GOTO for Skywatcher Flextube AUTO dobs is a reality !

[NickH]

I had push to on my C8 (Lumicon Sky Vector)...incredible accurate and superb product...that is to me a much better option than iffy GOTO. If you combine iwth tracking and ST4 guide capability...woohoo!

[ZOG]

Thanks Zog - just looked at the argo navis (hadn't considered that b4) - looks v.nice but a tad expensive.

Shame they didn't think the whole product thru in the first place - but I can see why and how it evolved from the arguments given in above posts.

Cheers

The Argo is a tad expensive but it's not the only option. The Sky Commander works out cheaper, especially if you just buy the basic kit and you can get your hands on a couple of cheap encoders.

SkyEng: SkyCommander

The Sky Vector is also still available, again cheaper than the Argo.

http://www.lumicon.com/telescope-accessories-list.php?cid=75&cn=Sky+Vector+1

[NickH]

4092 step ones are more than fine too!

[johninderby]

You can also get the latest version of the SkyCommander with 10,000 step encoders from one US dealer, and the price still works out to nearly half the Argo Navis price.

John

[brantuk]

Thanks - I'll look at SkyCommander - though I must admit I've no idea what I'm doing with encoders - is it plug'n'play? or would I need additional bits/tinkering?

Cheers

[ZOG]

I can only comment on the Argo Navis. It came with a SW fitting kit which was a replacement centre bolt for the mount, the az encoder which connects to a pulley on the top of the bolt, the alt encoder and hardware to mount in place of one of the side handles. It takes maybe 20 minutes to fit.

[NickH]

Lumicon came with them, and fitting bolts for the exact scope (you specify when ordering)...worked in minutes

[johninderby]

For the SkyCommander DSC look at Astrosystems who manufacture their own line of TeleKit dobs and dob kits from 10" up to 32", but also do a lot of dob parts including the DSCs separately. http://astrosystems.biz/

They don't do a mounting kit for the SkyWatcher dobs, but if you asked them I'm sure they could come up with something. BTW their site has some very interesting dobs on it. They're working on a line of large aperture f/3 dobs. Collimation should be interesting.

John

[brantuk]

Well - Just so you know - I took the plunge at last cos I'm fed up flaffing about. I bought the Skyscan AZ mount on the heavy duty tripod with SynScan controller. all I gotta do is swop the hand controls with the flextube 300 auto and I'll have a 12" goto dob along with a tracking az mount on which I can mount the big binocs (or a refractor if/when I get one).

Job done - thanks chaps for the invaluable advice

[brantuk]

Well it arrived and I swopped the handsets - both handsets worked straight off - on both mounts - so thanks again

[edwinsim]

Well it arrived and I swopped the handsets - both handsets worked straight off - on both mounts - so thanks again

Well, thanks to this thread and this latest post, I have gained the confidence and have also taken the plunge and ordered myself the 12". Should be coming on Tuesday and I already have a synscan on my explorer130p with a gps mouse so i'll give it all a go!

Thanks to all involved...

Anybody have any recommendations on extras? EP's, RDFinder etc...?

[johninderby]

Just so long as it's the Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO that you already have, then the hand control will work. The EQ SynScan hand control won't work as it is wired differently and uses an 8 pin plug, whereas the AZ hand control uses a 6 pin plug to plug into the mount.

A Telrad or Rigel QuikFinder for the RDF work very well and a right angle 9x50 finder instead of the straight through one is useful.

For eyepieces it all depends on your budget. What sort of budget do you have for eyepieces?

John

[brantuk]

You're welcome Edwin - today I'll be updating the handset to ver 3.07 and I have yet to try it out in the field - but I'm sure it's all gonna be fine.

Big thanks to Johninderby and the NZ link - I'm like a kid with a new toy - don't think I'd have risked it otherwise

[brantuk]

Job done - downloaded 3.07 - flash upgraded the handset no probs - bingo it works!

[edwinsim]

Just so long as it's the Explorer 130P SynScan AZ GOTO that you already have, then the hand control will work. The EQ SynScan hand control won't work as it is wired differently and uses an 8 pin plug, whereas the AZ hand control uses a 6 pin plug to plug into the mount.

A Telrad or Rigel QuikFinder for the RDF work very well and a right angle 9x50 finder instead of the straight through one is useful.

For eyepieces it all depends on your budget. What sort of budget do you have for eyepieces?

John

Hi John,

Yep its the az, thanks for checking. Not really thought too much about a budget for eye pieces, still pretty new to it all and I just have the supplied eyepieces at present from my 130p. I'm going to assume that i'll need a couple at least and I hope that I wouldn't need to spend more than a few hundred to get what the scope deserves. Would that sort of budget make a huge difference from the standard supplied ones?

Sorry i'm going off the thread topic.

Thanks again...

Edwin.

[johninderby]

Eyepieces?

Start a thread on the subject and you'll get more replies than you know what to do with. The 25mm eyepiece that comes with the scope is actually not bad at all and perfectly usable. The 10mm isn't as good though.

In your situation I would be tempted to get a SkyWatcher Nirvana 7mm and 16mm, which would set you back £130.00 each, but are superb eyepieces that are almost as good as Naglers. Then later replace the 25mm with something better. In the long run it will be a more cost effective strategy as the Nirvanas won't need replacing with something better in a year or two.

And yes better eyepieces do make a difference, particularly with a dob with a short focal length that is quite demanding of eyepieces.

John

[PeterW]

So a scope like this Skywatcher Skyhawk 1145P SynScan AZ GOTO, will provide flexAuto12" users with goto? Not a bad price, though not sure what you'd do with the 'free' reflector you'd be left with

I was wondering if anyone could run EQ-MOD (more likely a custom version, with a custom cable) to get this running via a PC, bypassing the need of a handset, like is possible on the equatorial mounts?

PEterW

[Marky]

(From my previous post on this thread) That's just what I did with my 300 Auto. I built the interface myself and plugged it into my laptop. Works fine, but you do need the Supatrak ASCOM driver to run it (supatrakascomdriver (rwgastro)).

I'll be lugging it to Lucksall for the weekend so anyone can have a look at it if they want to.

M....

[rwg]

Good to hear that it's working out for you. I really had a lot of fun building the interface and writing the ASCOM driver, but in the end I bought a goto mount with a handset - I found it just too awkward setting everything up with the laptop, cables, etc each time.

I presume that you haven't had any problems with the goto 'hunting' backwards and forwards each side of the target - some people in another forum were reporting that a long time back, but I never saw the post until much much later...

cheers,

Robin

[Marky]

I'd like to try it with a hand controller as my PC tends to be busy with the HEQ5 most of the time.

The main problem I have is calibrating it. The driver I've used (linked too above) is a bit basic and I'm not entirely sure how to set the alignment properly so accuracy is a bit iffy. Probably not reading the instruction properly... I was just chuffed that something I soldered together actually worked, they usually melt.

M....

[russ]

Skywatcher have now officially released Synscan GOTO versions of the Flextube in the US. Which is no surprise as Orion USA have a GOTO version already. So why has the UK not got it yet?

Russ

[NickH]

Maybe they have addressed the issues...good news if this is true...

It was fixable...just needed some TLC!