GOTO Mount for Heritage 150p

[Goose0211]

What are your thoughts on the StarDiscovery150i @ScouseSpaceCadet - pre doing your mods!

Looks to be a sensible option 'swapping' to this. One question - do you need to align the goto each evening or time you go out or are they clever enough to 'remember' the alignment?  I'd have to store this in with the OTA off the GOTO mount and tripod after each use so wondering how much setup id need to do each time I use it.

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

18 hours ago, Zermelo said:

Was that with the Star Discovery, Stu? I didn't know that was possible (unlike the AZ-GTi).

Hi, yeah , i used the weight arm because i was at the time using celestron 102 mak , which has a fixed dovetail ...the trouble with the star discovery is that the scope has to be mounted on the left side whereas the 102 celestron had to be mounted on the right ( it has a non rotatable 90 degree eyepiece holder ) .. it actually worked really well . 

Edited September 22, 2021 by Stu1smartcookie

[Stu1smartcookie]

34 minutes ago, Goose0211 said:

What are your thoughts on the StarDiscovery150i @ScouseSpaceCadet - pre doing your mods!

Looks to be a sensible option 'swapping' to this. One question - do you need to align the goto each evening or time you go out or are they clever enough to 'remember' the alignment?  I'd have to store this in with the OTA off the GOTO mount and tripod after each use so wondering how much setup id need to do each time I use it.

 

You certainly need to do a North level alignement , at least , everytime you set up but it takes 5 minutes ... the beauty of the 150i scope is i believe it has a fixed primary mirror which means it rarely need collimating . ( although its a good skill to learn ) 

 

[Zermelo]

42 minutes ago, Goose0211 said:

do you need to align the goto each evening or time you go out or are they clever enough to 'remember' the alignment?

By default the mount will remember any previous points of alignment. That includes objects used in an initial alignment together with any additional object used in "pointing accuracy enhancement" (PAE) operations. You can see a list of any such objects in "Alignment"/"Align with sync" submenu.

If you left your setup undisturbed between sessions then, yes, it would be ready to go again. If you have to remove the OTA and re-install it, you may find that the disturbance means that a re-alignment is necessary for greatest accuracy. I set up from scratch each time and I wipe any previous alignment objects from memory before I start.

Edited September 22, 2021 by Zermelo
typo

[Goose0211]

thanks both, one more question, I see you setup the alignment etc using the Synscan app - can you then use SkySafari to navigate the skies or are you restricted to SynScan?

[Zermelo]

25 minutes ago, Goose0211 said:

thanks both, one more question, I see you setup the alignment etc using the Synscan app - can you then use SkySafari to navigate the skies or are you restricted to SynScan?

For me, this is one of the big benefits of the wifi variant (you can also use the same mount and OTA with a bespoke hand controller, but it will cost more).

I set up observing lists in SkySafari ("plus" version - paid for), then while I'm observing I can navigate from SkySafari, which issues commands to Synscan. Actually, I usually enable the dual encoders in Synscan, then manually move the scope as close as I can get it (SkySafari shows the current scope direction on its sky map) and do a Goto from SkySafari for the last bit - this just makes it quieter for my neighbours than doing a Goto across half the sky. I then check the finder view against the SkySafari map and make fine adjustments to get the object under the crosshairs - I can do the manual movements in either SkySafari or Synscan. And then I record the observations in SkySafari, which syncs everything to Livesky in the cloud.

This is a very personal thing. From previous discussions on this topic, I know there are many observers who prefer to have a separate hand controller, with buttons that they can feel. There are also some who just don't get on with the app>app>mount tech, and I have certainly had some glitches to deal with along the way. If you're not comfortable with that, you might want to stick with a hand controller.