To wait or not to wait..that is the question!

[paulhutch]

Well guys I have ordered it. The 300P 12 inch Dob with the auto function. Should be here Tuesday. Took your advice (some of your advice) and paid that little bit extra. Thought for the kids it would come in handy. George is only 6 so we will have to devise a viewing platform for him now. Next project is turning either an old aluminium framed greenhouse or old shed in to the observatory. Thanks again. Paul

[great_bear]

Exciting times ahead.

It will be good to hear how you got on...

[palatine]

nice work fella!... ;-)

[paulhutch]

Exciting times ahead.

It will be good to hear how you got on...

I shall be letting you all know how I get on with it. Exciting times indeed, now let us hope for a nice clear winter ahead. Thanks again everyone.

Oh and Palatine, I have been reliably informed that once you have 50 posts under your belt the 'second hand/pre owned section' opens up, so maybe that's the way forward for the AP set up.

[Rols]

Did anyone point this one out to you, as advertised by FLO today!!!

http://stargazerslounge.com/sponsor-announcements-offers/158760-pre-owned-skywatcher-300p-flextube-dobsonian.html#post1976437

[paulhutch]

Did anyone point this one out to you, as advertised by FLO today!!!

http://stargazerslounge.com/sponsor-announcements-offers/158760-pre-owned-skywatcher-300p-flextube-dobsonian.html#post1976437

Always the case but to be honest I'd pretty much set my heart on the auto, so no good really. Thanks

[great_bear]

You'll not regret paying more for the auto - especially with guests or children taking turns at the eyepiece...

[paulhutch]

You'll not regret paying more for the auto - especially with guests or children taking turns at the eyepiece...

Like I've said in an earlier post (somewhere), I don't mind spending money, I just don't like wasting it. Listening to all your advice prompted me to get the auto for the exact reasons you have said. Mum and Dad are pushing 70's and the kids are in single figures, so whilst I don't anticipate having a 'nudging' issue they will. I like to do my research in advance of a major purchase and I envisage keeping the Dob for many many years to come. Hopefully on cloudy nights I can keep asking for advice off you lot for a whole host of things. Thanks again. Paul

[palatine]

Can i ask a question regarding auto and goto setups?...

Juat how accurate are they for keeping objects in the middle of the eyepiece? say on the planets using a 10mm EP? sorry to hijack hutch but thought you'd be interested in the answer too..

ps cant wait to see your scope when i get back off my hols.

[great_bear]

a question regarding auto and goto setups: Just how accurate are they for keeping objects in the middle of the eyepiece?

It varies massively.

An EQ mount set-up for tracking/goto can be essentially perfect at all normal magnification levels, assuming everything is set up perfectly - which it rarely is!

I don't know about AZ GOTO, but AZ AUTO ("tracking-only") tends to be "OK-ish" rather than perfect, because - unlike its AZ GOTO counterpart, it has no alignment data; it simply assumes that you've accurately pointed it towards north, and also assumes that you have got it levelled properly.

And when it comes to levelling, I think most bubble-levels are nowhere near accurate enough for long-time tracking...

However, for the most part it doesn't really matter - with the arrow keys you just "nudge" AZ AUTO systems about every 15 minutes under imperfect alignment. For reference, the Astronomy Now review of the 250PX version of the FlexTube AUTO said: "The tracking kept Saturn in the eyepiece view of a 12mm Plossl for a good hour."

[Moonshane]

not sure about the auto dobs but assuming it's as accurate as my home made equatorial platform then I can observe at around 200x for about 10-15 mins at least before it slowly drifts out. if I spent more time setting up I could improve this.

In practice I just nudge it a bit every now and again to re-centre.

[listy]

Yeah if you have the cash GOTO is great.