I bought the Celestron CGX with a SW200PDS, a bit overkill for this 6kg scope but I want to build up a imaging system over time and the capacity of 25Kg gives me lots of options in the future (11" EdgeHD for example).

It is a heavy mount but I can lift the mount with tripod from my garage (where I store it) out to my field where I have just about full unobstructed 360 deg viewing, about 50m in distance; but I do remove the two 5kg counterweights first and of course the 200PDS. I align it roughly north, level it and then I do a two star alignment before I do an All Star Polar Align, which is a fantastic feature especially in partial cloudy skies with Polaris hidden. (You align to a bright star, enter ASPA mode, centre in eyepiece with controller, scope then moves to where it should be if polar aligned, re-centre star, but using mechanical adjustments not the pad, done!) I then do another star alignment and then I'm all set. It then gets any object in my 8.8mm eyepiece, mostly bang in the middle too. You do have the feature to sync align also to any stars which makes tracking in that part of the sky more accurate too and when I have plenty of time (not rushing to beat the clouds) I also do four calibration stars during the initial and post ASPA alignment phases which makes it super accurate with bang in the middle objects every time.

A couple of weeks ago I invested in the StarSense unit which now makes the accuracy just as good as my previous best two star alignment with four calibration efforts but with little time or effort required by me. I do a StarSense alignment, ASPA then another StarSense alignment, I don't even bother doing any calibration stars with this it is so good, for visual observing anyway; possibly for imaging I will do the calibration alignments too. Anyway, whole process is around 10mins. I do also check calibration of the StarSense camera too (alignment with scope) which only takes a minute but not really necessary if you leave the StarSense unit on the scope.

The mount is well and solidly built which you would expect for the cost and the handles are good for lifting (although without tripod they are better (as intended)). The declination adjustment is fantastic and very easy (effortless), the RA is not so (more on this below). It also comes with allen key smartly stored under the handle as well as bulls eye level gauge. It does not have a polar alignment scope but this is not needed as it has the ASPA feature.

The only gripes I have with this telescope is that since my latitude is 57degN I have to move the head back into another set of mounting plate holes for balance. The instructions in the manual were not clear on how you do this (they did not show the eight bolts underneath or how to get to them) but it is fairly easy to work out. Now, if you do this (if you are above 55 degs or below 20 degs) be careful as there are four kidney plastic bearings which are loose when you remove the mount plate to get access to the eight bolts. Anyway, this is not my main gripe, this is easy to work out. The issue is when you move the mount back the declination locking bolts hide two of the socket head bolts for tightening down after RA is set. I just nip the other two forward bolts and it has not caused any issues with alignment but a bit of a design oversight! The other thing with moving the head back is that the bullseye level is not easy to see (could be overcome with having two fitted, one at front and one at back). Anyway, this is more of an announce than anything and does not effect my pleasure in this mount and if you are below 55 degs then this is not even an issue. Just the one rating star knocked off for this. The other gripe would be the need to use a tool (allen key stored under handle) to nip down the RA when polar aligned, some knobs would have been better.

Overall though, very happy, I would recommend this mount, Celestron have done a good job of matching this with the StarSense (also recommended) and it works seamlessly during any of my viewing sessions so I can concentrate on what’s in my ep. It comes with CPWI software which you can align and control the mount from the computer using a USB2 A male to USB2 B male cable, I done this in the house and tested it, looks promising, but yet to use in the field. The same cable is used for firmware updates (recommended to do straight away before first use) using Celetrons firmware manager app which I actually found straight forward although I have read on some forums that this can be clunky. Also comes with StarryNight 7 Celestron Edition but not used that much since downloading and entering code that comes with mount.

Lastly, if you are going to buy this mount, I would highly recommend FLO for supplying it, great service, great support and quick delivery. FLO team always want to go above and beyond with their service, great team to deal with. Thanks!