Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

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Refractordude
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Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#1

Post by Refractordude »


I use my cell phone to find objects. However, sometimes the cell phone is way off. It will be accurate facing north, but then 10 degrees are more off facing south. Thinking about a very small GOTO budget telescope or mount. I looked at a few like Starsense, but the reviews are very low due to alignment issues. What is the least expensive, smallest, and easiest to use GOTO telescope or mount? Thanks all.
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#2

Post by JayTee »


Are you willing to buy used equipment. Telescope Warehouse has Meade DS2000 goto mounts for sale right now ($80, they will need the HB, which is a separate purchase) They can handle up to 8 to 10 lb.

Here is a Celestron GT (most likely, capacity 5lbs) go to mount off of eBay. I bought both of my small Celestron go to mounts off of eBay and they are still working perfectly three years later.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Celestron-Comp ... 632-2357-0

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#3

Post by Refractordude »


JayTee wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:25 am Are you willing to buy used equipment. Telescope Warehouse has Meade DS2000 goto mounts for sale right now ($80, they will need the HB, which is a separate purchase) They can handle up to 8 to 10 lb.

Cheers
Thanks JayTee. I only buy used local. However, can you link me to the page? I could not find it at that website.
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#4

Post by John Donne »


For visual observation the Celestron 127 SLT rig works for me.
Light, easy to transport...I have found the 127 SLT mounted Maksutov to be a convenient and satisfying rig. From Planets and Lunar to Clusters, and the brighter galaxies and Nebula this little rig works very well for me. I recently gave one of these rigs to one of my grandchildren.
Cost is around $575.00.
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#5

Post by SkyHiker »


The cheapest solution that is also easy to use are DIY setting circles. For an Alt/Az mount you could make an Az setting circle and combine it with a wixey or use the cell phone as an inclinometer, that part works well. I would be wary of buying a super cheap mount that could be garbage. Check out the classifieds on Cloudy Nights, I saw some ioptron cubes for less than 100 but it could be garbage.
... Henk. :D Telescopes: GSO 12" Astrograph, "Comet Hunter" MN152, ES ED127CF, ES ED80, WO Redcat51, Z12, AT6RC, Celestron Skymaster 20x80, Mounts and tripod: Losmandy G11S with OnStep, AVX, Tiltall, Cameras: ASI2600MC, ASI2600MM, ASI120 mini, Fuji X-a1, Canon XSi, T6, ELPH 100HS, DIY: OnStep controller, Pi4b/power rig, Afocal adapter, Foldable Dob base, Az/Alt Dob setting circles, Accessories: ZWO 36 mm filter wheel, TV Paracorr 2, Baader MPCC Mk III, ES FF, SSAG, QHY OAG-M, EAF electronic focuser, Plossls, Barlows, Telrad, Laser collimators (Seben LK1, Z12, Howie Glatter), Cheshire, 2 Orion RACIs 8x50, Software: KStars-Ekos, DSS, PHD2, Nebulosity, Photo Gallery, Gimp, CHDK, Computers:Pi4b, 2x running KStars/Ekos, Toshiba Satellite 17", Website:Henk's astro images
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#6

Post by JayTee »


JayTee wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:25 am Are you willing to buy used equipment. Telescope Warehouse has Meade DS2000 goto mounts for sale right now ($80, they will need the HB, which is a separate purchase) They can handle up to 8 to 10 lb.

Here is a Celestron GT (most likely, capacity 5lbs) goto mount off of eBay. I bought both of my small Celestron go to mounts off of eBay and they are still working perfectly three years later.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Celestron-Comp ... 632-2357-0

Cheers
Above is a new link I just edited into the post for a Celestron go to mount. Here is the link to the Meade go to mount on the Telescope Warehouse eBay site.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Meade-DS- ... 632-2357-0

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#7

Post by notFritzArgelander »


SkyHiker wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:18 am The cheapest solution that is also easy to use are DIY setting circles. For an Alt/Az mount you could make an Az setting circle and combine it with a wixey or use the cell phone as an inclinometer, that part works well. I would be wary of buying a super cheap mount that could be garbage. Check out the classifieds on Cloudy Nights, I saw some ioptron cubes for less than 100 but it could be garbage.
I tried an iOptron cube for my daughter and it was a fiasco. It's all plastic including gears and failed catastrophically 2nd night out. It was acceptable to my daughter to replace it with an ES Twilight non go to.
Scopes: Refs: Orion ST80, SV 80EDA f7, TS 102ED f11 Newts: AWB 130mm, f5, Z12 f5; Cats: VMC110L, Intes MK66,VMC200L f9.75 EPs: KK Fujiyama Orthoscopics, 2x Vixen NPLs (40-6mm) and BCOs, Baader Mark IV zooms, TV Panoptics, Delos, Plossl 32-8mm. Mixed brand Masuyama/Astroplans Binoculars: Nikon Aculon 10x50, Celestron 15x70, Baader Maxbright. Mounts: Star Seeker IV, Vixen Porta II, Celestron CG5
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#8

