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I found using an EQ mount and newt for visual a real pain in the butt due to the precarious positions of the eye piece in different parts of the sky. ( neck breaker )
I do both Visual with a 12” AzAlt Goto dob and Astrophotography with EQ mount with 6” and 8” newts and soon a10” newt , from personal experience a Dob is the way to go for visual for comfortable viewing all night anywhere in the sky.
After my 2 years of observing with a 10” push pull manual Dob , I did get frustrated waisting time trying to find specific objects and having to nudge it all the time to keep the object in the field of view , especially the Planets ,so bought the Goto dob and never looked back. The Goto maximises your precious clear sky time
If you can afford it a Skywatcher 8” Goto collapsible Dob is around $2,250 plus your eye pieces. This will serve you for many years and can be collapsed and fit in a medium sized car or small wagon.
Just my experiences.......
Forgot to mention
The alignment of the Skywatcher Goto Dobs are really easy compared to the EQ mount
You don’t need a view of the SCP
Level the base
Set the OTA horizontal facing roughly true north
Select 2 Alignment stars ( specific region )
Drive scope to first Alignment Star , centre it
Select 2nd alignment star, scope will Goto second star , Centre it
Alignment done !!
Takes about 10 minutes
Cheers
Last edited by Startrek; 18-03-2022 at 08:00 PM.
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