How do you track objects w/o a motor driven equatorial mount? Hi,It's been a long, long time since I had a telescope, but it's time to buy one again. I mention this in case my terminology is not correct, so please bear with me. I see the Orion Dobsonian telescopes are very popular, and virtually every review gives them high praise. But I was always under the impression that at higher magnifications objects will move out of view in seconds without a motor driven equatorial mount to track them.Am I missing something? How do you Dobsonian users keep objects in view? How do you track objects w/o a motor driven equatorial mount? Hi,It's been a long, long time since I had a telescope, but it's time to buy one again. I mention this in case my... » Read More How do you track objects w/o a motor driven equatorial mount? Hi,It's been a long, long time since I had a telescope, but it's time to buy one again. I mention this in case my terminology is not correct, so please bear with me. I see the Orion Dobsonian telescopes are very popular, and virtually every review gives them high praise. But I was always under the impression that at higher magnifications objects will move out of view in seconds without a motor driven equatorial mount to track them.Am I missing something? How do you Dobsonian users keep objects in view? « Show Less
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This kind of mount is very convenient for simply hand tracking as you observe. The scope is not intended to be used for photography (which is a specialized task that is not for someone to just buy a telescope and start). The mount has teflon surfaces, and moves to your gentle pressures, fairly smoothly. If you know little about astronomy, but want a self-tracking telescope, try the Meade "lightswitch" series, which sees the stars and aligns itself, and even talks to you. it costs about 4 times as much of course. In bang for the buck, this Orion XT8 is terrific, but you will have to guide it. This kind of mount is very convenient for simply hand tracking as you observe. The scope is not intended to be used for photography (which is a specialized task that is not for someone to just buy a telescope and start). The mount has teflon surfaces, and moves to your gentle pressures, fairly smoothly. If you know little about astronomy, but want a self-tracking telescope, try the Meade "lightswitch" series, which sees the stars and aligns itself, and even talks to you. it costs about 4 times as much of course. In bang for the buck, this Orion XT8 is terrific, but you will have... » Read More This kind of mount is very convenient for simply hand tracking as you observe. The scope is not intended to be used for photography (which is a specialized task that is not for someone to just buy a telescope and start). The mount has teflon surfaces, and moves to your gentle pressures, fairly smoothly. If you know little about astronomy, but want a self-tracking telescope, try the Meade "lightswitch" series, which sees the stars and aligns itself, and even talks to you. it costs about 4 times as much of course. In bang for the buck, this Orion XT8 is terrific, but you will have to guide it. « Show Less
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You don't need a motor driven equatorial mount although it makes it a lot easier but you do need an equatorial mount. As the earth rotates on its axis stars appear to rotate approximately around the north star so you need a mount that rotates around an axis that points approximately at the north star.
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I am not an expert on astrophotography, but I believe that unless the telescope is mounted on an equatorial mount, the image presented to the eyepiece will tend to rotate slightly as the telescope tracks it. This is insignificant to the observer, but will not be ideal for astrophotography. For photographs, you would need to have a motorized equatorial mount. You don't need a go-to telescope for this, in fact, many less expensive go-to telescopes are on altazimuth mounts like Dobsonians, so they would suffer the same rotation issue, even as they track the object evenly.
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Hey Iggy,Since I wrote, I did end up with the 8" Dobsonian Intelliscope. The answer is, the Orion scope is nicely balanced and with a little practice, you can get good at tracking objects by hand. With a 10mm eyepiece and 2X Barlow, which is a magnification of 240x on the 1200mm scope, you need to move the scope about every 20 seconds or so. You still need a motor driven mount if you plan on taking photographs, though.
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Robert, I hope you get an answer on this because as I read the reviews I had the very same question.
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Hi Steven, Wish I could be more helpful, but I have never tried to use a camera with a telescope. I suggest you call Orion and ask for Tech Support. The number is (800) 676-1343. Hope you're able to get an answer to your question. Cordially, Joe Romaninsky
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The GPS only captures time, date and location information so that you don't have to enter it manually. If you do have the GPS, make sure to enable the functionality through the NexStar menu. SkyQ Link allows the remote operation of the telescope but the alignment process still needs to be done manually. I agree with Doug, I would save my cash and get something more usefule like a Televue Barlow lens. You'll get more value out of it.In short, I find that Celestron makes good optical equipment and portable mounts but their ancillary products are yet to be desired. I have a few of these items and there aren't any that have been trouble free. Tech supports common boiler plate response is to 'replace' the item. The GPS only captures time, date and location information so that you don't have to enter it manually. If you do have the GPS, make sure to enable the functionality through the NexStar menu. SkyQ Link allows the remote operation of the telescope but the alignment process still needs to be done manually. I agree with Doug, I would save my cash and get something more usefule like a Televue Barlow lens. You'll get more value out of it.In short, I find that Celestron makes good optical equipment and portable mounts but their ancillary products are yet to be desired. I have a few of... » Read More The GPS only captures time, date and location information so that you don't have to enter it manually. If you do have the GPS, make sure to enable the functionality through the NexStar menu. SkyQ Link allows the remote operation of the telescope but the alignment process still needs to be done manually. I agree with Doug, I would save my cash and get something more usefule like a Televue Barlow lens. You'll get more value out of it.In short, I find that Celestron makes good optical equipment and portable mounts but their ancillary products are yet to be desired. I have a few of these items and there aren't any that have been trouble free. Tech supports common boiler plate response is to 'replace' the item. « Show Less
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Another thought: You may want to consider getting an equatorial wedge for your scope. That converts the alt-azimuth drive to an equatorial drive. Celestron sells one.
