sky max 127goto auto sync

[darc]

I am thinking of getting the above scope looking for advice, I have just sold my 130p so I am

Looking for next scope I am disabled and am now spending more time in wheelchair, I would love a scop I could operate from my pc with one one of the many programs available.

I have abuot £400 and woud hope I can improve on the 130 p

Geoff

[ronin]

If it is an Alt/Az goto then you should be able to do it, quite a few of thease are controlled from a laptop.

You would need to get something like Stellarium, a club near me uses Sky6 I believe but you buy that. However if it is easier and works better it may be worth considering. Will also say that the scopes used are on piers. Means the start position is fixed day to day which cannot be guaranteed if the scope is on a tripod.

If the scope is a Mak then the view is narrow so alignment is more painful to accomplish, best be aware of that now as I expect that your first attempts to align will result in failure. It did when I swapped scopes.

Suggest that you put a similar question in the equipment section, one under whole setups and one under software asking much the same. This didn't get much response and yet I know that driving a scope from a laptop is possible and reasonably normal. You need the right information before commiting.

[cantharis]

Until recently I owned a Celestron 4SE Maksutov-Cassegrain GOTO - which I eventually sold for more aperture. It was a success right from the start - my very first attempt at alignment worked, and that very first session I saw Uranus for the first time ever. I could never find any planet past Saturn on my own. I say Go For It !!

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'll give another vote for the Celestron SE range of scopes. I am in a weheelchair also and i use the 8SE. I dont use it connected to a computer though so i cant comment on that aspect of it.

[Pauln]

I recently got the AZ Mak 127, have only used it a couple of times so far and am getting the hang of alignment. It does work with Stellarium, although I had to buy a USB to RS232 converter to plug the cable into my laptop, this was a few pounds from eBay.

[breezy]

I have a mak 127 goto and its the bees knees mate

[darc]

Thanks peeps I appreciate all your help I will keep asking more questions.

Geoff

[breezy]

Bees knees is a bit short of info really ,

I havnt had much trouble aligning it( except I really need a right angle finder or a red dot).

By not extending the legs fully and using a sandbag on the equipment tray the vibration when focussing has been halved( still waiting for a peanut butter lid to try that mod),

And recently Jupiter was rather spectacular so yeah it's fine for me