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Originally Posted by Nightingale
Astro744 - i am not sure what goto system you are using.. the newer goto systems are quite accurate.. and my lx90 keeps the target dead centre at 300X for 2h.. i have not stuck to an object for longer than 2h so i do not know if it will stay in the FOV indefinitely.. sure it might not be dead centred after the first allignment.. but the newer systems have a synchronize function.. which means you could go on refining the accuracy as the night goes.. and it takes me literally 2 minutes to align my scope now (after the first two nights of figuring out how to work the hand controller)..
As to galaxies... lets not kid ourselves.. if you want to actually visualize a galaxy properly (with all its beautiful spirals) then you will need something with an aperture of more than 20inches.. The only galaxies i see in my 12inch are a tiny smidge of fluff and that too barely... in that case you will need a super large dobsonian, driven or otherwise.. even then you will not enjoy the views... galaxies are best appreciated via astrophotography... and that is a whole different ball game as it requires an equatorial mount or a derotator and other expensive equipment to get it right..
Aperture is important, in fact, very important... it will make your visual viewing brighter... but never more important than your mount! If you have a horrible mount without goto, you will get frustrated and loose interest..
And when you turn 70 and want to conquer your dreams of visualising a galaxy as what they look like in photos, then get a super large, undriven dob.. by that age you would have developed the patience and time (as you might be retired) to spend the whole night under the skies to tickle your fancies..
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I have a Losmandy GM8 with Gemini I. It is a single line multi level scrolling text based system. I have dabbled with GOTO but whole experience doesn't enthuse me enough. Upgrading to Gemini II has not interested me. I can connect to SkyTools Pro on a PC for a moving map display but again not interested. Many people love GOTO, I'm simply not one of them.
I have no trouble finding galaxies in my suburban back yard including galaxy hopping through Virgo including quasar 3C 273. M83 too is visible in 15x70 binoculars. Most galaxies are just a smudge but they get brighter as aperture increases. The best thing you can do to observe galaxies is to go to a dark site. If I want photos I'll visit the Hubble web site, same reason why I don't bother with astrophotography. I enjoy seeing the light from a distant galaxy directly in the eyepiece, not via an image on a photo. My main interest is finding an object and then trying to find it again from memory later in the night or the next night. That is what I enjoy most and in doing so I build up my own internal GOTO database in my head and it's faster for me than any computer driven mount.
No telescope will show you what a photo shows and no photo will bring to you those photons in real time (accounting for light travel time). Not everyone will get frustrated without GOTO and I don't agree with that assumption. A mount without GOTO is not necessarily horrible too. Also I don't need to so spend all night finding objects. I can enjoy an hour of star hoping with nothing more than a telescope and a star chart (if not going off memory) and find dozens of objects.
I think if you like using GOTO then that's fine especially if you get frustrated navigating the sky otherwise. I'm sure there are plenty of observers who could not live without GOTO but I think to there are many that can enjoy the hobby without frustration without a GOTO system and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. (In case your wondering I don't like using a GPS when driving but prefer to look at a street map, memorise the route and drive on).
Clear skies to you!