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Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain 2800mm Telescope with Tripod and Tube

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Celestron CPC 1100 StarBright XLT GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain 2800mm Telescope with Tripod and Tube

(6 customer reviews)

SKU:

ee0042

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Celestron CPC 1100 XLT Computerized 11in Telescope 11075

List Price:	$5,589.95
Our Price:	$2,999.00
You Save:	$2590.95 (46%)

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Product Details

Product Length:	30.0 inches
Product Width:	19.0 inches
Product Height:	37.0 inches
Product Weight:	116.0 pounds
Package Length:	36.7 inches
Package Width:	33.6 inches
Package Height:	29.4 inches
Package Weight:	118.0 pounds
Average Customer Rating:	based on 6 reviews

Features

11-inch diffraction limited Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
Fully computerized dual fork arm altazimuth mount
Ergonomic design--Comfortably move the telescope from location to location
Proven NexStar computer control technology; GPS alignment
280 mm aperture, 2800 mm focal length

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 4.5

( 6 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 119 found the following review helpful:

Great telescope for visual use Feb 08, 2007 By Scott C. Johnson
I bought this telescope primarily for visual use. I almost decided to get a smaller aperture. However, after seeing the telescope size and comments on it's handling, I decided it would be light enough for me to setup alone. The telescope tube and fork are pretty heavy. However, the ergonomics are very good such that lifting the tube isn't too bad (carried close to your body).

I was seriously tempted by the Meade LX200R 10" and 12" scopes. In the end I decided the ergonomics on the Celestron were better and it was quite a bit cheaper (Celestron 11" was cheaper than Meade 10"). The fork mount is perfect for visual use since it can be setup very quickly. I suspect the Meades would be better for serious imaging if mounted on an equatorial mount. I was concerned about getting a telescope shipped to my home, but in the end it wasn't damaged in transport.

I love the goto features of the scope. Using the handheld controller you can quickly find objects in the sky. I find the built in database quite good for visual objects. I quickly started using the Constellation view mode (view objects in a constellation) to reduce the amount of slewing across the sky.

I find the auto-sky-align feature to work pretty well. This alignment mode is great since you don't need to know star names; just pick 3 bright stars. However, it is prone to occasionally fail alignment and 3 stars take more time than 2 stars. To eliminate the alignment failure and decrease the alignment time (2 stars only), I now primarily use auto-2-star align despite the fact you need to know the star names.

The 10x50 finder scope is not terribly good but does the job.

My focus knob is not as smooth in turning as some telescopes in the store. I notice this more as the scope is near the horizon. There is quite a bit of mirror shift when focusing but this is a Schmidt-Cassegrain characteristic. It took me some practice to obtain fine focus. I plan to order a feathertouch focuser to get finer control over the focus.

My telescope was shipped with the GPS turned off. To turn it on you must go deep into the menus. I also discovered that you must set your scope to the proper daylight savings time setting or some stars will be out of range.

The cord wrap feature sometimes annoys me. This feature tries to prevent wrapping the power cord. However, I usually watch for this problem anyhow and the cordwrap feature sometimes forces longer than necessary telescope slews. Cord wrap gets turned on automatically after every alignment.

The tripod seems pretty heavy duty and comes with a nice heavy eyepiece tray. My tripod did not come with a leveling bubble. Placing the telescope fork on the tripod is pretty easy. Once you manage to grab the center guide pin with the fork, you simply need to rotate the base until the scope falls into the retention screw cutouts. Sometimes finding the center guide pin can take about 30 seconds but you get better with time.

Optically the scope seems pretty good so far. You can see the Cassini division of Saturn and banding on Saturn and Jupiter. It took me a while to figure out collimation. I ordered a set of Bob's knobs and played with the collimation for a while to get the hang of it. I have tried to perform a star test and didn't get a perfect diffraction pattern on either side of focus. I believe there is possibly a slight downturned edge in the mirror from looking at the diffraction patterns. However, so far objects in the telescope look great and I am not an optical expert anyway.

