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Old 01-03-2020, 10:49 AM
Startrek (Martin)
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Startrek is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Sydney and South Coast NSW
Posts: 5,990
I used a GSO 10” push pull dob for 3 years and waisted precious time trying to find objects all night even with using a planetarium visually and star hopping
I now have a Skywatcher 12” Goto dob and can find objects with ease
Once 2 star aligned ( takes 5 minutes ) the Goto is extremely accurate
Last night I observed M42 , NGC 3372 , NGC 2808 and a few others in just over an hour session
And scope is left outside with a tarp over it fully aligned ready for tonight if it’s clear
If you have fun trying to star hop to find objects , that’s fine , but I got to frustrated and now with the Goto it’s exciting observing anywhere between 5 and 10 objects each time I go out

And yes a Goto , aligned properly will keep your object in the centre of the eye piece for a long time before you start to drift
I observed Jupiter and Saturn last winter for an hour before any noticeable drift
Skywatcher Goto is very accurate , level your mount base, set your scope in home position horizontally level roughly pointing true north or south and perform a 2 star alignment using an illuminated reticle eye piece on bright stars on the same side of the meridian about 35 to 60 degrees in Alt and about 50 to 70 degrees apart in Az
That’s it , works for me every time !

Cheers
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