Celestron CGE Pro Computerized Equatorial Mount

A fully computerized observatory class German equatorial mount with a capacity to hold 90lb optical tubes, the CGE Pro from Celestron designed to offer numerous advantages for the serious astro imager. This serious instrument platform will be the ultimate mount for many advanced imagers as well as being a superb base for school, college or university observatory projects. With long exposure imaging tracking accuracy at this level is essential when using larger apertures, the CGE Pro has been designed with the features to accomodate the most demanding imaging applications.


Meeting all of the design goals this premium equatorial mount is recommended by us for or own range of large apochromatic refractors from APM - TMB as well as larger SCT / ACF optical tubes.



Increased Payload Capacity - Able to hold our 14" SCT telescope more securely as well as larger optical tubes up to a maximum payload of 90lbs.

All-Star Polar Alignment - Choose any bright alignment star for a software assisted alignment of the mounts polar axis that will have you ready for imaging even if you can't see the North Star.

No-Tool polar alignment - Larger hand knobs for both Altitude and Azimuth adjustments.

Meridian Tracking - Extended tracking pass the Meridian of up to 20 degrees of uninterrupted imaging through the best part of the sky.

Faster slew speed - Improved gearing and motors provide faster slew speeds than ever before with a maximum slew rate of over 5°/per second.

Power Management - Redesigned electronics deliver constant regulated power to the motor capable of driving the telescope even when not perfectly balanced. This allows the CGE Pro to have the payload capacity of that of much larger (and expensive) mounts without sacrificing smooth tracking motion and pointing accuracy across the entire sky.

Accuracy - The hallmark of any telescope mount is its ability to find, center and track celestial objects with the highest degree of accuracy.

Pointing - With just a standard hand control alignment, CGE Pro has the ability to center a star in your eyepiece or ccd chip to within 5 arc minutes. Using NexStar's advanced pointing features such as Calibration Stars, Sync and Precise GoTo, further improves the pointing accuracy to as low as 1 arc minute in the desired region of the sky.

Tracking - With larger .75" pitch diameter worm, precision made cut-steel gears in gearboxes, and seven slot skewed armature motors the CGE Pro delivers typical tracking performance of +-9 arc seconds, which can be further reduced with the mounts permanent periodic error correction (PPEC).

In addition to these improvements, the Celestron line of German Equatorial mounts has long been recognized for features preferred by visual observers and astrophotographer alike. Among them include:

Portability - Set up and transportation of the CGE Pro telescopes is made easy by separating the mount into smaller, easy-to-carry components. Unlike fork arm mounted telescopes, the CGE’s optical tubes can be quickly removed from their mounts making even the CGE Pro1400 easily assembled in minutes.

Stability - Recognized for superior stability, German Equatorial mounts place the center of gravity directly over the tripod legs and can be easily polar aligned without the use of an optional equatorial wedge. This proven design reduces the “tuning fork” vibration that can be associated with undersized fork mounts. An improved Super HD Tripod supports the CGE Pro mount. This fully extendable tripod is made from the finest 2.75" stainless steel and can be raised to a height of 55". The tripod uses a dual leg support for maximum rigidity with an upper leg brace to provide an outward preload and a lower leg brace providing inward tension.

Balance - CGE Pro equatorial mounts can easily be balanced in both axes. Simply sliding the counterweight for Right Ascension and moving the optical tube along its dovetail mounting for Declination accomplish balancing the weight of camera equipment and other visual accessories. This means that no additional weight needs to be added to balance the telescope when additional accessories are added.

Clearance - CGE Pro mounts support their tubes at a single contact point allowing the tube to move freely around its polar axis without making contact with the telescope’s mount. Software features allow the user to set the mounts slew limits to guarantee safe motion. This is particularly useful when adding photographic and CCD instruments that extend from the rear of the telescopes.

All CGE mounted telescopes are compatible with Celestron’s GPS accessory. Combine the GPS and built-in real time clock and these telescopes will keep track and remember their exact location and time without having to enter the information into the hand control.

GENERAL FEATURES:
CGE PRO computerized Equatorial mount
Heavy duty stainless steel tripod adjustable from 38 - 55"
One 22 lbs counterweight
Weighs 154 lbs
Proven NexStar computer control technology
40,000 object database with 100 user-definable objects and expanded information on over 200 objects
New All-Star Polar Alignment routine for both Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Software Features include: Database Filter Limits, Hibernate, five alignment methods and user-defined slew limits.
Flash upgradeable hand control software and motor control units for downloading product updates over the Internet
Custom database lists of all the most famous deep-sky objects by name and catalog number; the most beautiful double, triple and quadruple stars; variable star; solar systems; objects and asterisms
Double line, 16-character Liquid Crystal Display Hand Control with backlit LED buttons for easy operation of goto features
12VDC Servo Motors with integrated optical encoders
Permanent programmable periodic error correction (PEC) - corrects for periodic tracking errors inherent to all worm drives
Drive Motors - High quality motors with seven slot skewed armature to minimize magnetic cogging for quiet operation and long life. Precision made cut-steel gears in gearbox for Improve tracking precision.
Bearing and Shaft - Main shafts are made from 1.57" diameter steel tubing with .40" wall thickness with two preloaded 2.68" O.D. tapered roller bearings on each axes
Precision worm drive system - .75" pitch dia. precision made steel worm preloaded with two .87" OD ball bearings to minimize run-out (a source of periodic error). 255 tooth 6" pitch dia. precision made worm wheel with enveloping brass teeth
Spring loaded DEC worm to minimize backlash and for easy guiding.
4 point RA and DEC clutch system for no-slip pointing precision
Autoguide port, PC port and auxiliary ports located on the electronic pier for long exposure astrophotography
Rugged 9-pin thread on motor cables
Latitude range: 10º to 65º northern or southern hemispheres
RS-232 communication port on hand control to control the telescope via a personal computer
Includes NexRemote telescope control software, for advanced control of your telescope via computer
GPS-compatible with optional GPS Accessory

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
MOTOR DRIVE: DC Servo motors with encoders, both axes
COMPUTER HAND CONTROL: Double line, 16 character Liquid Crystal Display; 19 backlit LED buttons
SLEW SPEEDS: Nine slew speeds 5.5 deg/s, 2 deg/s, 0.5 deg/s, 64x, 16x, 8x, 4x, 1x, 0.5x
TRACKING RATES: Sidereal, Solar and Lunar
TRACKING MODES: EQ North and EQ South
ALIGNMENT PROCEDURES: 2-Star Align, Solar System Align, Last Alignment, Quick Align, 1-Star Align,
DATABASE: 40,000+ objects, 100 user defined programmable objects. Enhanced information on over 200 objects
POWER REQUIREMENTS: 12 VDC 2A
INTERNAL CLOCK: Yes
GPS: Optional CN-16 GPS Accessory
TRIPOD AND PIER WEIGHT: 52 lb
EQ MOUNT WEIGHT: 75 lb
COUNTERWEIGHT BAR: 5 lb
COUNTERWEIGHTS: 1 x 22 lb

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