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The Dob will definitely give you more deep space objects than the refractor. I got my son one of those last Christmas. It is rather large in comparison to the refractor, but rotates well on its base. His is not computerized and he has gotten very adept at finding nebulae and Messier objects. I think the refractor is more for planets and moons in our close by system. Visual tracking is okay, remember that the image is reversed in the Dob.
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The alt/azimuth drive tracks an object to keep it centered in the eyepiece. The problem with photographing the object is that the object rotates in the field of view. Short term (2 or 3 seconds) astrophotography of bright objects (the moon, bright planets) may yield an acceptable image, but that means dim objects such as stars and galaxies are next to impossible. The Equatorial mounting uses the same tracking electronics to move the telescope in only 1 direction (declination). The result is that an object will remain centered in the field of view and will NOT rotate thus making much longer exposure times possible. Remember, though, the telescope is not the only variable in astrophotography. There's the wind, light pollution, vibration of the mounting, accuracy in setting up the mounting, and fatigue. It ain't easy.
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They both come with eyepieces great for terrestrial and planetary observation the Mount option is up to you. Equatorial is more accurate for the night sky and the altazimuth is more versatile
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The only time I did terrestrial observing with a 10" dobsonian / newtonian telescope the image was upside down, but brilliant and crisp at 38x. I observed a fisherman in a boat across a lake. Without the scope I could hardly see the boat. Through the scope I could see flash of the monofilament fishing line in the sun!
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Martin. I have never responded to a question before. My son and I really like this telescope. The fine adjustments are very easy. It us not as portable as we would like but what can you do. Let me know if you have a specific question as my son can help me answer.
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Hi Naomi, The first thing you need is to have the tripod perfectly set, (check the bubble is perfectly centered) Second: use the biggest eyepiece (25mm Eyepiece). the one with the biggest number on it. This eyepiece is called the finder, because it's easier to find objects with it. Then fix your target, pick the brightest object in the sky (the moon usually) Now this is the hard to explain part... this is how I explained to my mom. Start looking at the eyepiece from around two inches, draw circles with your head looking for a light into the eyepiece, once you find a light go closer and closer till you are really near to the eyepiece (if you lose the light start all over again) The final step is to focus the telescope. You have the light perfectly fixed but not focused. Once focused, fix the object perfectly centered in the eyepiece and now center the same object in the Star Pointer Finderscope. Sorry for my English :) G
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Hi Steven, I don't own that telescope anymore. I am now using Nexstar 5SE. However what I have discovered is if your camera is decently heavy then your telescope will start tilting down. To stabilize it I had to use additional weights. I have never tried mounting a camera on Astromaster.
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Get the celestron powertank (dont forget to charge it once a month), i also bought the celestron eyepiece set, great set and a good case with it. Also use the two star align, three atar doesnt work, and google for how to set it up as you must put the alignment stars in the middle of the eyepiece then move it left down up right (as the star looks in the eye piece), then click to set it as an alignment star. It will then track all night usually after one quick up movement once aligned. It is a brilliant scope, good luck!
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Unfortunately no Dobsonian is designed for astrophotography purposes. All Dobsonians are mounted on an AltAzimuth style base. Even when the Dobsonian has drives built into the mount (which only the goto models have), they do not track accurately enough to produce a sharp image during long photographic exposures. The tracking is only accurate enough for viewing purposes and very short exposures of lunar and planetary objects. Another reason this is not suitable has to do with the design of the optical tube. This is a classical Newtonian design, and unless it is designed for astrophotography purposes, achieving focus can be difficult or impossible, depending on the camera used. Unfortunately no Dobsonian is designed for astrophotography purposes. All Dobsonians are mounted on an AltAzimuth style base. Even when the Dobsonian has drives built into the mount (which only the goto models have), they do not track accurately enough to produce a sharp image during long photographic exposures. The tracking is only accurate enough for viewing purposes and very short exposures of lunar and planetary objects. Another reason this is not suitable has to do with the design of the optical tube. This is a classical Newtonian design, and unless it is designed for astrophotography... » Read More Unfortunately no Dobsonian is designed for astrophotography purposes. All Dobsonians are mounted on an AltAzimuth style base. Even when the Dobsonian has drives built into the mount (which only the goto models have), they do not track accurately enough to produce a sharp image during long photographic exposures. The tracking is only accurate enough for viewing purposes and very short exposures of lunar and planetary objects. Another reason this is not suitable has to do with the design of the optical tube. This is a classical Newtonian design, and unless it is designed for astrophotography purposes, achieving focus can be difficult or impossible, depending on the camera used. « Show Less
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You need to go to Orion's website and look at the available camera mounts. They come in versions from simple smartphone holders, SLR and point and shoot mounts all the way up to dedicated astrophotography cameras. http://www.telescope.com/Astrophotography/4.uts
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I just got one and couldn't see anything either. When I took it out of the box there was a 3" lens that was separate. I thought it was an extra. Turns out that it needed to be placed in the end of the telescope. If this is your case, unscrew the plastic ring at the large end of the telescope (remove the sun shade piece first) place the lens on top of the other lens and replace the plastic ring. There should be 2 lenses at the end. Once I did that I could see great! Start out with the largest eyepiece (25mm) to find objects easily.
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If your telescope is of the Newtonian type you might have a hard time getting the image to focus, or even not being able to focus at all. If this happens you would need a different adapter with a Barlow lens or to move the main mirror inside the telescope.
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Well, that all depends, what does your telescope come with? what kind of scope are you getting? I would just go out on a limb and suggest thinking about getting a decent finder scope, maybe a nice equatorial mount if you are talking about catadioptric or refractor type telescope, if you have a reflector it should come with a dobsonian mount. If you plan to take pictures think about a camera adapter. Other than that think about a nice folding chair, maybe some refreshments and a red lensed flash light will prove handy.