How accurate are your Goto's?

[Stonius]

Just curious what other people's experiences are, for alt-az and EQ mounts.

Mine's pretty good for deep sky, but I wouldn't trust it with planetary.

Markus

[AdamJL]

usually off by no more than a couple of minutes, more so on Dec than RA (EQ6-R). That's what plate solving is for, though :)

[Startrek]

On both of my EQ6-R’s and my 12” Goto dob ( Az Alt ) if “Home Position” is set up accurately including aligning to true south , levelling tripod and setting altitude using my digital inclinometer, then my initial slew to the first alignment star using either EQ6-R ends up really close ( using EQMOD and Ascom Stellarium) The 12” dob is similar although you have to manually slew to the first alignment star , then the second alignment Goto usually ends up fairly close to the second star in the 20mm 70 deg illuminated centering eye piece ( using the V4 handcontroller)
In my experiences the more accurate the initial set up , the more accurate the Goto

[Lionheart]

I have a SW mini AZGTi. It isn't 100% after a 2-star calibration... Once I slew to a target, it slowly drifts out of view. But every time I direct it back on the target its accuracy increases. After several times of it 'recalibrating' on a target this way, becomes pretty much spot on.

Sounds hard, but pretty easy for planetary viewing.

[glend]

My pier mounted, observatory, CGX is spot on target, most always centred in field of view. However, this is made possible by a permanent setup, carefull initial alignment, and a multi (7) point sky model. And the time must always be correct. No plate solving, that's cheating.

[multiweb]

My GOTOs are like playing jazz. Never twice the same. :lol:

[Sunfish]

Like mine. Very improvisational. Starts out bad but over the night gets better.

[Dave882]

Best gotos I have are with my cpc800 and starsense combo. I do a second re-alignment with crosshair eyepiece after which it will reliably and consistently land any target inside the fov of a 6mm eyepiece.

All other setups I’ve used are indeed a mixed bag and depend on a really good setup/alignment - sometimes varies night to night on accuracy. Reticle eyepieces are essential to get the best results.

[tonybarry]

Previous scope (Meade LX90-10") had excellent gotos, provided the tripod level and 2-star alignment was performed properly. DSO's in the cam field (20' x 15') every time. No need for High Precision Pointing.

Present scope (Evolution 8 + Hyperstar) has excellent gotos as well, though I use "Precise Goto" to RA and Dec (the same feature as Meade's High Precision Pointing). Once again, the "SkyAlign" process for targeting 3 stars has to be performed properly.

Planets on the Meade were good, but the Moon was frequently out of alignment by quite some distance.

Planets on the Evolution are good, though they are absolutely tiny in the Hyperstar. The Moon is also good.

Regards, Tony Barry