Celestron is a leading designer, manufacturer and importer of high-quality optical products including computerized and non-computerized telescopes and related accessories, binoculars, spotting scopes and microscopes.

The Celestron CGE computerized equatorial mount is one of the most impressively engineered amateur telescope mounts we've ever come across. In addition to being fully computerized with a database of over 40,000 celestial objects, the CGE mount offers the extreme stability and advanced features needed for serious observational and astrophotographic applications.

Mechanical Features

• CNC-machined aluminum and stainless steel components
• Autoguider port, PC port, and auxiliary ports located on the electronic pier
• Strain relief power cord cable protection
• Backlit power switch
• Drive Motors — Made in the U.S.A., Pittman LO-COG brush-commutated DC motors offer smooth, quiet operation and long life. The motor armatures are skewed to minimize cogging, which is required for low speed tracking. Windings are resin impregnated for greater reliability in incremental motion applications.
• Precision Bronze Worm Gear — 32 pitch, 5.625" pitch diameter, 180 tooth bronze gear manufactured in the U.S.A. by W. M. Berg, Inc. Manufactured to AGMA Quality Class 10 standard, which minimizes total composite error and backlash.
• Shaft — Stainless steel worm shaft has 0.4375-pitch diameter and is preloaded with two ball bearings. The worm is made from a single piece of steel (rather than a two-piece worm-and-shaft assembly) to minimize run-out, which is a source of periodic error.
• Four-point RA clutch system for no-slip pointing precision
• Latitude range: 10° to 60°, northern or southern hemispheres
• Maximum payload: 65 lbs.

Right Ascension and Declination Axes

• 1" solid ground stainless steel shaft
• Two preloaded 0.9835" I.D. x 2.047" O.D. tapered roller bearings
• One 3.543" I.D. x 4.724" O.D. thrust bearing (RA Axis)
• 180-tooth, 5.625 pitch diameter enveloping bronze gear preloaded to maintain gear mesh when clutch tension varies, manufactured to AGMA 10 quality by W.M. Berg
• 0.4375"-diameter precision 303 stainless steel worm manufactured to AGMA 10 quality
• Four-point RA clutch system pre-loading a 4.65" stainless steel disk for no-slip drive and pointing precision
• One 2.500" I.D. x 3.250" O.D. thrust bearing (Dec Axis)

Tripod

• Adjustable height: 36" to 50"
• Leg material: cold rolled carbon steel
• Upper leg diameter: 2.75"; lower leg diameter: 2.375"
• Tripod/Mount combined weight: 114 lbs.

Electronic and Software Features

• GoTo system is precision accurate to 1.5 arc-minutes
• 40,000+ object database with 400 user-defined objects. Features include: Compass Calibration, Polar Alignment routine, Database Filter Limits, Hibernate, Auto North and Level, Quick Align, and user-defined slew limits.
• Double-line, 16-character liquid crystal display
• Backlit computerized hand control
• RS-232 communication port on hand control
• Hibernate — maintains alignment even while powered down.
• Polar alignment routines for Northern and Southern hemispheres.
• Filter limits — displays only objects above the horizon.
• Permanent programmable periodic error correction (PEC) — corrects for periodic tracking errors inherent to all worm drives.
• Smooth ramping of slew motors to reduce wear on the drive train.
• Home sensors on R.A. and Dec axes.
• Fail-safe slew limit switches in R.A.
• Real-time clock — maintains time even when powered down.
• 12-volt DC servo motors with integrated optical encoders with 0.11-arcsecond resolution.

Warranty Information
Orion products are covered by a limited, non-transferable warranty. Products sold through this website and our catalog that do not bear the Orion Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Orion's Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Orion-branded, even if packaged or sold with Orion products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.