Orion Dobsonian Intelliscopes - recommended?

[nwink]

Has anyone on here owned one of the Orion XTi Dobsonians with the Intelliscope feature?  (Not the motorized go-to, but the Intelliscope where you move the OTA yourself with the computer guiding you to the right direction)

I'm a newbie, and I'm thinking of getting the Intelliscope feature not as a crutch but as a backup help to learning the night-sky. For example, I am thankful for GPS on my phone for when I need to drive to a new place. I don't trust the GPS unconditionally, but I use it to get the gist of where I need to go and use my sense of direction from there. Once I've driven to the place a couple times, I no longer need the GPS. I am thinking my approach to observing the heavens with an intelliscope would be similar to how I use a GPS when driving.

Has anyone else started out with one of these telescopes? Did you find the Intelliscope feature helpful? Did it take long before you possibly quit using the intelliscope feature altogether? Eventually, I imagine I'd stop using the feature after I learn the sky even more. But at this point in my life right now, I don't have a ton of freetime, so I want to be able to spend my little freetime doing more observing than frustrated hunting. (But regarding "frustrated hunting," that's just me speaking not having owned a telescope before, just binoculars. I'm hoping to borrow a telescope for a while from a local astronomy club before purchasing a telescope. I'll see what that's like without any extra features.)

Any experience and advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

[Peter Drew]

I have the 6" and 8" XTI, when properly set up the "push-to" is very accurate and a worthwhile asset, particularly for the fainter objects that can be difficult to find using the usual methods. The optics on my models are also very good, I would certainly recommend the XTI series.

[morgoth924]

I have an 8"xti for over 6 years now. Push to works great, Optics are good. I use a rechargeable battery and noticed it has to be fully charged for the sensors to work best. Takes a bit of planning.

[vlebo]

 http://www.scsastro.co.uk/catalogue/orion-skyquest-xt12i-computerized-intelliscope.htm   These are actually good value for money. You get a solid tube which keeps the mirrors clean for longer and less dew problems , same optics as the Skywatcher Flextube as I believe both are manufactured by Synta , plus you get the push to intelliscope system , all for a £100 more than the equivalent aperture Flextube

[dobbie]

You could also save yourself a fair bit , and buy a std skywatcher 8" dobsonian, and stick at wixey for alt and a homemade settings circle , then use your mobile app to find the alt/az of a object , it works just the same ☺

[Scooot]

I used a wixey before getting my push to system. IMO the push to set up is infinitely better in every way which is why it costs more.

[dobbie]

I used a wixey before getting my push to system. IMO the push to set up is infinitely better in every way which is why it costs more.

I can't see the difference they both push to systems , one is homemade the other commercial, I have used my homemade system to beat a goto system on 2 occasions and once you know the sky a little it's way faster than most slowto's that I know

[rowan46]

I can't see the difference they both push to systems , one is homemade the other commercial, I have used my homemade system to beat a goto system on 2 occasions and once you know the sky a little it's way faster than most slowto's that I know

the difference is accuracy a push to system with encoders is more accurate  than a home made scale its not easy to guess a 0.01 of a degree on a home made scale. I do however agree that a wixey, home made scale and wider eyepiece makes finding things a lot less difficult. Some of the home made dobs I have seen with home made encoders are every bit as good as the commercial push to's but a commercial push to system is definitely more accurate and quicker than using home made setting circles. But to answer the op the intelliscope works very well but if I was a bit handy I would go the home made route and save myself a bit of money.    I am a bit of a tightwad and the money saved would go towards some extra glass

[Scooot]

I

I can't see the difference they both push to systems , one is homemade the other commercial, I have used my homemade system to beat a goto system on 2 occasions and once you know the sky a little it's way faster than most slowto's that I know

It's not just the speed and accuracy it's the overall ease in which it aids the overall observing experience.

For example I can display a host of different observing lists on the screen , either my own or the custom lists of sky safari, and just move the scope onto the little blue circle I want to observe. No need to search for the object and look up coordinates

For example the screen below is an observing list I've created of doubles in Perseus and Andromeda showing their positions at 8.30 tonight, the Telrad circles would represent the scope.

A wixey and home made setting circles are a great aid to finding things and many people use them very successfully, but it's not correct to say its the same as a push to system. like many things there are different push to systems with different strengths and weaknesses, I don't know what the intelliscopes are like but I'd be fairly sure they'd be more accurate and user friendly than the wixey etc.

[dobbie]

I see what your saying about the commercial products out there , but a £300 outlay for what is basically the same scope both come from the same stable, against a £600 intelliscope , that's what I can't justify, if I could afford the extra I may well opt for the orion one , but both systems end up at the same result , and with the mobile apps out the now it's no more time consuming then picking from a hand held device , I have used both scopes in the past my homemade system and the intelliscope at the observatory and there are both as accurate as each other , the advantage the orion had is the handset is easy to use in the dark we're as the mobile can sometimes kill your dark adaption if you hit the wrong button , I guess what I am saying is if your can afford the extra for the orion then go for it , it is as Peter said a very good scope , but if your on a budget or from Yorkshire, , then there is the cheaper way.

[Scooot]

Totally agree with that. To some people its worth it and others it's not. Many would argue its better to spend the money on the optics rather than the help in finding things, and why not. I'm just saying its not the same and that's why it costs more.

[todd8137]

I think the said scope is a great one and the electronics ect will do the job, in my eyes there's two types of visual astronomer the learner or the lazy ,

The learner

will learn is way around and will,argue this is the best way to view and might spend a year learning his/her way round the sky

The lazy

will use electronics and will view ten or twenty things a session and that's brill but does not learn were to look or find things and her/he will say it's the best way

Have seen the ten inch version of the orion and it did find things but a real a low power ep was needed to find targets once it was moved to the spot it's your cash and it's a lot of money for a nice big scope .

I hope no one feels offended by the word lazy But what I find is goto type systems do make you lazy I speak from experience my first scope was a. 12" dobsonian reflector I had that baby 3 years and was forced to learn my way round ,I then moved to a 9.25 sct on a cgem mount with excellent goto ,but after a while I was disappointed because I could view any thing at the press of a button and it got boring and at club meets nobody learnt any thing but we did view lots of things

My signature as my current scope