Push-to

[Monstar (Johnny)]

John I'd love a whizz bang goto the kitchen and make some tea mammoth Dob, unfortunately the man at the bank say NO!!

[Varangian (John)]

Originally Posted by Monstar

John I'd love a whizz bang goto the kitchen and make some tea mammoth Dob, unfortunately the man at the bank say NO!!

Hi, it's not goto it's argo-navis about 700 bucks as an add-on for your Dob. But yes I understand the extra expense on this.

[AG Hybrid (Adrian)]

Originally Posted by julianh72

Sure, a smartphone solution will never be as accurate as dedicated hardware, but I would STRONGLY suggest people give SkEye or similar apps a try on their manual scope before investing in a costly GoTo or PushTo kit. After all, the basic version is free, so what have you got to lose? The paid version is only $10, and adds a bigger database, including comets and satellites.

SkEye doesn't use the camera for alignment - you strap your phone or tablet to your scope tube in any convenient manner (e. g. a mounting bracket, Velcro, elastic band, whatever), then you align your telescope on a known object, and tell the app where the Scope is pointing. The app then uses your phone's compass and accelerometers to detect changes in altitude and azimuth to point you to new targets, or tell you what you are looking at. Modern smartphone sensors are surprisingly accurate, especially for detecting differences rather than absolute positions, a fraction of a degree difference is easily attainable. Don't dismiss the capabilities of these sensors until you try them! If you move around the sky a lot, it may be necessary to re-align the app from time to time, but it only takes a few seconds.

Secondly, in night mode, it uses a very dull red display, so dark adaptation isn't affected either.

Well worth a look! If you like what it does, you may want to buy a more expensive and accurate PushTo or GoTo kit, but most beginners will get a lot out of just using the app.

Sounds interesting. I'll give it a try.

I currently use a Nexus Astro Systems device. Australian made product. It connects to my encoders than it connects to my tablet via wifi. It is properly accurate once you get the two star alignment done. Like, the object in the eyepiece at 150x.

For those concerned with dark adaption. It's called red cellophane. Apply as many layers as needed. Touch devices still work with 2 layers. Never tried 3 layers as two is enough image dimming.

Costs 1/3 of an Argo Navis unit.

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by AG Hybrid

Sounds interesting. I'll give it a try.

I note that a number of people have pointed out that using your mobile phone's compass may not work when the phone is piggy-backed onto the telescope tube, if your tube is magnetic (steel).

For the record, I have no issues at all using my phone to level and align my 90 mm refractor, which has an aluminium tube. I can get repeatable equatorial alignment to within about 1 degree on both axes (perfectly adequate for visual and short exposure photographic use), using my phone strapped straight onto the aluminium tube for both finding true south, and for setting the inclination to match my latitude.

However, it won't work when strapped directly onto my 130 mm Newtonian, which has a steel tube. (Not that I need it on the Newt, because it has a GoTo mount.) However, it works fine if I just mount the phone some distance off the top of the tube - e.g. if I use a piece of 50 mm timber as a stand-off. The further you can mount the phone from the steel tube, the better, but you may be surprised that it doesn't have to be all that far away in order for the phone's compass to get acceptable alignment for finding targets.

Just thought I would mention this for the benefit of anyone who is thinking about trying a nil-cost Push-To option on their steel-tubed Dob, before investing serious money on the "real deal".