Post by Bigzmey »


It may not be the cheapest but I like my SW AzGti. It can carry upto 11lb (100mm refractor, 127mm Mac), no wire to mess with, you control it from the app on your phone, quite stable in particular if you substitute the tripod.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... s=pi&pim=Y

viewtopic.php?f=48&t=2550
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#9

Post by Refractordude »


I often see this GOTO on Craigslist. What are your thoughts about this Celestron GOTO.
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#10

Post by JayTee »


RD

The mount in your image is the Celestron GT goto mount. I have one, it works very well as long as you don't overload it. It can easily handle up to 4 lbs. I paid $50 for mine without the hand controller.

It is used for this project covered in this post.
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3129

Cheers
∞ Primary Scopes: #1: Celestron CPC1100 #2: 8" f/7.5 Dob #3: CR150HD f/8 6" frac
∞ AP Scopes: #1: TPO 6" f/9 RC #2: ES 102 f/7 APO #3: ES 80mm f/6 APO
∞ G&G Scopes: #1: Meade 102mm f/7.8 #2: Bresser 102mm f/4.5
∞ Guide Scopes: 70 & 80mm fracs -- The El Cheapo Bros.
∞ Mounts: iOptron CEM70AG, SW EQ6, Celestron AVX, SLT & GT (Alt-Az), Meade DS2000
∞ Cameras: #1: ZWO ASI294MC Pro #2: 662MC #3: 120MC, Canon T3i, Orion SSAG, WYZE Cam3
∞ Binos: 10X50,11X70,15X70, 25X100
∞ EPs: ES 2": 21mm 100° & 30mm 82° Pentax XW: 7, 10, 14, & 20mm 70°

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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#11

Post by pakarinen »


Not sure if it meets all your criteria, but I’d probably go with an AZ-GTI. The GTE might be cheaper, but doesn’t have a hand controller or something like that.
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#12

Post by mikemarotta »


Refractordude wrote: Sat Jul 17, 2021 11:58 pm I use my cell phone to find objects. However, sometimes the cell phone is way off. ... What is the least expensive, smallest, and easiest to use GOTO telescope or mount?
Well, I was hopeful for you and for myself. It seems to be a unicorn. There is no way around the fact that the hobby is expensive and that as wonderful as the technology is, it is affordable only above some basic level. In other words, we should thank our lucky stars that we can buy as consumer goods instruments that would have been found at university departments 50 years ago, and would have been science fiction 100 years ago. Think about that. Read about 19th and 20th century amateurs and their 3-inch refractors.

We have 12-inch reflectors, computer controlled tracking, multi-mega pixel cameras (instead of chemical process films), spectroscopes, and more. (Yesterday, I was filling in a citation for myself on William O'Mullane on Astrostatistics and Data Mining. That sure beats the way the Women of Harvard compared and contrasted data sets.) For all of that, it remains that, as Robert Heinlein warned us in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: TANSTAAFL - there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

(But we all keep our fingers crossed!)

It is another topic entirely, but it seems that in focussing on telescope optical systems, we miss the basic fact that the TRIPOD and MOUNT are the figurative and literal foundations of observing.
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Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: Need Help With Buying A Goto Telescope

#13

Post by Gfamily »


pakarinen wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 10:19 am Not sure if it meets all your criteria, but I’d probably go with an AZ-GTI. The GTE might be cheaper, but doesn’t have a hand controller or something like that.
Neither comes with a handset, though you can get a handset if you prefer.

The GTi allows you to loosen the clutches and manually move the scope without losing the alignment. The GTe would need you to reset your alignment .

They work really well with Sky Safari 6 Plus or Pro, and fairly well with Stellarium Plus or Pro. (both allow you to GOTO the scope to targets, SS6+ allows you to do a final correction if the goto is slightly out).
LS8 Meade SCT, SW 127 Mak, 72mm Lightwave Refractor
Star Adventurer
AZ Gti mount
www.midcheshireastro.co.uk for astro company
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