How to make my 8 inch Newtonian into a goto or push to system.

[Guest]

Hello. I enjoy using my 8 inch Newtonian telescope. I have now got to the point where I wish that I could use it as a goto or push to system.

I know that I could go out and buy an HEQ6 goto mount. Very heavy and pricey. I am not keen using Newtonians on equatorial mounts. Are there any innovative ways of achieving this goal.

Celestron once did a pointing device that would identify objects. Some people have tried using mobile telephones to identify objects by attaching them to the telescope

Just wondered what is available. The mount shown in the picture is an Altair Sabre alt/az. Works well. I know that there was talk of encoders for this mount. But I think cost was prohibitive.

[KP82]

An off-the-shelf solution is the Rowan AZ100 with encoders and the Nexus DSC.

Or you could make your own with RPi 4B, RPi HQ camera, a SW 9x50 straight-thru finder and a finder to c mount adapter.

Here are what this home made solution can do (I call mine eFinder):

• Alignment with the main scope. I wrote a short python script to start live stream of the picamera, broadcast it over http and then draw overlay of a reticule on it. The stream can be viewed in the browser on my phone.
• Using Kstars/Ekos on astroberry to perform GOTO with any mounts that are supported in INDI. The accuracy is guaranteed by plate solving. No 2/3 star alignment required.
• Highly accurate PA with Ekos PA assistant
• Plate solving guided Push-to. I attached a GPIO button to the pi and wrote a python script to perform Sync with Kstars through DBus when the button is pressed. The "Sync" moves the crosshair on the star chart in Kstars so I will know where my scope is pointing to and how far it is from the selected target.

One downside of this solution is that the UI is presented through VNC. However there is a promising new app in the playstore called telescope.touch which could replace VNC with a more traditional mobile app UI in the near future.

[AdeKing]

@Alan White uses the same Nexus DSC handset sold with the AZ100 but has an encoder set and fitting kit specific to his OO UK 10" Newtonian, a great system but not exactly cheap.

Cheaper options for that system are the Nexus or Nexus II controllers that don't have a handset and use SkySafari on a smartphone to select targets and see where the scope is pointing.

Omegon also do a cheaper DSC system that @johninderby linked to the other day but I can't find it at the moment.  

[johninderby]

Here you go.

https://www.astroshop.eu/goto-kits/omegon-push-go-standalone-encoder-system/p,55768

[Guest]

Thankyou all for the info. I will give it some serious though now

[Louis D]

I rigged up a mount for my phone on my frac and use SkEye to get me in the ballpark of objects without bright stars nearby.  From there, I can usually find them in the finder scope.