setting circles

[milkfloat]

does anybody here actually use setting circles?

[steppenwolf]

Only as a polar alignment circular slide rule!

I have used them for locating objects too but even on an EQ6 it is hard work - anything smaller than and EQ6 and the reduced size of the circles makes them even harder to use.

[brantuk]

If you have a dob you can make a setting circle for the AZ on the base and use a Wixey for the Alt - I've seen surprisingly good results with this arrangement - spot on the object every time

[AndyH]

I do from time to time. But they really need to be of a decent size for them to be reasonably accurate. The Tal ones work well, especially the bigger Tal 2M mount, which has 4" - ish sized ones. Of course your polar allignment has to be pretty accurate or else it'll throw things off.

Andy.

[The Bat]

I started off trying to use them. Got lucky on my first ever target and (wrongly) thought that it was a doddle! Pretty much never found anything since - it's so dependent on how accurate your alignment is, how accurately you dial in the numbers etc; half a degree out here and there throws it right off track. And I got fed up with having to recalibrate on a new reference star for every new target. I have since reverted to a good sky atlas and star hopping. I now only ever use the setting circles if what I am aiming for is in a relatively blank piece of sky, or I am having trouble navigating my way through the star field. It can be enough to get me in the right area, if not actually on target.

Rachel

[Talitha]

I always use the ones on my fork-mounted LX-10 but not the ones on the GEM, they're a bit small and i seem to do better starhopping with that mount.

[scapps42]

I started using a setting circle on my 10" dob a couple of years ago by attaching a tape measure round my base and using a wixey , it works about 50% of the time but to be honest its alot of messing about keep getting all the alt and az setting points from the computer and these will be different the next week you look.

A far much better way is to learn to star hop to your objects then once you have learnt how to find a certain object you have learnt it for life , or of course you can just print out the chart from stellarium if you cant remember the hops . Using setting circles is cheating in my view and it takes all the magic away from looking at the night sky,

[Talitha]

A far much better way is to learn to star hop to your objects then once you have learnt how to find a certain object you have learnt it for life , or of course you can just print out the chart from stellarium if you cant remember the hops . Using setting circles is cheating in my view and it takes all the magic away from looking at the night sky,

Your preference to starhop doesn't mean that those of us who use setting circles are 'cheaters' and frankly, i'm quite surprised that anyone would think so. I prefer to use the setting circles on my LX-10 because they're intuitive, quick, and very accurate.

What's "a far much better way" for you may not be "a far much better way" for someone else. For example, those who live with light pollution often need setting circles (or goto) in order to find the objects they'd like to view.

There's no right or wrong way.

There's no 'honest' or 'cheat'.

All that matters, is that we get there.

[Astro_Baby]

Using setting circles is cheating in my view and it takes all the magic away from looking at the night sky

I agree - in fact I find using a telescope with a mirror is a bit of a cheat so I prefer to use a piece of polished brass as a mirror and the bottom of a coke bottle for a lens while having pins stuck in my eyes - anything else is wussy

Setting circles - I never use them as they are supposed to be used. before I went to GoTo I did use an old technique which is that the DEC setting circle is usually the more reliable of the two. Get POlaris in your sights after polar aligning and you know the DEC should be reading 90'

An objects RA is relative but its DEC is absolute so once the mount is calibrated for DEC just set the scope to the right DEC coordinates and then sweep round the sky in the RA axis - you should be able to spot the object your looking for.

I found even that can be hard work and handling a biggish newtonian on an HEQ5 is no fun in manual mode so in the end I bit the bullet and got the purse out for a GoTo upgrade.

[rowan46]

I agree - in fact I find using a telescope with a mirror is a bit of a cheat so I prefer to use a piece of polished brass as a mirror and the bottom of a coke bottle for a lens while having pins stuck in my eyes - anything else is wussy

whats the eye relief like on those lenses ?

[Astro_Baby]

Dreadful but rather than make observing easy using technology I prefer to make it harder. IF NaSA tpok this approach the next probe would be steam powered but even steam might not be traditional enough so they would have to consider a rubber band propulsion system

[gareththegeek]

I use the setting circles on my CG-5 mount everytime. It is much easier to quickly note down some coordinates from stellarium than it is to learn to star hop to each object you want to see in a session. I couldn't find any DSOs until I started using the setting circles tbh. I prefer to spend my time looking at my target rather than searching for it

[Staffy]

I tried it on my old EQ2 mount and it was a right old mess. The only way I could get anything close was by changing the latitude setting from 53 degrees to about 60 degrees. In the end I gave up trying and went star-hopping instead which is much more interesting anyway. Even with the GOTO mount I have now I still do a lot of star-hopping rather than leaving it all to the technology - it takes half the fun away otherwise.

[valleyman]

I modded my Dob the way Brantuk described and it works every time. Just do not have time for searching, especially with the **** weather we get. But also have a Talrad fitted for when i do want to star hop. Best of both worlds.