Quote:
Originally Posted by poncho
Hi guys,
Am a beginner, had a 8"dob til recently. Had to sell it.
Am now looking at 10" dob with synscan.
Mainly for visual astronomy, but wouldnt mind getting some average qual pics with a webcam.
Would the synscan make viewing much easier and quick?
And the size bump wont be tooo big will it?
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I don't have the scope you are considering. I have an Orion XT8 Intelliscope, a PushTo rather than a Goto. It tells me how to move the scope to find the target but hit has no motors so it does not track. My Meade ETX 80 is a full Goto scope, so I am familiar with the set-up time and the benefits of both.
Would Goto make viewing easier? Sure. It finds the targets for you and tracks them.
What you add in set-up time you save many times over in prep work to create star-hops and shortening the find time.
I use my Dob both manually and with computer assist and using computer assist allows me to spend more time observing and less time hunting and virtually eliminates the prep time with the charts.
As for size bump, that is easy to answer. How much did your old scope weigh? How much does the new scope weigh?
Where will you keep it? If you have to carry the scope down 3 flights of stairs and have to do that twice to get tube and base to the observing area, that is a lot of work. If it lives in a garage or shed on a cart that can be rolled out to the observing site then the size and weight don't matter.
My 8" Dob lives on a cart in my garage. I roll it out, align the intelliscope (5 minutes) when I plan to use that. In the future I plan to upgrade to a 14" scope that will weight 3X as much, but it won't matter because it will be on a cart.
So, easier and more convenient star gazing? I would say yes!
Is size and issue? Only you can say.