Dobs, auto and goto

[Captain Caveman]

Still trying to get my head around all the different types of scopes and mounts and electronics, and where the costs are going to in buying prices

For a 200 or 250 dob, is it still reasonably easy to find obecjts that you want to find, assuming you can read charts and want to learn constellations - which I do as I see it as a fundamental of astronomy, not an extra

How easy is it to track objects with a manual dob and what exactly is the basic AUTO feature on the skywatcher dobs and is it any good?

Do you have to do any form of alignment to use the Auto function? What is involved with the Goto on the SW Dobs and if you choose not to use the Goto feature is it still easy to manouvre the scope manually?

I am still quite suprised that the GOTO feature and motors dont add more to the price of a scope than they do, as to me it seems a very fancy bit of electronics

[DOBBY]

The Go-To can be set-up on brightest star.. or 2 star same as on the HEQ5pro...without the motors on... easy-peasy next doors 8 yr old uses mine

[twotter]

I have a manual dob and when it comes to tracking a target I think there are two ways of doing it, either 'nudging' or 'drifting'.

Nudging is simply making small adjustments to keep the target in view. Quite literally a gentle nudge to the telescope. It's simple and intuitive, and can be done at lower and higher magnification with a little practice. It takes longer to explain than it does to do

Drifting is watching your target move across the field of view, then making a slightly bigger adjustment to move it back to the side of the view so you can watch it drift across again. Again this is simple and intuitive and is the way I like to observe at lower magnification. Wide field of view eyepieces make this easier

Having said that there are some who prefer manual dobs, some who prefer Autos, and some that prefer Goto. The great thing is we are all right

[Captain Caveman]

How does the Auto track if its not on an equatorial mount?

[swamp thing]

Hi Cavey

As you can see in my sig I have two Dobs with a third under construction. All these are manual.

One of the chief benefits of the Dob mounting is, the way in which it moves. It doesn't move along axis like other mounts so can be pushed/pulled directly across the sky in whichever direction is required.This makes star hopping with a Dob very easy indeed.

Tracking manually some find easy, others struggle with, this could be down to only having used budget Dobs. Obviously they don't move as nicely as the premium ones. Some of the premium Dobs move so smoothly and well, that ridiculous magnification is well within the capabilities of most amateurs.

I have read of people using 600x and above power and tracking with ease.

I have used the 16" Skywatcher Goto Dob and the Goto was very nice indeed. TBH it didn't move as nicely manually as my 16". This could be just down to the different make though, or perhaps the owner didn't balance it as carefully as I did mine.

This was last autumn and even though the Goto facility was a novelty to me (and worked faultlessly) it didn't convince me to invest in this system. I still opted for optics with my next upgrade

I am not knocking the Skywatcher Goto system, far from it, it was truly excellent and I heartily recommend it if you are in the market for one.

Regards Steve,

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[wulfrunian]

Hi Cavey,

It's an interesting question and one I've been thinking over recently, as it's been a long time since I did any observing, and I'm really wanting to get back into it.

In answer to your question about the difference - both the auto and the goto need aligning, and both obviously need a power source to drive the motors. With the auto, you still find the object yourself, but then the scope will track automatically. Goto will find the object from the handset's database. The goto isn't really designed for manually finding things, though you can move it large distances manually to give the motors less to do when they slew.

I used to have a manual skywatcher dob. I didn't use it all that much, because I don't have stacks of spare time, but it did get used, and it's a great scope. I then decided to do an upgrade to a goto dob with the same size mirror. Took it out and gave it first light, the goto worked fine. Unfortunately it hasn't actually been used since. I thought I'd use it more, as I wouldn't be spending the time finding objects. Instead, with the limited time I've got, I've found that even though it's not complicated or difficult to set up, I just don't want the faff of setting it all up, and I actually miss the chase of looking and star hopping! I'm now thinking of changing back again to re-ignite my enthusiasm.

The moral is a well worn saying, but nevertheless very very true - no matter what kind of scope you think you'd really like, the best one is the one that you'll use. As someone said, every option is a right option, you need to decide what's right for you

[todd8137]

HI ,well it takes a few weeks to get used to a dob mount ,but after a few goes its not a prob easy goto is ok my "grab and go " is a goto and its easy to use you can down load a chart that shows all constellations and the align stars it is a tough decision to make ,and when you do choose that's it

if you think you want a 200p go for the next model up as upgrades are a hassle

the auto track works ok me and Clive had fun with his 200p auto track ,and yes you can manually turn it by hand with no probs it will track but not for images ,well the moon and planets are good with the auto track deep space am not sure cos we never tried we did have the web cam in till the laptop died and we,well Clive did get some great footage to stack

and as you say its a fancy bit of electronics that bumps the price up,but the auto track appeals to some people and not to other its not essential and the cash could be spent on other stuff eye pieces and a couple a filters its a killer choice and took me ages i just went for a manual 300p sky watcher best decision i made

let us no what you get