how do i use setting circles for a dobsonian

[tsmith001]

Hi

I am a newcomer to Astronomy

I have bough ta sw 200p dobby.

However to help in finding objects I wanted to use setting circles.

I have read the thread by mike -h which was very useful but i have one question.

Once I have identified the object with coordinates from stellarium how do i align the telescope .

Do I just find the object and move the telescope to the setting circle coordinate?

Any help appreciated

many thanks

[UHF]

I was told that the setting circles are too small to be of any use. I've just been finding my way around by star hoping and good use of the finder and a telrad.

Sent from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of betelgeuse.

[UHF]

If you want to try, find a known object, set your circles to those coordinates then move the scope to the coordinates of what you want to see.

Sent from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of betelgeuse.

[brantuk]

The AZ setting circle of a 200P dob is very large and very useable. You'll need a Wixey magnetic angle guage for the altitude setting and you'll be surprised at how accurate the whole system is. It's a teriffic pointing combination.

Just take the Alt and Az readings from Stellarium or Cartes du Ciel - set the circle pointer to the azimuth reading and move the tube in altitude till you get the alt reading on the wixey, and the object will be there in a wide angle low power eyepiece (25mm+).

Thoroughly recommended - you'll find stuff faster than a goto lol

[dtr42]

hi guys/ gals

was wondering if a compass set in the base would work rather than the setting circle [which would need to be adjusted everytime you set your dob up with polaris [or true north ] whereas the compass always point's at north [if you know how to use them ] and you can read the scale easily along with a wixi

[LukeSkywatcher]

I have an EQ mount on one of my scopes and for me the setting circles really are just there for decoration.

For my DOB (Heritage 130P), i dont have any setting circles to worry about (not that i ever worry about them) but i do have a Wixey. I have a pretty good sense of direction, but a rubbish sense of just how high up objects are. The Wixey helps me determine this so i can then refer to Stellarium to identify objects i see with the DOB.

My other scope is Go-To, so i dont have to worry about anything. It tells me what i am looking at.

[BAZ Senior]

You might find the steel tube of the scope may affect the accuracy of a compass, but also a compass does not have the size of scale to be useful enough getting you to an object.

[dtr42]

You might find the steel tube of the scope may affect the accuracy of a compass, but also a compass does not have the size of scale to be useful enough getting you to an object.

never thought of that:o was thinking more digital compass [not as cheap as a setting circle but pretty accurate

[UHF]

Ah my bad, I have the eq mount, guess it doesn't apply to the dob, sorry

Sent from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of betelgeuse.

[tsmith001]

If you want to try, find a known object, set your circles to those coordinates then move the scope to the coordinates of what you want to see.

Sent from a planet somewhere in the vicinity of betelgeuse.

thanks for the advice

[brantuk]

"Ah my bad, I have the eq mount, guess it doesn't apply to the dob, sorry"

No probs - others will benefit from the advice.

Unfortunately the eq setting circles won't be accurate enough to be of much use - beter to use a telrad and/or raci and practise star hopping (possibly with a star chart).

[Moonshane]

the need for a pc/laptop is one of the reasons I never bothered with setting circles - prefer my book.

[stevetynant]

You dont need a lap top get the coordinates off your phone and point in the direction is easy and quick using seeing circles on a dob but you do have to polar align to start off with which takes seconds

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Moonshane]

good point although I am not a fan of mobiles either. I only have one as my wife regularly casts them off! In reality, I can star hop to within a degree or so of most targets very quickly using a map and my finders/wide field eyepiece.

as with all things it's a matter of find your own way and refine it

[rwilkey]

Who can read setting circles in the dark, especially on an EQ5? They sound better on the Dob. I prefer star charts and star-hopping.

[stevetynant]

Who can read star charts in the dark lol

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk

[Moonshane]

ha ha anyone with a red torch?

[Tribal-Wolf]

I think the mobile phone apps for android are really good. I think that if someone brings out a phone holder for scopes it will be a popular buy. I use google sky, skeye and star chart. The drawback is the writing is quite small so a screen magnifier like they used to have on the old gameboys would work well too.

[ismangil]

I just use a phone holder designed for the car.

I do have a rocker box around my OTA, so I can velcro the holder there, and the wood seems to shield the phone and SkEye doesn't complain.

Pretty accurate too, tested in SGL7 by Mark the Galaxy Hunter!

Perry on mobile (so blame strange words on text prediction!)