Is GOTO worth it?

Hello all, I'm not new to astronomy, but I'm old school and have never used anything other than a manual mount with hand turned gears... and I'm ready to upgrade to a good solid mount.

So here's my question... is GOTO really worth the huge cost? I've been eyeing a Losmandy GM8, and it's about $2100 Cdn without the GOTO, and $3600 Cdn with it. Yikes... doesn't the non-GOTO version still have gears, hand controllers, and a clock drive? Is the extra $1500 only so that I can tell it to go somewhere specific? Is seems like a lot...

I should mention that I'd like the option of hooking up my laptop to my scope... I'm assuming I can only do this with GOTO. Also, as of now, I don't have the time or money to dive into astrophotography, but it might be something I'll play with later in life.

Is there a good driven mount or GOTO mount other than the GM8? I'd like one that could handle a 10" SCT, and the Losmandy is about the max for what I'd be willing to spend. Like I said, it would be primarily for visual use, but perhaps some minor attempts at astrophotography might be in its future.

Thanks!

Hello:
I don't think goto is worth it. Given how popular goto is, others clearly disagree. I know how to use a telrad, finderscope, star charts, etc. to find what I want. When I have used a mount with goto, I've often found myself fighting the computer more than I was observing. So, I find goto systems are frustrating to me, and I don't need them. I also enjoy hunting down small, faint targets as much as I like looking at them.
The non-goto Losmandy mounts still track the sky, and you can use the hand paddle to guide your telescope or adjust the telescope pointing. All goto does is find things for you. Most german equatorial mounts can be used without any of the goto electronics. I agree, it's quite expensive. If you want to connect your scope to a laptop, so that you can click on a target and the scope goes there, then you would need goto.
There is a wide selection of german equatorial mounts that can hold a 10" SCT. There is the GM8 and it's larger brother, the G-11, both from Losmandy. There's the Atlas mount from Orion (and related clones), and the super-polaris mount and it's related clones (the Celestron CG-5, Meade LXD-75, etc.). Mounts like the CG-5 may be too light to support a 10" scope for long exposure photography. I personally use a G-11 mount for a 12.5" cassegrain, and it works quite well.

Cheers
Mike Connelley

Hi David,

GOTO is nice, but. For the cost of a GM8 with GOTO you could get a G11 without GOTO, and have money left over. I think the G11 would be a better mount for a 10" SCT anyway. I also feel a GM8 is a little small to do astrophotography with a 10" scope. Just something else to think about.

Best, John Kuhl

I think a GM8 would groan beneath the burden of a Meade 10" SCT. That's a pretty heavy scope.

Well, I would rather have a G11 without goto for a 10" SCT than a GM8 with goto for the same OTA. But all else equal, goto simply gives you more options. I love to push my Starmaster without goto and have a lot of fun starhopping at our club's darksite. I especially like using Telrad charts to find the faint fuzzies. But, at my home in suburbia or at public events when it is common to have 20-30 people waiting in line, I much prefer to bring out my goto Celestron SCT.

Different strokes . . . I like both.

Is it worth 50% more, well maybe not.
Is it worth having, absolutely.
Do you need it, no.
Would you like it, yes.
Can you afford it? 8)

Goto is maybe worth $200-300, but not the amounts it costs on a new losmandy.
And its worth less if you are serious about astronomy, since once you're a bit more famliliar with things and you go for smaller or fainter stuff, its less helpfull.
Value for Astrophotography = zero.

Michael

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned a middle ground--a standard GM-8 (although a G-11 would be better for a big Meade SCT) with a set of digital setting circles.

I think a Gemini goto is more accurate for astrophotography purposes, but for just finding the territory, a set of DSC, for about $400 would connect to the computer and all that.

Alex

I've always been a star-hopper, and felt I did not need GOTO.
About a year ago I was seeing vibration in my G11 from the stepper
motors, and finally decided to try Gemini to fix the vibrations.
It did not take long to also get completely addicted to the GOTO
feature on Gemini. Now if I want to find some obscure NGC object,
I just punch in the numbers, and viola, there it is. Its like having
three times more telescope. Instead of star hopping to 4 or 5
objects per hour, you can be there in about 2 minutes and do maybe
15 objects per hour. So what are the economics? You got $3K
in the OTA, $2K in the mount -- if another $1.5K for Gemini will
triple your viewing, it seems like a no-brainer. Clear, dark nights
are rare around here, and GOTO is one way to get in a lot more
eyepiece time. I think if you asked me 2 years ago I would say
I did not need it, now I would say it is extremely useful.

(nt)