On 12/01/2013 15:00, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sat, 12 Jan 2013 11:22:35 +0000, CD wrote:

reckon that 'goto' computer stuff is cheating. Entering the id of the
object on a keypad and the telescope whirs to the right direction.

Maybe, but it makes it a lot more accesible to beginners.

Maybe, you don't *have* to use it, as was demonstrated in the programme.

I reckon that for a beginner scope you are still better off with a bit
more aperture and a star atlas (or one of the free charting programs).

Like Cart du Ciel http://freeware.intrastar.net/planetarium.htm
or simulators like Stellarium http://www.stellarium.org/

You still have to do a bit of work lining it up. I'm going to get one.

I suspect it makes setting up quicker as well. Don't they also track the
object as the earth rotates so you are not having to constantly adjust
something?

Not really - to set up a basic Dobsonian altazimuth scope you plonk it
down approximately level and you are away.

If you have one with an equatorial mount you need to work out where the
north star is and point the polar axis approximately at that.

To set up a goto scope you have roughly level the scope and then find
two named bright stars in the sky which define the coordinate system.

Any motor driven scope should be able to track a target.

Goto is a luxury. You are better off learning to find the brighter
objects and planets with a slightly larger non-goto scope first but in
these days of instant gratification then maybe goto is helpful.

The snag is that many of the objects don't look like much in a very
small scope and so there is a tradeoff. My money would be on more
aperture and no goto as a first scope. You do need a good tripod and
mount that isn't made out of jelly and sticky tape. Some of the cheapest
toy scopes have really awful mounts making them impossible for beginners
to use and very frustrating to point at an object.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown