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Go-To Set Up and Use?


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Hmm.... some people love them and others won't go near them.

I have to say that I can see the advantage of learning the sky by star-hopping but when I am doing A.P. having goto is a godsend. I get to spend more time imaging and less time hunting for what I am trying to photograph. Every second counts in this country 'cos you never know when the next bank of cloud is going to park right above your head. :grin:

Tony

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No problems with mine - just added the GPS unit to it and that has improved the alignment and set up time. Real benefit is if you are moving scope to different sites

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No problems with mine, telrad to make star alignment easier put correct time etc in QED. If I'm not feeling lazy and there is plenty of clear sky FAL :lol: I can turn it off, sky hop and track object when (read if) I've found it, but I really appreciate its convenience when trying to cram observing into limited time available. Just another tool in the box.

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I would not be without mine & glad i opted for it, you could always turn it off & do 'manual' :-), once setup it's a godsend for finding objects nice & quickly especially for my children (that's what i'm saying anyway), i guess if your not into imaging as such then a manual one might be the way to go & spend the money saved on some accessories or bigger glass. I also enjoy using my bino's for viewing as well as the GoTo. Good luck deciding :smiley:

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The onlyinitial issue I had with my Meade LT8 Goto was knowing if it was actually pointing near the star it said it was aligning to but solved this with Google Sky and now with more experience can setup in 5mins. It doesn't have GPS so you align it to North level the scope (compass and bubble included with scope) tell it the time and location and off it goes.

Chris

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Well, from what I read on this and other sites, go-tos get a lot of complaints but it's usually about setting up. So am I correct to assume this may be caused by the operating manual not being clear enough or have enough details on setting up?

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I found the operating manuals clear enough. Had both the Nexstar and the EQ6 setup and working on the first go. The Nexstar is no more complicated than setting the timer on your microwave. Plunk it down, level it, give it the time and location both easily gotten from your smart phone, aim it to a couple of stars for alignment and off you go. Does not take more than a few minutes. Same goes for polar aligning a GOTO equatorial mount. This is not a complicated procedure and once done sky alignment is a doddle.

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Easy to set up and easy to use.

Most problems are people getting data wrong and being 110% sure that they haven't. Best of this was someone who had swapped Lat and Long but was adament for 3 weeks they had everything correct.

Also read posts where the person has not actually understood that there is a set up, so they stand the scope on the ground and expect it to go to an object.

Others I have read perform the alignment, then pick the scope up and move it to see around a tree and then wonder why it doesn't operate correctly afterwards.

One person had problems as they had fiddled the timezone so that when DST was Yes they could say No and the moved timezone took care of it. OK that was until DST was actually Off (No) as they couldn't take that into account.

Several times I read posts that say there is nothing in the manual/instructions, so I look at the Meade/Celestron/Skywatcher support site and there in the instruction manual on Page NN is exactly what the person says does not exist.

The worst thing about goto's is often the human operator. :grin: :grin: :grin:

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My goto is easy and fun. I enjoy zipping around the sky, swapping out alignment stars, grabbing an extra alignment star for extra-accurate local goto, or just aligning on a planet and getting good-enough tracking for fuss-free planetary observing.

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I like my iOptron minitower go-to. Dead easy to use anywhere with its inbuilt gps. Solid, well made and reliable and accurate. Great easy sync to target function too. Love it! Never really got on as well my with nexstar goto though - never got it do a three star align, but it seems ok on a two star - as Ronin posted above though, I think the problem is with this user though :). Not tried the skywatcher system, but I guess its similarly easy?

I often just observe with my fully manual eq5 though, but I like the goto for checking new things, or if I want to spend a long time on one object.

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I use the GoTo on my imaging rig (NEQ6) mainly to save time when trying to find and centre something, that is too faint to see visually, on a very small chip area. I wouldn't be without it now. I found it intuitive to use. The first alignment star is normally a few degrees off, but I have a Rigel QuickFinder fitted so it only takes a few seconds to get it in the right area. I have had a couple of times when it went off in the wrong direction for no apparent reason, but a quick re-sync / re-centre and all was well. Most complaints seem to boil down to operator error or biased opinion from the anti-GoTo lobby.

I don't use GoTo for observing though. I mainly use a manual 10" Dobsonian with a second Rigel and 9x50 RACI optical finder, and star hop to the objects I want to view. It is not that I particularly enjoy the challenge of finding objects by starhopping, I just don't feel any need to use GoTo for observing. If it is bright enough to see, it is bright enough to find :)

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Just over a year ago i spent 2K on a Celestron 8se Go-to scope and to this day i rarely use the Go-To function. I use the up/down/left/right keys on the keypad to get me to where i want to go.

Aligning the scope is simple.If i use it to track objects, i do a simple solar system alignment (a planet or the moon).

Old habits die hard and honestly if you dont have Go-To..................you dont need it and will not miss not having it.

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Having previously owned a manual Dob, I find with GOTO I spend more time observing and less time messing about.

I do appreciate the value of learning the geography of the sky tho', so try to supplement the scope with some binocs to get a better idea of the vicinity I'm in.

It is great though when a DSO gently glides into the centre of the EP.....just sit down and marvel.

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Old habits die hard and honestly if you dont have Go-To..................you dont need it and will not miss not having it.

I don't have goto, but I want it and when I decide which mount to go far, then I'll have it.

I may even read the manual too :)

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I have just bought a EQ5 SYNSCAN mount with my telescope, my first thought are - the manuals cover every mount other than mine.

The setup would have been a straight forward process, but it looks like my mount is faulty. I hope to update this post once i have had my problem resolved.

:sad:

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A bit of a learning curve to start off with - but I was getting to grips with astronomy and scopes in general - but after you've aligned a couple of times, it's pretty easy to nail in a couple of minutes. Have to say I learned more from feedback from everyone in here than I did from Celestron/SW's manuals :cool:

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My first go-to was the Celestron Nexstar which after a sticky first session where I had the latitude and longitude values the wrong way round I found to be easy to set up and accurate. Second was another Nexstar this time with GPS and this was even easier to set up and just as accurate. I always three star aligned and this probably helped with accuracy, both were altazimuth. I currently have an EQ5 with Synscan and again easy to set up and accurate, I use this mount with my 102mm refractor.

For me go-to helped get me started and allowed me to see objects I did not have the ability to find. I now like the go-to on my small scope but really enjoy the hunt and satisfaction of finding objects myself with my dob. Best of both worlds and why not :)

Dave

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Just over a year ago i spent 2K on a Celestron 8se Go-to scope and to this day i rarely use the Go-To function. I use the up/down/left/right keys on the keypad to get me to where i want to go.

Aligning the scope is simple.If i use it to track objects, i do a simple solar system alignment (a planet or the moon).

Old habits die hard and honestly if you dont have Go-To..................you dont need it and will not miss not having it.

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but LukeSkywatcher I too am in Ireland (in Belfast actually, so a little further North) and am thinking of getting the same OTA as yours, a C8, only on a HEQ5 Pro Synscan mount instead. I was just wondering though, how bad have you found the issue of dew here on the Emerald Isle? Do you get by with a dew shield or have you had to use dew heater strips?

Ok, back on topic now guys!

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