I have used the Neximage web cam for Lunar and planet images. The images turn out great. I have also tried some limited piggyback photography. All of my viewing and imaging so far has been from my backyard in a suburban light polluted area. I am able to see quite a few galaxies and nebula from my backyard.

Celestron technical support is a bit slow in responding to inquiries through their web site.

Overall, this is a great scope for visual use.

40 of 41 found the following review helpful:

All around terrific scope! Jun 18, 2009 By Gregory P. Simpson
Although I didn't purchase my CPC 1100 through Amazon.com, I wanted to add my two cents about this great scope.

Like the first reviewer, I'm a visual observer only; don't have the time or inclination to mess about with cameras and laptops. I've also owned a few other SCTs over the years and really enjoy this type of telescope.

First, it is a heavy telescope. The tube and fork assembly weighs 65 lbs. Make sure you can lift and maneuver something that heavy before ordering one! Although, the ergonomics of the carrying handles make lifting and handling the scope much easier than they would be otherwise.

One feature I enjoy with this scope, and another computerized Celestron I used to own, is that unlike their main competitor--Meade--you don't have to do an initial motor calibration. With the Meade SCTs you have to "train the drive" before using the scope for the first time. That's a tedious procedure that must be done outside during daylight, in order to calibrate the motors and hand control. There's no such procedure with the CPC. The first time you set it up at night you're good to go!

Now, I live in light-polluted Central Florida. This scope actually can show me some of the brighter deep-sky objects fairly well. Because it has a long focal ratio (f/10), with any given eyepiece you get a nice "close-up" view. This is especially nice when viewing the planets. My favorite objects to view with my CPC, however, are the magnificent globular clusters! Wait until you view M13 or M5 with a 24 or 26mm eyepiece! These objects alone make the telescope well worth it!

I find the NexStar hand control menu very easy to navigate, once you practice with it. (And you'll be a "pro" at it your first couple of nights!) There are many nice features here as well: You can control the brightness of the red backlit keypad and display window. The scrolling display can be speeded up or slowed down. You can choose a particular constellation and let the scope show you a number of different objects located there. The "sky tour" feature is a fun way to sample various objects visible overhead. And there are other nifty features.

Since I know most of the bright star names, I don't use the "Sky Align" three-star alignment set up. I use the "Auto Two-Star" alignment, which I find easy and quick. Also, you can set up the scope before full darkness and get it aligned if the Moon or bright planet is visible by using the "Solar System Align" method. Very easy!

If you're looking for a large aperture scope that performs extremely well on all types of astronomical objects (and are fit enough to handle the 65 lbs!), the CPC 1100 is just what you need!

16 of 17 found the following review helpful:

Excellent "serious" telescope Jun 13, 2010 By Geoffrey Gaherty
This is my main "working" telescope at present. It is housed in a SkyShed POD dome and is ready to use at a moment's notice, and gets used just about every clear night. I have it programmed for the variable stars I observe regularly, and it moves from star to star with admirable accuracy and speed, making my observing sessions very productive. It also has a huge database of fascinating objects which I observe for fun during my serious working sessions. As mentioned, the goto computer is very accurate and generally quiet, but the actual tracking is often accompanied by a loud clicking sound. I've tried adjusting the azimuth drive worm to reduce this , but it remains a problem, leading to jerkiness at high magnifications.

3 of 4 found the following review helpful:

Final (?) review Mar 11, 2012 By Randall Krippner
After all of the delays, messed up shipments, defective electronics etc. I finally was able to get the CPC 1100 out and was able to use it the way it was intended to be used. Despite rather poor weather with lots of haze and clouds, I set it up in my driveway for a quick test. Setting the scope is easy, but requires a strong back! The optical tube assembly (which includes the forks and drive system) is *heavy*. It goes around 65 pounds, and even when the scope is folded into transport position it is more than a handful. While the carrying handles (one on the side of one fork, the other under the bottom of the other fork) are well placed, it is still a very heavy object. If you have any sort of back problems, knee or hip issues, you are NOT going to be able to handle this thing by yourself. This scope is actually probably more than I really should be trying to handle by myself.

