Cheat!?

[Astro Imp]

I was just having a chat with my wife over dinner bemoaning the arrival of another cloudy night and mentioned how much I was enjoying my new GOTO scope, having probably seen more in six moths than in the previous six years relying on star hopping.

Quick as a flash her comment "That's cheating." 

And no she hasn't read any of the various threads on the merits of GOTO.

[cloudsweeper]

Well Alan, hopping can be rewarding - especially with a widefield 'scope - but as you say, you get to targets faster and therefore see more with GoTo, so it's not so much cheating as it is enhancement of enjoyment!

Doug.

 

[John]

I don't think it's cheating. It's quicker to find the obscure targets with GOTO I'm sure. I can usually get my manual scopes up and running and have picked of half a dozen better known targets before my astro society have their GOTO's up and running though.

GOTO is just another tool in the arsenal. There to use if you want or to not if you don't

 

[xtreemchaos]

never used mine yet, should give it a go really then I could give a usefull comment , is it voice activated . charl.

 

[iPeace]

Well... 

Yes, you see more. But for me, that's not the point.

With due respect to all, asking a telescope to show me something is too much like watching the telly or browsing the interwebs.

Seeing is great, but finding is at least half of the fun in this pastime.

[Mark at Beaufort]

I can find most Messier objects quite fast without a go to system and I often give a talk using a laser pointing out different constellations and the brighter DSOs. However, there are times when the sky is a bit milky or slightly cloudy when I wish I had a go to mount. I bought a Celestron 5" Nexstar SCT in 1999 and on my first night found Uranus immediately - it was an eye opener. So its not cheating its an extra bonus and sometimes I wish I still had that arrangement.

[LukeSkywatcher]

4 minutes ago, iPeace said:

Well... 

Yes, you see more. But for me, that's not the point.

With due respect to all, asking a telescope to show me something is too much like watching the telly or browsing the interwebs.

Seeing is great, but finding is at least half of the fun in this pastime.

I agree. I have various scopes of different sizes etc. I have an 8" GoTo SCT. I never use the GoTo function. I prefer to hunt for objects myself. I only use the directional buttons for this.

[Knighty2112]

 No, not cheating; it’s called assisting!  

[cloudsweeper]

3 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

I agree. I have various scopes of different sizes etc. I have an 8" GoTo SCT. I never use the GoTo function. I prefer to hunt for objects myself. I only use the directional buttons for this.

Paul - that almost constitutes abuse!  You're doing well to hop with such a small TFOV, I reckon.

Doug.

[Alien 13]

Cheating for me but so is using anything above a 3 inch frac or a 6 inch newt, I would however embrace all the new tech.

Alan 

[DaveS]

As an imager I couldn't be without goto, and the 120 point sky model.

[John]

If I'm searching for an object thats new to me, when I think about the process I go through, I reckon that the research and hunting is around 50% of the enjoyment and the finding and observing the other 50%.

I don't want to do without half the enjoyment of my hobby so paying for the technology to do it and investing the additional set up time each session seems pointless, in my case.

This is definitely a case of "Your mileage WILL vary" though because the way the hobby is enjoyed must differ person to person

I had a decent GOTO mount recently (Celestron AVX) but I have to confess that I skipped through the setup each time I used it and just used the handset to control the motor speeds. I replaced it with a non-GOTO HEQ5 so I can now just switch it on and use it. It runs on D-Cell batteries quite happily for ages as well so I don't need to mess with power tanks etc.

 

[tomato]

I had a go a while back star hopping to objects with a telrad on a 14" Dob and thoroughly enjoyed it, but my main interest is imaging, and exposure time after aligning is precious so it's  Goto every time for me.

Star hopping and viewing on a monitor, is that cheating?

[cloudsweeper]

6 minutes ago, John said:

the way the hobby is enjoyed must differ person to person

 

So true, John!  I do enjoy the occasional hopping session, but GoTo brings the whole thing to life for me.  I'd say the hunt is say 20% of the pleasure, but getting straight on target and enjoying it is 80%.

Doug.

[scarp15]

Very good, cheating the weather is what counts.

[Paul73]

Some love it some hate it. Each to their own....

I do like the chase almost as much as I enjoy the view. You'd be amazed at the objects that you stumble across during a misdirected star hop ? 

For making the best of gaps in cloud or keeping a target in the Fov, I can definitely see the benefit.

If I'm being honest, the technology scares me more than a bit. It is tough to get a technical glitch ruining a session with a manual Dob.

There are loads of very experienced observers who know the sky like the back of their hands, but choose goto.

Cheating? No.

But, would I claim a completed Messier Marathon using GoTo? No way.

Paul

[cloudsweeper]

1 minute ago, scarp15 said:

Very good, cheating the weather is what counts.

You can't cheat it Iain, you just have to shark in when there's a narrow window of opportunity!

Doug.

[Paul73]

13 minutes ago, tomato said:

I had a go a while back star hopping to objects with a telrad on a 14" Dob and thoroughly enjoyed it, but my main interest is imaging, and exposure time after aligning is precious so it's  Goto every time for me.

Star hopping and viewing on a monitor, is that cheating?

Definitely! 

Only joking. It's a case of whatever gives the observer most pleasure. 

It is only when people fail to mention use of such aids in their writeups that I get frustrated.

Paul

 

[Beulah]

Not cheating at all! The amount of time that can be wasted on looking for challenging targets; I can see the best in both. You can get a lot more in the half hour between the clouds then faffing about with star charts, haha..

However, I like to have a mental map of the night sky, learned by the hunt-by-star-hopping and as someone has said already, that can be just as much fun. 

Good job there's something for everyone.

 

 

 

[Richard Hather]

Very interesting thread, my first scope was a 6se goto and I loved it. Until of course I succumbed to aperture fever ? 

1 month later i had a 12” dob no goto but does track objects when found comes in handy that I can tell you.

Anyway back to the point I love hunting my objects down and learning the night sky and all the constellations and stars.

I have no regrets about upgrading to a dob and I can honestly say I don’t really miss the goto but it did show me some lovely objects that’s for sure ?

Conclusion goto has its place just as a dob does if it works for you that’s what matters ?

[John]

15 minutes ago, cloudsweeper said:

So true, John!  I do enjoy the occasional hopping session, but GoTo brings the whole thing to life for me.  I'd say the hunt is say 20% of the pleasure, but getting straight on target and enjoying it is 80%.

Doug.

I think that illustrates my point nicely Doug - having something else point the scope at my chosen target kills the enjoyment, by and large for me

It just becomes a mechanical "production line" of press buttons, whirr, whirr, look, oh yes there it is, on to the next, and the next. Not for me I'm afraid

[Uranium235]

Definitely not cheating, in fact its essential for the imager. Good luck to anyone trying to frame something thats all but invisible to the eye by star hopping...lol.

[ronin]

Would have hoped this topic had died a death years ago, always has the same title, rather insulting in a way.

Does she have sat-nav in her car ? Use a remote for the TV ? Does her phone tell her of a text or email without her specifically lookng if anything has arrived. They are all automatic, and there are many, many others.

[DaveS]

4 minutes ago, Uranium235 said:

Definitely not cheating, in fact its essential for the imager. Good luck to anyone trying to frame something thats all but invisible to the eye by star hopping...lol.

And getting the same alignment over several nights, possibly with meridian flips.

[Stu]

I am more likely to use goto under my skies at home, and manual star hopping when at a dark site. Star hopping is tricky when it is hard to pick out enough stars to hop across, everything is more difficult. Under a dark sky finding stuff is generally much easier.