Are these worth buying???

[graway (Graham)]

Hi to everyone

I would like to hear peoples thoughts on the following equipment if
possible.

1.Skywatcher electric/remote focuser

2.Skywatcher GPS unit ( Does this unit negate having to polar align)

3.Are the catseye collminater sets that much better than a laser
collminater

I am considering above items for skywatcher 10 inch newt/eq6mount
Looking forward to your advice

Regards Graham

[bmitchell82 (Brendan)]

hehehe,

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=59178

skywatcher unit i cannot comment on, but it has to be better than nothing I would say. Currently i am working with the ardunio embedded computer to offer PC control of focusing. just have to purchase the equipment

Cats eye collimation tools are unreal, highly accurate the best purchase that i made in relation to collimation

GPS is not the magic trick for polar alignment. all it tells the computer is lat long and time accurate to 30 meters, to be honest not worth it.

[Ian Robinson]

1. yes and no. IMO they are a waste of money. A good 2" low profile crayford will be a good investment (one that is capable of holding heavy gear - ie a DSLR plus a coma corrector).
2. no and no.
3. YES. Definitely.

[graway (Graham)]

Thank you very much for your advice
What a fantastic site this is for info

Regards
Graham

[OneOfOne (Trevor)]

Because I do a lot of public viewing, I find my electric focusser is extremely useful. Most people cannot focus without bumping the scope off the target, at relatively high magnification I can find it rather difficult too. The electric focus allows you to bring everything into focus without the image bumping around, unfortunately, I have not found one that allows you to disengage the motor and so you loose manual focus, which is much faster if you change to a different eyepiece that has a very different focus distance.

A GPS is of limited benefit, as others have already indicated.

Catseye, I have an SCT so can't comment personally, but I believe they are excellent.