GOTO Telescope

[mikael]

Hi I have a Celestron C6N and I want to upgrade to a telescope of the GOTO variety which I can plug my lap top into but I am unsure as to the best one to get I would be interested in a mid price range I have been looking at the Celestrons but I have not enough knowledge can you advise please

Thanks Mikael48:

[umadog]

Welcome!

What's your budget? What sort of aperture are you looking at getting? What are you observing goals? Will you need to travel to observe? Are you after GoTo because you had trouble finding stuff or is there some other reason?

[mikael]

Hi my budget would be up to £700 I live at the very top of Northern Ireland but with the right scope I would enjoy moving around for better skies more down south and in England where I shall be working next year, I am having problems with the C6N and I want to upgrade to a GOTO to make observing a bit easier and ofcourse take it to another level by being able to connect my lap top

[umadog]

What problems are you having with the scope? Maybe we can help?

IMHO, the laptop thing isn't a great idea. Visual observing with a laptop doesn't work very well because it's hard to dim things to the point where the screen doesn't affect your night vision. You have additional power requirements to worry about, you need to avoid it getting damp, cold weather and laptops don't mix very well, etc, etc. Basically, you will get more done and see more with a star chart. In theory having a laptop in the field would be great but in practice it's a real pain. The only people who do it are imagers and that's because they have to. Tablet computers, etc, don't help much either. Again, they just destroy your night vision.

Have you thought of a "push-to" Dobsonian. You still get an object locator but you also will get larger aperture.

[Omega]

Have you thought of a "push-to" Dobsonian. You still get an object locator but you also will get larger aperture.

Is a "push to" the same as an AUTO or GO TO?

[swamp thing]

Hi

I would echo Umadogs comments. Why bring a laptop unless imaging?

If you are visual only, you would be far better served by keeping things as simple as possible, specially if you wish to be mobile.

Nothing worse than having driven miles to a dark sky for the weekend only to have your trip ruined by flat batteries.

Also as a mobile astronomer the more complicated your kit the less you'll want to use it.

IMO for mobile astronomy (which I love) keep your electrical requirements low and your aperture big. This way you return home very satisfied indeed.

Very little beats large aperture coupled with dark skies.

Regards Steve

[umadog]

Here is a push-to SkyQuest XT8i IntelliScope Dobsonian Telescope | Orion Telescopes

There are no motors so it won't track, but it will tell you where a desired object is located. You push the scope and the hand-controller guides you. Overall, it works pretty well. If you want tracking, though, this isn't a solution.

[Parus major]

I'd imagine those are pretty rare in Northern Ireland, though.

[umadog]

There are UK suppliers: Orion SkyQuest XT8 IntelliScope. - SCS Astro

[Omega]

Thanks for the links umadog. Skywatcher do a similar Dob AUTO for about £100 less though. Do Orion use superior optics?

I've found the Star Walk App on my iphone more than adequate for locating, I actually prefer it to Stellarium!

[umadog]

Optics are the same. You pay extra for the locator stuff. Bearings may be better, but I don't know for sure.

[Parus major]

Add a AZ flashed synscan controller to a Skywatcher Auto and you have a goto, or you can get a bog standard standard and affix a cheap android device to the finder bracket running Skeye or google sky and you have the same deal, and you get to play angry birds during cool down.