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Jim Carpenter
sage
Reged: 04/24/03
Posts: 280
Loc: Colorado
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Re: A Case for GOTO
09/26/07 03:53 PM
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I agree that goto mounts have a definite place in our hobby, particularly when one gets past the "learning the sky" level. Once the star hopper has seen all the Messier objects and some of the other easily found targets, goto or DSC's start to make a lot of sense. AP'ers especially benefit from quickly finding an object so they can maximize imaging time. A friend once described using a goto mount as being similar to one of those one-week whirlwind tours of Europe -- a day in London, a day in Paris, a day in Rome, etc. Sure you quickly see the major sights, but you miss an awful lot in between. That may be fine for some people, but others enjoy a more liesurely and comprehensive viewing experience. As they say, different strokes for different folks.
But on the other hand, I've seen too many occasions of someone with a goto mount forgetting a power cable, a control paddle, or a power pack and having to pack up and go home because their goto mount did not allow manual operation. If I forget my DSC computer or the battery dies, I can simply go back to traditional star hopping and the evening is not lost.
Jim
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