SW Freedom Find vs Celestron Goto

[Matt Ikaruga]

Hi all

I’ve currently got a very underused Astro Fi 6. When I bought it a couple of years ago I discounted the SW p150i 6” scope for the slightly more compact Celestron. However I get slightly frustrated with the slew rates. 
 

Does the Freedom Find really add more convenience to a gazing session and even more so does it add ease of use as well. 
 

My thoughts are to trade mine in and find a second hand P150i instead if there’s genuinely more to be had. Bearing in mind I can currently store the OTA of the Astro Fi neatly under my desk. 
 

Cheers! 

[Cosmic Geoff]

I don't have a freedom Find mount but I have a Sky-watcher EQ-5 Synscan and three Celestron Nexstar mounts.  I've always preferred the Celestron software - it's a little easier to use and has one or two features that the Synscan doesn't.  I have not felt the need of Freedom Find, as though it can take a while for the mount to slew round, I often have little idea where it's going to end up pointing. 

[Matt Ikaruga]

Thanks Geoff. It’s a fair point on not knowing although I am using SkyPortal so can find the basic direction.

A quick practical experiment last night and actually the slewing round allowed me to reposition chair, take stock of what I was just about to view (info in the app) and take a moment to not trip over everything! Maybe speeding that up isn’t a good thing for me. 

[Zermelo]

I have found FreedomFind useful to avoid noisy slewing in my back garden in the middle of the night. I use it with SkySafari, so I guide my movements using my phone until I'm close enough, then do a goto for the final couple of degrees (which it does quietly).

If you're moving between widely-spaced targets then, yes, it will be faster than using just gotos, though it can be a bit less accurate. For that reason, a decent optical finder is very useful.

I've not used Celestron kit, so I can't compare.

[Matt Ikaruga]

Thanks Zermelo - appreciate the response. Does seem to have some benefits. I guess I'm lucky that the slewing noise can't really be heard by neighbours and I'm a pre-10:30pm visual observer (my eyes can't hack it any later!) so I'm not going deep into the night.

 

Optical finder, such as a Rigel or are you suggesting a finder scope bolted on?

 

Cheers

[Shimrod]

11 minutes ago, Matt Ikaruga said:

Thanks Zermelo - appreciate the response. Does seem to have some benefits. I guess I'm lucky that the slewing noise can't really be heard by neighbours and I'm a pre-10:30pm visual observer (my eyes can't hack it any later!) so I'm not going deep into the night.

 

Optical finder, such as a Rigel or are you suggesting a finder scope bolted on?

 

Cheers

What is your issue with the slew speeds? I have both a Skywatcher AZ-GTI and a Celestron AVX - slew speeds are similar and I've not felt the need to use freedom find on the AZ-GTI. While at the fastest speeds both are noisy, it does only take 30 seconds or so for the telescope to move position even if it is a significant distance. That doesn't seem overly onerous. On the Celestron you can set the maximum slew speed to a lower limit to reduce noise - have you perhaps done that?

[Zermelo]

12 minutes ago, Matt Ikaruga said:

Thanks Zermelo - appreciate the response. Does seem to have some benefits. I guess I'm lucky that the slewing noise can't really be heard by neighbours and I'm a pre-10:30pm visual observer (my eyes can't hack it any later!) so I'm not going deep into the night.

 

Optical finder, such as a Rigel or are you suggesting a finder scope bolted on?

 

Cheers

I stuck on a Telrad to replace the stock red dot finder, and I use a 9x50 RACI in the finder shoe.

Now that I use SkySafari I rarely use the Telrad, but I find the RACI invaluable to identify the field when the goto isn't very close.

[Matt Ikaruga]

In terms of the finderscope, how does that differ from - say - a 40mm eyepiece apart from being 50mm? I assume there's significant benefit as so many folk use them.

[bwj]

You might want to look at this thread, people talking about that same comparison.

Clear skies!