Squagnut

Yeah, the fun thing with Arduinos, etc., is that you get options. I'd start simple, just controlling steppers by a couple of potentiometers on analogue pins to get the basic principles, but this sort of thing can go as far as you let it.

A useful resource is EasyDriver inventor Brian Schmalz's example code page - Click.

Terrible pun! Well, you asked if it's possible! All I can say is that four years ago, I'd have been completely unable to do the things I can do now. I still have my first stepper motor, and I can still make it go! My knowledge of C++ is still pretty scant, but luckily there's a lot of public domain Arduino code online, waiting to be used and adapted. There probably are other ways to run steppers, but this is probably the most accessible way. Some minor geekery is hard to avoid!

I'll look up some helpful websites. There's a massive amount of useful info out there. The arduino site is a good start: http://arduino.cc/

If I have it clear that you'd like to be able to control the RA and Dec stepper motors without needing AstroEQ/EQMOD to be plugged in then ... in short, yes.

If you make another setup which plugs into the motors (i.e after unplugging the AstroEQ box from them), you could easily get a microcontroller + stepper control board to run the steppers at whatever speed you like, governed by e.g. potentiometers (but, by "IR linked", did you mean you'd like to control this with an IR remote? If so, that too can be done). That should do simple tracking. This sort of thing is exactly what Arduinos are good at. It wouldn't be a version of AstroEQ, of course, it would be just a way to control stepper motors.

To run steppers for any significant time can also be very power-hungry, especially those chunky 12v motors, because they're on all the time - they consume ~the same energy staying still as they do moving. You'll need a car battery or power tank or something similar.

I agree that it's very easy to interpret goto ads as if goto is a magical telescope that springs out of the box and eagerly points at stuff. The same as detailed pictures of Jupiter's cloud systems (etc.) are often on chainstore 700x76 packaging.

Fantastic first post. I think it's easy to be a tad overwhelmed or confused when your telescope is choosing for you what you have to find and look at. On the plus side, it's a pertinent reminder that astronomy is a study, and it's an active process. Astronomy is like a sewer - what you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

Excellent list of SynScan goto objects - thanks, that'll be useful. It'd be handy to have a white-on-black version, for night use. I might get on the case.

I must admit that, while I understand where Alan MacRobert is coming from, a more useful piece of advice to give beginners is: astronomy is not the same as telescopy. I felt inclined to get into telescopes because, from photography, I have a fair understanding of practical optics, and also because of the inescapable fact that, to me, observing things is interesting and fun; I spend many cloudy nights using a microscope, not with any notion of discovering something new to science, but with the intent simply to see for myself.