14" OTAs - weight

I have the Meade 14" and yes, the weight of the optical tube is 60 pounds. It probably is a bit over engineered, but it performs as well as any Celestron 14" I have ever used. I would be equally happy with either OTA.

Thanks for confirming that info Pat. Much appreciated.

Given that both are optically comparible, I think the mirror lock of the lx200 would sway me in that direction. presuming you're happy with the weight.

Welcome Pat, in what respect do you think the OTA is over engineered? I have a 12" classic and the tube doesnt seem overengineered to me, if anything the mount is borderline underengineered, then again I've come across few celestron OTAs to compare against.

Prices:

Meade 16" LX200R OTA = €9,250

Meade 14" LX200R OTA = €4,490
Celestron 14" SCT OTA = €5,950

Toscano 12" RC OTA = €8,000
Meade 12" LX200R OTA = €3,250
Celestron 11" SCT OTA = €2,498

Massive price difference.

I was actually out last night imaging with a CGE 14 owned by a friend of mine. It really looks a stonking great scope. The sheer size of it makes it look extremely impressive.. I was amazed at some of the images we took even with really short exposures unguided. I'm looking forward to seeing what this scope can do with autoguiding and a decent focal reducer. Thats the thing that struck me about it for imaging, there will be very little that will fit onto the FOV of anything smaller than a medium sized CCD.

FWIW heres the images we took last night.

webtreatz.com/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,27/catid,10/

Dave,

Big scope and a big price unfortunately.The focal ratio has always been a concern of mine with large aperture SCTs. The 14" f/11 with a f/6.3 focal reducer still has a longer focal langth then my 8" f/10! Makes for an absolutely tiny FOV.
Will need to give it some more thought.

Fine images Dave. Great depth. Pity the tracking was ever so slightly off. Very good images all the same though.
As a matter of curiosity, how did you find the CGE mount to work with?

Cheers,