How noisy are motorised dobsonians?

[KingOfColly]

I was wondering, how noisy is the slewing/tracking of the Skyliner AUTO and GOTO dobsonians compared to the motorised equatorial mounts currently available?

[NickH]

As nobody has a goto yet, can't comment...the auto was pretty good compared to the Meade/CG5 hairdryers but noisier than the EQ6

[johninderby]

I found the Auto tracking dob wasn't too noisy really. Perhaps half the noise of a CG5-GT mount when slewing. I'd be surprised if the GOTO version was much different.

Motorised dobs can be virtually silent, but it'll cost a lot more. My OO 14" dob & StellarCAT is remarkably quiet. When slewing at full speed (10 deg per second) you can just barely hear a faint whirr from the drive units if you listen carefully.

John

[KingOfColly]

Cheers for the replies guys much appreciated.

[Fogboundturtle]

As nobody has a goto yet, can't comment...the auto was pretty good compared to the Meade/CG5 hairdryers but noisier than the EQ6

I do. the tracking is dead quiet. The slewing can be noisy when moving at rate 9.

[NickH]

not an official one :-)

[Fogboundturtle]

It was the very first retail release...I got lucky I guess. I only had 1 trouble and it was with my hand controller. It was replaced quickly and since then it works like a charm. I think you guys are going to love this scope. I suggest that when you want to move precisely the scope, to use the hand controller. It a little harder to push around precisely since the clutch is always engage.

oh btw, don't remove the foam at the bottom of the base.

[NickH]

nice...good endorsement...