Maximum scope

[phattanglo]

As my plans to get a scope are on hold for the time being I am having a rethink.

Originally I wanted to get an EQ mounted scope.

I've now decided when funds permit to go for a Dobsonian mounted scope to get as much aperture as possible, this will probably be a SW 150 or 200p or similar.

Anyway to my question, other than trips to darker skies I'm going to be observing in inner city conditions and of course that means you can't always see what your looking for.

I've read about home made degree circles on Dob mount bases and the Wixey? angle gauge.

Can these be used as a viable means of locating objects for someone with limited experience?

Would I use them with co-ordinates from Stellarium ?

Cheers Kevin.

[tinvek]

hi kev, details of a wixey here

Misc’ - Wixey digital angle gauge

yes use it with something like stellarium to give you the angle of elevation and then either use a setting circle or just plain guess for the horizontal direction. i usually find that i can get myself to within 5 degrees or so just by knowing a few distinctive stars / planets and knowing their coordinates off stellarium. then with the wixey to help it only takes a moment or two to do a slow sweep to locate what i'm looking for.

if you do decide to use a base setting circle remember you have to make sure you're working off a fairly accurate alignment to start with. similarly make sure the scope is level before you zero the wixey, i use this magnetic spirit level, the small pop out component is unobtrusive enough to live with the wixey on the scope.

Draper 31416 Magnetic Spirit Level: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

[Bizibilder]

You may want to look at a piece of softwere called "Astro Work Bench" as this gives altitude and azimuth co-ordinates specifically for Dobsonian users. Google it to find it (Astro-Soft I think is the name - It's freeware as far as I know.)