Dobsonian ease of use???

[Dill jotter]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and just looking for some advise. I currently have a skywatcher 150mm f/1200 Refractor on an equatorial mount. I'm considering upgrading to

250p or 300p dobsonian however having never used one my main concerns are.

1)How easy a Dob mount is to use.

2) Is it difficult to track objects on a non equatorial mount such as planets, moon.

Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

[todd8137]

hi there i own a SW 300p i now have mastered the art of manual tracking at low and high power its no big deal ,to be honest the views it gives me overides the mount they come on it only takes a few weeks to get the hang of it

[rory]

i dont own one either but ease of use is supposed to be a strong selling point,so theres no problem there.

tracking would require nudging the mount( how often depends on the magnification)

unless you go for a more expensive auto type mount.

im going to get one next year and ive no concerns about ease of use.

but if your wanting to move into photography,then you may need better advice than mine.

[ollypenrice]

Since the Dob just moves right-left, up-down it is entirely intuitive to move. The rate at which you have to track is related to magnification, as above. At 50 to 80 times you hardly need to touch it. By 200x it is getting more exacting. Widefield eyepieces with large apparent fields of view are nicest in manually tracked mounts because you get longer between pushes.

Olly

[umadog]

They're easy to use and fast to set up. You'll have no problems in this regard.

[Dill jotter]

Thanks for the info has put my mind at ease.

[Orion_the_Hunter]

When I got a 200p Dob, here's what I wrote. A lot of it is anout ease of use.

http://stargazerslounge.com/member-equipment-reviews/132996-skywatcher-skyliner-200p-8-dob.html

HTH

[tony4563]

As a purely visual astronomer, buying a Dob was one of the best moves I ever made. Decent aperture in a very easy to use package.

I never really got on with an EQ mount, for some reason.

Counterweights and drive motors? Err..No thanks, not for me. (God bless the AZ4 )

I just aim and view what I want to see now. A gentle nudge keps me in the frame till I speedily move on to my next target.