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Old 24-01-2005, 06:13 AM
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iceman (Mike)
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Gosford, NSW, Australia
Posts: 36,799
It depends whether you mean a DOB (as in, the base), or a newt (as in, the OTA).

You can buy a dob, and then later down the track, put the OTA (the tube) on an EQ GOTO mount to get your tracking + GOTO.

Or, you can get Equatorial Tracking + GOTO systems that drive the dob base itself. The EQ tracking is in the form of an "Equatorial Platform", it's a base that sits UNDER your existing dob base and rotates across with the sky to give you tracking, however you still aim your dob as normal (push/pull/tilt).

You can also get a "Push To" system for a dob that some people call "Digital Setting Circles", which is where there's no tracking, no GOTO, but a computer tells you when you're pointing in the right direction for the object you want.

You can also get GOTO systems that drive + track your dob base, I think servocat, dob driver II, plus some others can do this.

For EQ tracking and/or GOTO, you're looking at AU$1000 or more for your dob base. This still isn't bad, considering you'd be looking at AU$2000-$3000 for a solid EQ mount with goto that will hold a large newt OTA.

I'll be examining all of these options carefully in the future when I decide I want goto + tracking.
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