37 replies to this topic

[Brian Carter]

I'm late to this party, but this seems like a lot of opinions will be appreciated.

I find the sound of goto mounts obnoxious, but part of the acceptable noise of a star party. People are out there with scopes, some of those scopes make scope noise. Totally acceptable. So is talking and laughing, general people noise. Music is not ok, I don't want to hear others' music. When I'm alone on the field, Bob Dylan is usually blaring off my stereo.

I like the quiet time of observing, but it is more of a mental quiet time than actual 'quiet' time. My cell phone isn't going off, my child is not screaming, my wife (God bless her) is not talking. Bunch of other nerds doing nerd stuff in the dark, that's not objectionable noise.

Besides, the mounts are really loud when you're next to them, but 20ft away they aren't much louder than the general din of crickets. Don't feel subconscious about it, no one cares.

[mogur]

Much more annoying than the sound of a mount is the totally inconsiderate observers who like to shout at one another across the observing field at 2:00 A.M.   It's the main reason I've stopped going to star parties.

[Ron Luxemburg]

Well, I have a go to mount and it's great BUT, late at night trying to observe I really wish I could make it barely audible. It's a 900. I'm seriously thinking of trying to build some sort of high density foam cover for the servo motors.

[jwheel]

My Takahashi is not a goto but I love the sound that the motors make when I am slewing it at high speeds!

[Michael Rapp]

<sci.amateur.astro moment from 1995>

These infernal goto mounts!  Why, not only will people not know the sky, they are destroying the tranquility of the night as well!

</end sci.amateur.astro moment from 1995>

 

(Sorry, had to post that hehe....)

 

You'll be fine.  They're not that loud and they fade into the background.  In some respects, I like hearing the whirr of the motors across a distant field very late at night.  It means I'm not the only one still up.  

 

I do remember one weird night out at my dark site.  Someone nearby had a 12" LX200 Alt-az.  When it was slewing it was a bunch of very fitful starts and stops.  And it kept doing it and doing it and doing it.  It wasn't bothersome or annoying, just curious.  I was sure the motors were having issues and kept thinking, "why does he keep running it?  He's going to break it further!"

 

So I went over to ask what was wrong.  As it turns out....nothing!  He was observing satellites!  

[Ed Wiley]

Sounds like success to me. Have fun and don't worry.

 

Ed

[csrlice12]

not to mention when its cloudy, you can run the motors, close your eyes and imagine....

[jrbarnett]

I still consider myself the new guy at my local astronomy club, and I don't make it out to the dark site as often as I would like to, so in general I am something of a stranger whenever I do show up. As a result, I tend to be somewhat self-conscious, and this is made more problematic that I had a relatively noisy Nexstar 8SE which stood out like a sore thumb next to all the smooth and silent Dobs.

 

Well now the situation is even worse. I got an Evolution mount. I thought the Nexstar was noisy, but when the Evolution executes a goto, it sounds like it is transforming into Megatron or something. 

 

I wouldn't mind hearing some candid opinions from long-time star party veterans about the issue of noisy goto mounts, or whether it is an issue at all. Is it generally regarded as rude to constantly execute gotos? Or is it not a big deal? What do other people do to dampen the noise?

 

Should I setup my telescope a few yards away to give everyone a break from the constant whir of the robo-scope? 

A tip?  Sure.  If you have a noisy mount, and don't like flack, don't go to star parties attended by sour-pusses who can't handle mount noise.  

 

I don't go to star parties for solitude and silence, nor do most other observers I suspect.  While white light blinding after dark is a major sin at star parties, noisy GOTO mounts generally are not.  The bigger the Star Party, the less sensitive you should be to mount racket.

 

- Jim

[Jon Isaacs]

 

I do remember one weird night out at my dark site.  Someone nearby had a 12" LX200 Alt-az.  When it was slewing it was a bunch of very fitful starts and stops.  And it kept doing it and doing it and doing it.  It wasn't bothersome or annoying, just curious.  I was sure the motors were having issues and kept thinking, "why does he keep running it?  He's going to break it further!"

 

 

There were some guys who used to set up next to me who had 12 inch LX-200.  Generally it was relatively quiet but there were a few nights when I would hear the mount slewing wildly.  This was generally accompanied by some rather loud shouting and oaths.  Some time later, I would hear the mount slewing wildly, the shouting was a bit less as they were prepared for this eventuality.  

 

They would come over and look through my Dob for a while, then pack up and go home.. 

 

Jon

[csrlice12]

But, how was the coffee?

[mogur]

Ya, why do some go-to's seem to always take the long way around? You can input an object and it will turn almost 360 degrees when it was right next door!

[StarWolf57]

Ya, why do some go-to's seem to always take the long way around? You can input an object and it will turn almost 360 degrees when it was right next door!

 

I've wondered the same thing myself. I presume it has to do with backlash in the mount. I don't know though because it does seem kind of random.

Edited by StarWolf57, 07 May 2015 - 02:43 PM.

[Classic8]

I'm sure it has to do with the interior wiring. Don't want it getting wound around the inside of the mount, so it goes the long way around.  Kind of like getting your dog out from under the table after he's wrapped his leash around the table leg.