GOTO SCOPE, advice

[Faye92]

Hi!

Just wondering if anyone has any advice regarding GOTO scopes, I have been looking into them and reading a few reviews here and there and they seem pretty good, definitely something I would like to own!

Do any of you currently own one? Is there any certain ones that you would recommended that are a realistic price range ?

Look forward to hearing from you

[rowan46]

what sort of budget are you looking at and what are you hoping to do with it? I have owned an alt/az goto  they are great for finding things but not really imaging mounts unless you want  to do planetary. If you want to do deep space imaging it needs to be an eq mount preferably an heq5 or similar and above its possible to get some product out of smaller mounts but if you get into imaging you will not stay satisfied with the results

[ronin]

It will be dependant on what you want one to do, how much the available budget is and other bits as well.

Goto's tend to actually be more limited then expected unless you get the mount and then put on it a scope of your choice.

If we ignore ones like the Meade LS6 and LS8 then you have to do some setting up, that I am afraid comes with the system. Another overlooked aspect is that many of the goto's are now 12-15 years old and the feature have to some extent not advanced. They are not a case of the old term Plug and Play, they are not run from a smart phone or tablet unless you go find the right stuff and buy the adaptors if they are available.

Only say this as we have become accustomed to this in many ways.

Probably the easiest is the Meade ETX-80. It assumes very little knowledge of the user, and the setup is easy. The scope is a short achro and the field of view is wide, but you will not get high magnification.

After that it is the SCT and Mak scopes that come into prevalance.

These generally need a bit more care and time to set up, the field of view is narrower and so getting the first object in view can be more hazardous. These scopes are typically the Celestron 4,5,6,8SE and ones like the Skywatcher 127's on the Alt/Az mount.

Another and newer goto is the iOptron series.

They have one called a Cube which is an Alt/Az type mount where the scoipe is attached on the side. You can therefore buy a scope of your liking, within weight limits. But buying mount+scope costs more.

An equitorial mount by iOptron is the SmartEQ. There may be a WO package of this with the Zenithstar 71, but again they come out more costly.

One optiojn is visit a club, no idea where you are, and see what is in use. You will likely find a lot of goto's are used and they are often the 5 or 6 inch ones. Simply a convenient size, to me the "disadvantage" is just the field of view, a 32mm eyepiece helps.

Like every scope there are plus and minus aspects.

[stevend]

My SLT 127 is my first telescope and I am very happy with it. With a little practice it is quick and easy to set up. Great for planets, doubles, lunar and clusters. Ok with some DSOs but DSOs are not its forte. Check FLO for latest prices but mine was c£350. You will need to budget for a power supply and a dewshield (easy to make your own). There are quite a few threads on this and other Gotos in the SGL.

[Astro_Baby]

Depends hugely on your budget - small GoTo systems usually compromise scope size/quality in favour of the GoTo electronics, larger systems cost a lot more.

Bear in mind that GoTo is not a perfect technology and although when set up well it will cut down on the aggro on finding things you still need a good knowledge to get some of the GoTo stuff to work - its not like an iPAD or a DVD player.

Easy systems gto get your head round  include the Celestron SE Series of scopes, more complex systems to master include stuff like the Skywatcher HEQ5/EQ6.

The HEQ5/EQ6 mounts are good BUT you have to remember you still need to learn stuff and getting the best out of some of this kit is a learning experience in itself.

[tjr]

I have owned a SW synscan alt/az and it was very good. Despite it being paired with a Mak 127 with a very narrow FOV it found and pretty much centred objects every time and tracked them well.

It has since been replaced by an AZ4 as I partly felt the scope was on the edge of being under mounted (even with the steel leg version) but mainly because I found that GOTO kind of took some of the fun away from the hobby. For me, knowing the sky and finding my own way around it is where I get a lot of enjoyment from.

In summary, I have found modestly priced GOTO mounts are very capable and I wouldn't say don't do it, but they are not for me.

[ollypenrice]

There is often confusion between motorized tracking and Go To. They are not the same. You can have a motorized mount without Go To but not the reverse.

A Go To motorized mount can be equatorial or alt azimuth. Only equatorials are fit for long exposure deep sky photography but alt azimuths are easier to set up because the mount itself only needs to be level. Equatorials have to be physically aligned on (or rather close to) Polaris. In visual use Alt azimuth is often more convenient once running.

Go To systems are good when you get the hang of them but we see quite a few posts from beginners not finding them dead easy to initialize.

On a limited budget I would always go for optics over electronics. Dozens of Go To scopes will go to targets they have no hope of seeing once they've gone there...

Olly

[NotSoSuperNova]

I have a GOTO set-up and it's great. I must admit I use it mainly for tracking but if I'm having trouble finding something or I want to maximise my viewing time then it's nice and simple to get going. I would say that they are most definitely a luxury item. And you tend to pay for luxury! 

[Jim Steele]

Im a more purist, learning the night sky through literature and reading, and then applying that knowledge to find things on my own. I get great satisfaction from that; thats not to say avoid goto since for some it makes Astronomy much more accesible.

It really depends on what you want, if you want goto for imaging youll need to spend alot of cash since the mount is the foundation of imaging rig. If you want goto for visual, an AZ goto is generally alot cheeper.

The 127 Syncscan is a pretty capable scope.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/maksutov/skywatcher-skymax-127-supatrak.html

But for the same price you can get an 8" Dob, which will 'show' alot more...

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-200p-dobsonian.html

Ben

[PeterCPC]

A GOTO is great when you are trying to find something in a light polluted area and makes life a bit easier. My old CPC was just great and very accurate. My AVX is too but it takes longer if you want accurate Polar alignment.

Peter

[Graham Darke]

Faye,

Look up your local astronomical society and pop along to see them. You will find friendly knowledgable people with all manner of telescopes that most of them will be happy to let you have a good play with. You will be able to see the different kinds of goto scope up close and ask questions.

[Scott]

For me as an imager go-to is a must. Even for visual it's great. I used to tell myself that when doing visual astronomy I prefer to find things myself but if I'm honest with myself, it's because the goto mount is busy so I have no choice . It's each to their own and as mentioned in previous posts, your budget and what you will be doing (visual/dso imaging/planetary imaging) all make a difference to the answer you will get .

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. It's all good fun 

[cotterless45]

Heq5 pro. It's all about the mount, once you've got that you have a choice of what to use on it.

However I would advise learning the skies first. It took me three years before I realized that there was just not the time in our climate ,to spend it searching for new obscure targets,

Nick.

[niallk]

If you're into dobs, a platform for tracking and argo navis becomes something portable/compatible with future scopes (bear in mind weight of a future big dob if purchasing or making a platform). Not go-to but push-to plus tracking... Good for visual anyhoo...

[russ.will]

Hi!

Just wondering if anyone has any advice regarding GOTO scopes, I have been looking into them and reading a few reviews here and there and they seem pretty good, definitely something I would like to own!

Do any of you currently own one? Is there any certain ones that you would recommended that are a realistic price range ?

Look forward to hearing from you

Faye,

I would suggest you look up a local dealer - some require appointments, but don't be put off as I've yet to experience any sort of pressure sell in this hobby - and go and have a look at what's on offer. It is very hard to gauge the size and portability of these things and a demo of what setup is required in the flesh, is worth a thousand words on here.

You also won't end up with a discussion on a beginners budget GOTO morphing into a thread about imaging class mounts and tracking platforms.....

Russell

[NoSiriusly]

I saw this thread a while ago. There's loads of good advice about things to think about. It's quite long but worth a look.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/136314-skywatcher-synscan-goto-what-the-manual-doesnt-tell-you/