Go To accuracy

[AlistairHowie]

I've been looking at the the yet-to-be-released Meade LX80 mount thinking it might be the mount to buy, but then came across a comment on another forum saying the go-to pointing precision of approx. 10 arcminutes is disappointing. I was just wondering if others concurred with that statement, and what might it mean in real life on an 8" SCT with a standard 40mm (50x) EP? If you do a reasonably decent alignment, might a selected object not be in the EP when using Go-To?

Also, in looking at the sales blurb, I then read a specification which said "pointing precision (high-precision mode) - up to 5 arcminutes".

What does that second statement about pointing precision relate to, and does it mitigate the 10 arcminutes go-to accuracy, if that is considered poor?

Many thanks.

[Merlin66]

With x50 you should have a FOV around 1 degree, 60 min of arc.

If the GOTO is "Within" 10 mins, I'd say the object would definately be in the FOV.

The hi -precision mode is usually where you find a nearby object ( say within 5-10 degrees) and then re-sync to that object - the remaining goto then increments from that object...less distance to travel, less error.

HTH

[AlistairHowie]

Thanks, Merlin. So it seems like the 10 arcminutes spec. isn't that bad ... or is it way less than you would expect from other go-to mounts?

[Merlin66]

I can get that sort of accuracy easily from my observatory setup with the NEQ6pro.

[AlistairHowie]

So .... that means you consider 10 arcminutes to be not so great because your NEQ6pro can easily achieve that (and by inference, better than that)? Sorry to be thick, just wanting to make sure I understand. For a mount not as capable/expensive as yours, would you consdier 10 arcminutes to be reasonable/typical?

Thanks again.

[Merlin66]

I can't speak for others experience....

I was using a 12" Meade Lx200 on a wedge for many years and getting similar results.

I think it comes down to the polar alignment and the syncronisation process.

10 arc min is workable; it would definately bring the target object well within your eyepiece.

HTH

[Tinker1947]

The "High Precision " mode on a Meade works for DSO's once the Mount is aligned it will then when asked to go find say M31, pick a bright Star nearby the DSO and move to that Star, you then center that Star press enter and it moves to the DSO, the DSO then being in the centre of the FOV.

[AlistairHowie]

Understood, thank you both. So it's not a deal breaker then. I'm still very interested in the LX80 mount! As I said in my OP, some had made comments that the accuracy was poor and they would have expected better in a new mount. That's their opinion, but clearly it still works well and does what it says on the tin ... which is good enough for a complete newbie like me.

Thanks again.

[Tinker1947]

It worked very well with my Meade LT-6, not had time to compare to a NEQ6 Pro been a bit cloudy since its arrival...