Set up is simple. Just place the tripod in position and level it with the built in bubble level. Pick the scope up and rest it on top of the tripod. There is a center guide pin that slips into the base of the scope. Wiggle the scope around until the guide pin slips into place. Then push up one of the self-contained bolts on the base of the tripod and slowly turn the scope until the bolt hits the hole. Screw in the bolt, and the two others to secure the scope to the tripod.

You need a 12 volt power supply for this scope (power cord with a cigarette lighter plug on one end is included). I'm using one of those automotive jump-start packs which should provide enough juice to keep the scope going for several hours.

I went through the 3 star alignment procedure. Once turned on and you begin the alignment procedure, the scope's internal GPS takes a few minutes to acquire a signal and download the data it needs. Once it has done that, you can do the alignment, which is extremely simple. You use the slewing buttons on the controller to guide the scope to three different bright objects (they can be planets or stars). You don't even need to know what they are. Once the alignment is done, the scope is ready to go.

After alignment, the scope worked flawlessly. Every object I selected from the menu on the controller appeared in almost the exact center of the field of view, requiring some tweaking occasionally, but pretty darn good considering I hadn't been real precise in aligning the thing.

I looked at Jupiter first. Brilliant, crystal clear, sharp image, although small because the 40mm eyepiece only gives around 50x. Despite a considerable amount of haze and horrible light pollution, the view was excellent, with 3 moons lined up on one side of the planet and a 4th on the other side. After fiddling with the focus and as my eyes started to adjust, I could begin to make out some of the atmospheric bands on the planet.

I went into the menu system, selected Messier objects and entered M42, the Orion Nebula. The scope slewed around quickly, came to a halt, and I looked through the eyepiece to find it almost perfectly centered in the field of view. The view was quite good considering the poor conditions we were having tonight. At a site that isn't surrounded by street lights and security lights, and with clear skies, it would have been stunning.

Mars showed up crisp and clear. I tried adding my Tele Vue Barlow lens to increase power, but the atmosphere was too poor to let me get a good, crisp image.

Unfortunately, I was working with only a small 'window' of sky that wasn't covered by clouds. Most of the deep space objects I wanted to look at were obscured. But Bode's Nebula (M81) was high in the sky, and even with the severe light pollution and, I discovered later, considerable dew forming on the corrector plate, I was just able to make out the ghostly image of that galaxy.

So "first light" with the CPC 1100 was pretty successful, all things considered. Certainly the optics are wonderful. Even in the very poor conditions with high, wispy clouds, haze and severe light pollution, I was able to get some pretty impressive views of brighter nebula and galaxies.

Pluses: Certainly the optics are wonderful. Crisp, clear, tack-sharp star images, beautiful low-power views of galaxies and nebula. The drive system seems pretty accurate. It almost always hit every object near to the center of the field of view. If I had taken more time to more accurately do the alignment it would have been spot on, I believe.

Issues: Always issues, aren't there?

First, of course, there's the weight. This is a heavy beast. If you are, like me, going to be out by yourself without anyone to help you lug the thing around, I would suggest you look for something less hefty. 65 pounds may not sound like much. Simply picking it up and setting it on the tripod isn't really the issue, it's moving it around, such as lugging it out of the house, getting it out of a car, etc. That's where things can get quite difficult.

Second, vibration. Hands off, with just the drive tracking, it's fine, but if you reach for the focus knob, things are going to start to bounce around.

