I bought a Sky Commander DSC box about a year ago, and have been quite pleased with it. I'd have to credit it with my continued interest in astonomy, for without it I'd feel compelled to spend my time on a more rewarding hobby. I found it difficult to learn the sky through our light pollution when you can't always find the Big Dipper, but when I travelled to truly dark skies the sudden vision of so many stars compelled me to spend most of my available viewing time just trying to identify the constellations, which seemed to be camoflaged by the other stars. Getting a Telrad helped a lot, but here at home I find that even the light loss thru it, or background glare, can sometimes make a directly visable star impossible to find thru the finder. It is even worse now that my neighbor has replaced his two porch lights with two brighter ones (he was kind enough to give me two paper shopping bags to cover them). The Sky Commander isn't always perfect, though, either, but with careful alignment and an occasional "Realign on Object" function, it gets quite accurate. I have located objects with it that would have been far too dim to have identified with certainty without it. Previously, frustration level of using the telescope would have relegated it to a dust collector except for simple objects. I use it almost all the time except for quick observations of the larger objects, or for subsequent nights of tracking asteroids after having used it to find them in the first place. That's how I'm learning the sky. I've afixed the encoders on my Astrola equitorial mount with my 8" Cave from 1955. I've transported the unit at least ten times by car and camper without any problems with the encoders. The only weakness is that the pins and socket extend a bit beyond the case of the encoder where they can be bent in tranport. So far, this has not affected their function. I have used my laptop in unison with the Sky Commander two or three times with their free download planetarium software, but it adds a level of complexity that I haven't yet found to be of much value, perhaps due to the coarse resolution of the software. I have not yet used it with SkyMap Pro, but I think it may be more rewarding. There is an active SkyCommander mailing list on Yahoo where some very ardent fans willingly share their expertise. The archives hold discussions about the qualities of the SkyCommander compared to other DSC's. BTW - I've removed the original setting circles from the Astrola in order to mount the encoders. The original hour circle read backwards when I got the telescope several years ago. I had to remove it, flip it 180 degrees, and remount it on the shaft, even though it obviously wasn't designed to go on that way since the hub was not symmetrical and it was no longer close to the pointer. It made me wonder if I was either in the wrong hemisphere, or using the wrong hemisphere of my brain, but this scope was made and purchased in California. Any ideas on why this appeared to be backwards? Bob Grant ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards@yahoo.com> To: "Utah-Astro" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 11:07 AM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Digital Setting Circles
While we're on the subject, can anyone recommend a commercial DSC package? Rich?
If so, are installation kits available? (Dob, Eq., etc.)
Im not interested in kits that require soldering or electronic component assembly. "Plug 'n Play" is preferred.
Thanks
Chuck
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