Is GOTO worth it?

I'll give my 2 cents. I live in Michigan and was a frustrated star hopper for many years. Trouble is in Michigan we might only get 3 or 4 good nights in a year that work out well with my job, family, and other obligations. I used to spend those nights searching and observing a few objects, but never had any consistency or speed to my star hopping. Finding objects took a long time since it seemed like I needed to relearn the sky every time out. After 20 years of off again/on again interest in astronomy I bought my first goto, the venerable 8" LX200 and have never looked back. The first night out I studied more objects with it than I had viewed in the previous year.

I've since abandoned EQ mounts and the wedge mounted LX200 and now use a 10" dob and I'm having a blast. I'm currently working on my first ATM project, a 14.5" f4.3 truss dob.

David,

It all depends on how much time you want to devote to your nightly observing sessions and what your viewing preferences are. Starhopping with motorized drives is fun when time permits. GoTo in my opinion allows you to view more objects in a shorter amount of time than starhopping with starcharts and and red flashlight. Do you want to look at 5-10 objects in a 1 hour period or 15-20? Just my 2 cents.

Luis

One thought seems to be missing here. I would get a mount that can be upgraded to goto and put a nice sized scope on it. If later, I find I really WANT goto, just buy the upgrade, if not put that $$$ into something else. Amateur astronomy has a way of sucking $$$ right out of your pocket. You might find that other methods like starhopping or setting circles or what ever does what you want anyway.

Paul Maxson

Tongue firmly planted in cheek...

Goto, Schmoto
I remember when real astronomers had to draft their own star charts...

http://www.cleardarksky.com/fourobservers.html
The Four Observers (based on "The Four Yorkshiremen").

Gary Weber

I do both, star hop without the goto and use the goto when I want to see lots of stuff in a short amount of time. With the laptop I can view 3-5x as many objects in the same amount of time because I'm not squinting at the sky, squinting at my star charts, trying to pick out the faint fuzzy amongst the background stars. If you have limited viewing time like I do, Goto maximizes the use of that time. Ultimately, it's a user preference and cost decision.

David,

I use both manual guiding with a Dobsonian and also
have a GoTo mount.
GoTo is well worth having. It's really cool to
locate and view objects during the day with it!
Try that you old cranky star hopping freaks.
My GoTo will beat you in a race, especially during the day. 8)

The pure and simple way is fun too. With my GoTo,
I can still star hop if I want to. Or I use the Dob.
Have you checked the price of that Losmandy used on Astromart??

Gerald

These days, if you're going to buy a premium mount, you'll get goto anyway.

What I like the most about goto is using it for public outreach. You can tell the scope to find the next object and then tell your visitors a little about what they'll be looking at next while the scope moves to the object for you. Much better than having folks stand around getting bored watching you star hop to the next object.

My wife isn't very interested in astronomy, but when she ventures out to take a quick look I can show her several things in a few minutes.

Otherwise it's handy for astro photography, and folks who pay attention to where the mount is pointing will learn their way around the sky.

GoTo is indispensible for astrophotography. You can do it without, but it becomes a pain and is not very productive.

The night is short and I'm not young anymore.

Rolando

Not because I don't know the sky, not because I'm lazy. Unfortunately, I have had double vision for going on a decade. So even knowing the sky doesn't help me point the telescope accurately enough for some objects. Walking across the heavens works well since I'm at the eyepiece and am controlling movements from there. However, coordinating the visual fields from my two eyes is near impossible.

I need, at minimum, DSCs. I'm in the process of getting a new mount with GoTo because it will enhance my ability to be at the eyepiece enjoying the views. After all, isn't that what we are all after?

About any perceived GoTo/DSC controversy, just like the FCC removing the Morse requirements from HAM licensing, any technical advance which expands the ability of people to get into this wonderful hobby is *good* for the hobby. If that means that people don't need to learn the sky to become active, how can that be bad?

Peace, and clear skies to y'all.