestron G8 package. The mount was a manual CG-5 GEM made by Vixen. The clock drive was an option that could be added and is still available today, I believe. No GoTo capability. I sold the C8 OTA last year after acquiring a C9.25. Still have and use the CG-5 GEM with my small refractors.
Gary
ISS
Posted 25 June 2022 - 02:16 PM
I bought my Celestron black tube C8 in 1998 as part of the Celestron G8 package. The mount was a manual CG-5 GEM made by Vixen. The clock drive was an option that could be added and is still available today, I believe. No GoTo capability. I sold the C8 OTA last year after acquiring a C9.25. Still have and use the CG-5 GEM with my small refractors.
Gary
CG5 WAS CHINA MADE when Celestron dropped Vixen.
Apollo
Posted 25 June 2022 - 04:20 PM
CG5 WAS CHINA MADE when Celestron dropped Vixen.
When did Celestron drop Vixen? It wouldn't surprise me if my CG-5 was made in China. Either way, it's a manual GEM with geared slow-motion controls and no clock drive unless added later, which I did not too long after the original the purchase.
Gary
ISS
Posted 25 June 2022 - 04:44 PM
When did Celestron drop Vixen? It wouldn't surprise me if my CG-5 was made in China. Either way, it's a manual GEM with geared slow-motion controls and no clock drive unless added later, which I did not too long after the original the purchase.
Gary
1997. I had the first made CG5 in 97 and mine was pretty sad vs the Vixen made mounts. Maybe you got a better CG5.
Apollo
Posted 25 June 2022 - 07:46 PM
1997. I had the first made CG5 in 97 and mine was pretty sad vs the Vixen made mounts. Maybe you got a better CG5.
That's interesting.
When I bought my CG-5, I had read that everyone was having problems with metal shavings inside the mounts and that some gears had burrs that needed to be filed off. So, before I used mine, I did a full disassembly, cleaning, inspection, and re-lube. I found nothing in that process - the internals looked great.
I purchased my C8 / GEM package from a camera store that had stopped selling telescopes. It was an old store display that had been sitting in the back corner of the store out of the way for a while. Although I would guess it is China made, who knows, maybe the mount and OTA are a bit older than a 1998 build. I see no markings to give any indication of manufacturing location.
I've used that mount regularly since 1998 and its showing signs of long use - the RA axis has some play in it.
Gary
Surveyor 1
Posted 26 June 2022 - 05:50 PM
1997. I had the first made CG5 in 97 and mine was pretty sad vs the Vixen made mounts. Maybe you got a better CG5.
That was the mount you recommended dynamiting. Not a bad recommendation after owning a Vixen.
ISS
Posted 26 June 2022 - 05:52 PM
That was the mount you recommended dynamiting. Not a bad recommendation after owning a Vixen.
It was a huge let down when Celestron got cheap and dumped Vixen in late 96. I also had the first CG4 on a HD102 and it was a big step down vs the Vixen C102.
Fly Me to the Moon
Posted 26 June 2022 - 06:51 PM
I bought my Celestron black tube C8 in 1998 as part of the Celestron G8 package. The mount was a manual CG-5 GEM made by Vixen. The clock drive was an option that could be added and is still available today, I believe. No GoTo capability. I sold the C8 OTA last year after acquiring a C9.25. Still have and use the CG-5 GEM with my small refractors.
Gary
A Goto system was released for the Super Polaris, though I don't know if it was transferable to the Chinese CG-5.
It was a huge let down when Celestron got cheap and dumped Vixen in late 96. I also had the first CG4 on a HD102 and it was a big step down vs the Vixen C102.
The Vixen stuff got more expensive than forks. No wonder they went to China.
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