goto vs dob

[amyscott]

hi there , im looking to upgrade my telescope and i have questions i hope you all can answer

1. can a goto type of scope be moved around the sky manually and are they worth the extra money

2. for the same money you can get a bigger dobsonian so which in your opinion is best

im choosong either as ive finally had enough of eq mounts

many thanks

[nicnac]

if you have had enough of EQ then thats says to me that you aint that bothered on taking pictures, you like to observe, like me

you cant beat aperture!

my own opinion of GOTO is, well, not much to be honest, waste of cash if you ask me, grab a 10" dob and some quality EPs

whats your budget, if you dont mind me asking?

[amyscott]

im looking for about 300-500 pounds

[nicnac]

hmm

lets see what we can spend for you

[nicnac]

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Skyliner 200P Dobsonian

First Light Optics - Celestron X-Cel LX eyepiece

these are the first that come to mind, the 8" dob is a fine alrounder and ive been very impressed with the x-cel LX in my f5

you could get the 10" dob and get EPs as and when if you wanted bigger

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-skyliner-250px-dobsonian.html

[Nexus 6]

Go To is not a waste of cash to some of us amy, just a way of doing things differently for many reasons and you can get a large aperture Go To instrument if funds allow, just my thoughts. Regarding moving one manually its possible and I have done it using my cpc 925 on occasion.

Good luck with your choice which ever you decide on.

[nicnac]

hi Alan

i did point out it was only in my own opinion, learning the sky and navigating it by eye and hand is good enough for me (being an observer)

[Matthew]

Hi amy i wouldnt rush into anything,i bought my dob second hand for your budget.Have you used a dob before?GOTO can be very handy,especially if your observing time is limited and you want to finds things quickly.

[great_bear]

Regarding moving one manually its possible

Well... Not always... Depends on the mount.

1) The big go-to dobs can be pushed around by hand without losing alignment.

2) You can loosen the clutches on an EQ-go-to to move it by hand - but you would lose alignment

(although sometimes it's worth it )

3) The Sky-Watcher tripod-based AZ Gotos cannot be moved by hand.

In all cases however, you can move the scope electrically with arrow keys - i.e. you don't have to choose a target to get from "a" to "b" - naturally however, this is nowhere near as fast or convenient as swinging the scope into position by hand.

[Nexus 6]

hi Alan

i did point out it was only in my own opinion, learning the sky and navigating it by eye and hand is good enough for me (being an observer)

of course mate , we all know it is a topic that some do have a strong opinion on, btw I will be collecting an 8" SW dob very soon myself, think I should be able to find my way around now

[Nexus 6]

I did say using my cpc 925 bear.

[great_bear]

- it was for clarification for the OP, that's all

[Nexus 6]

Ye your right, I should have made it clearer, its something I wished I could have had when I had my Nexstar 6se

[damnut]

Hi Amyscott,

If you have had enough of eq's then a dob is for you. As far as goto goes (!) I have a 10"Lx which I often use as alt az without hooking up all the cables. If I have it levelled, aligned then goto maximises your viewing time and the control over the object in the ep is excellent.

I also have a couple of refractors both on AZ4's, but if its apperture you want you cannot go wrong with the dob, which if you choose carefully you could upgrade to goto at a later time.

Good luck with your choice.

[JamesM]

At the end of the day its all about what you can see. No point in allocating some of the budget for GOTO if the remaining budget only gets your a smaller aperture. Goto for me is great but the scope must come first otherwise it defeats the object of the exercise. The dobsonian is by far the best bang for your buck and if observing is your thing, it will be a very happy marriage. An 8" dob is the minimum from which you start to resolve sufficient detail to make observing interesting but the 10" would be my choice, as it will show you just that bit more but is not sufficiently bulky if you need to transport it to a dark site etc.

One extra thing regarding finding objects with a dob. Later on, I would certainly consider getting a Telrad finder which will take you to the right part of the sky very quickly. Then I would consider a right angled optical finder to help you close in precisely to the spot you're after leaving you to enjoy the view at the eyepiece. Straight through finders in my view will quickly give you neck ache and of course they present an image that is upside AND back to front. The right angled finder helps with the viewing position and only presents a back to front view which at least gives you one less consideration when matching the sky with your star map. Admittedly the Telrad (which can be mounted on two choices of raised brackets) will do most of the work. These two can be purchased later but in my view they will genuinely make a significant difference in your ability to find chosen objects.

James

[todd8137]

i have a goto and my daughter loves it shes 12 and does not want to learn her way around she likes the goto feature,

me go for a big dob

[kniclander]

the other great thing about a dob is that there is zero set up time -you just drag it out the shed/ house/ cellar and start looking through it (although it's only fair to say that there is a cooldown time if you keep it in the house).

I'd add that you can get a fully corrected image right angled finder which I've found invaluable. Also, with a bit (ok a lot) of practice, you can just point the scope at a star accurately enough for it to be within the finder FOV most of the time so a telrad might not be necessary (but lost of people swear by them).

for your budget I'd say it's a no brainer cos you'd be at the plinky-plink end of goto scopes whereas you could get a lovely big bright beautiful dob and a really good eyepiece:)

[jbk44]

Do what i did and get a nice big dob, then invite a experienced astronomer out to a dark site and use them as your goto! haha.

I did have a goto, but i have way more fun with my big cheap light bucket.

[damnut]

Good thinking jbk44 but have found that accuracy dwindles during the second bottle of red!! :-).

[jbk44]

Haha damnut too true!

invite a sober experienced astronomer

[onesmallstep]

Hi

For visual observing go for the Dob as you get the extra aperture and ease of use. With a GOTO the money goes on the tech, not the aperture.

[onesmallstep]

Just found this post. Don't want to put you off GOTO but...

http://stargazerslounge.com/astro-lounge/158524-gotta-goto-but-still-cant-goto.html#post1974004

[swamp thing]

Hi Amy

Whilst it would be very easy for me to say "get the biggest Dob you can manage/afford", I notice that your interests state Planets first then clusters and DSO (by which I gather you mean Nebula and Galaxies) last.

Planets often respond better to good optics rather than big optics, and high contrast objects like clusters are the same.

I very rarely observe planets with gusto and they are definitely well down my list of observing priorities, so a big Dob is ideal for me, but if you put planets first, and spend a great deal of time observing them, then a driven mount would probably suit you better IMO.

I think the location and observation of minor and telescopic Planets is where Goto really excells. If this was where ny interest lay I would seriously consider it.

In short I would make certain you get the right scope to suit what type of observing YOU do.

Good luck with your choice.

Regards Steve

[Cjg]

I have both. A 10" Dob (with the intelliscope) and a small 102 GoTo.

The view from the 10" is far brighter than with the small refractor, BUT, there are places that I observe from where I use public footpaths to reach, that I could not carry the Dob to.

The Goto whilst lighter and more portable also requires power, I'm currently using hi capacity Ni MH batts, but more seasoned users would suggest a power pack....

The tracking feature on the goto is great, when you've aligned the scope you can centre the object in your eyepiece and set the tracking - for me that means I can go inside, make a cup of tea etc and come back out to find the object still centered in the fov

The dso's look far better in the dob though my advice would be to visit a club / society and have a look through to see what you get.

Good luck,

Chris

[Donkeiller]

If you have a dark sky then a Dob is probably the way forward.

If, however, you don't then a Dob is a waste of time and space. Get a "goto"

and you will actually be able to see something!