GoTo kits

[aust202]

Just wondering how the GoTo kits actually work, for example if you wanted it to track the moon, do you have to imput its co-ordinates? I know the basic working of them is to obviously move the mount and track objects but just wondered if anyone could shed some light on the workings and how you get them to track

Thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

The handset has a built in model of the stars / celestial objects onto which is mapped the real sky ( star alignment ) . When the mount then slews to a selected object , ie the moon, the handset knows the ra and Dec coordinates of the target and also where the telescope is pointing when the command was issued. From there the handset knows where to direct the telescope. Once the telescope has reached the target coordinates the mount then returns back to normal tracking mode. If you want the mount to slew to a target that is not in its database you can input the coordinates manually.

[ottUp]

Here's an introductory article about go-to systems.

- Richard

[S.A.M]

Great artilce

[aust202]

Great read thanks