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Thanks for so many GREAT replies! Much appreciated...
I hear loud and clear the virtues of hanging onto the 12" dob, and thank you for introducing me to a whole world of setting circles and push-to options that I hadn't even thought of or known about. Will definitely consider the Argo Navis - price seems to be down to about $550 now new, with encoders and BT302B kit - interfaced to my Android tablet. And its Orstrylian! With the Navis, I presume you can move the computer part from scope to scope, so long as each scope has encoders?
I also hear the "simple bright stars chart/planetarium and binoculars"suggestions (and thanks yet again Brian for the suggestion of image stabilised binocs - which ones are you currently using?). My only set of current binocs (inexepensive but reasonable Gerber 7x50) are water-damaged (long story short - I thought they were water proof, went sailing in my prototype outrigger, sank...) so I need to
work out how to clean them, or replace them.
I have had various sliding planeteria over the years but have massive trouble translating them to the night sky - and dark skies make this actually harder as there are so many stars visible (yes I know this is a problem city-dwellers would like to have).
Still interested in go-tos, but I have some questions about weight:
I have found the 12" dob awkward and slippery (especially with dew) to handle by myself. Does anyone who has hefted both 10"+ dobs and similar aperture cassegrains have opinions about how easy they are to handle? Obviously the cassegrains will be heavier at comparable apertures but do they feel more secure and "handleable"? Are they easier/harder to mount on their forks?
I am quite strong so absolute weight is not (yet) a problem, but awkwardness of handling such a delicate object is.
Also I had the impression that Cassegrains require less collimation after handling than dobs - is this true?
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Pete
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