Third: Focusing. Trying to focus this thing can be interesting, to say the least, and the vibrations set up by just touching the focus knob don't help. Tiny, almost microscopic adjustments are necessary. I'm not sure if this is an issue with all SCT type scopes or not, but it took me a while to get used to this, and I'm going to be looking into options to assist with focusing the thing.

Fourth: The manual is outdated. The section on astrophotography, for example, discusses types of film to use, and pretty much no one has used film for astrophotography for years. While it is accurate as far as the basics are concerned, it needs to be updated.

Fifth: The motors are very noisy when slewing at the higher rates of speed. When tracking or using the slower slew rates, you can't hear them at all, really.

Sixth: All SCT type scopes are going to need to be collimated sooner or later. The secondary mirror mounted up by the corrector plate can be knocked out of the proper position for a variety of reasons. You need to turn a cover that hides the three collimation screws on the front of the scope, and somehow peer through the eyepiece, reach around the front of the scope with a screwdriver, make tiny, precise adjustments.... Well, I just don't see how it can be done without having an extra set of arms and a third eye on a flexible stalk. The scope is currently pretty well collimated right now, but I'm not sure how I'm going to adjust the thing with this setup. Again, I'm probably going to have to look into options to assist in that procedure, as I am with focusing.

Do I recommend it? Well, that depends. So far I have mixed feelings about the scope, enough misgivings to keep me from giving it 5 stars. And I'm concerned about the drive system. This is the second unit I've had. The first failed right out of the box with an error indicating the controller couldn't communicate with the drive system. While Celestron sent me a replacement scope right away, a quick search on Google turned up the fact that I'm not the only person who had that particular issue. That makes me concerned about the overall reliability of the scope's electronics. But so far I'm pleased with the scope's performance. I can't wait to get it out to a really dark site on a clear night.

Great Scope, Unbeatable Price Apr 09, 2012 By AstroND
I bought this telescope as a 50th birthday present to myself, and it did not disappoint. The optics are fantastic, the setup was a breeze, and it's a joy to operate. There is some minor assembly required, but the instructions are clear and it was only about 30 minutes from shipping box to first light. One word of caution: While the CPC 1100 invoices as one item with one tracking number, it actually ships in two cartons (one for the telescope and one for the tripod). UPS dropped off just one box (the tripod) and, when asked, said he only had the one carton on the truck. About 15 minutes later, while I was on the phone with a VERY helpful Amazon agent, the UPS man pulled up again with the second box. Disaster averted!

Assembly was quick and aligning the finder scope was easy. Read the manual, and you'll have no problems. Checking the optical path, the telescope's collimation was perfect, so no major bouncing around during shipping and no adjustments necessary.

First light was on the pre-sunset Moon, and the Aristarchus Plateau was my first sight with the included 40mm eyepiece. The clarity was nothing short of breathtaking. Higher magnification was also quite clear down through an 8mm eyepiece before atmospheric turbulence limited the seeing.

Using the SkyAlign system with the NexStar hand controller was also a snap. Just power up the system, let the GPS lock, then select three bright stars for alignment. Center the first star on the cross hairs of the finder scope, press "ENTER", then slew the telescope with the hand controller until the star is centered in the eyepiece, and press "ALIGN". Repeat for two more bright stars in different parts of the sky, and you're done. Now, you've got easy go-to access to the 40,000 objects in the NexStar database.

A couple of other notes: If you're purchasing this telescope, know that it's big and it's heavy. The ergonomics of the carrying handles are good, but you better be prepared to lift and maneuver 62 pounds (28 kg). Also, the telescope comes with only one 40mm eyepiece and a 12-volt car power adapter. If you want to really start using your new telescope, I recommend purchasing the Celestron Accessory Kit for a nice selection of eyepieces and filters, as well as the Celestron 18778 AC Adapter for Computerized Telescopes to power your telescope from a standard household outlet/extension cord.

I highly recommend this telescope for the fantastic optics, ease of use, and Amazon's great price.

See all 6 customer reviews on Amazon.com