An equatorial table is another motorized tracking system

An equatorial table is another motorized tracking system. The Dobsonian telescope is placed on a platform that constantly tilts in the right direction and speed to offset the Earth’s rotation. Not producing any rotational distortion, it also doesn’t require any involved installation procedure. From an operational standpoint, its only real negative feature is that the table will only give a maximum of about one hour of tracking before it needs to be “reset” to its starting position. An equatorial table that you construct yourself from a kit may cost little more than an alt-azimuth drive. A fully manufactured equatorial table usually costs two to three times the price of an alt-azimuth drive.

Some dealers (such as Orion) are now selling Dobsonian telescopes with built-in support for digital setting circles. By merely plugging in an optional computer costing about $150, the user can tell the computer what object that he/she wants to look at and the computer will then tell the user how to turn the telescope to find the object. Since it is easier than most people think to learn their way around the night sky, I would suggest putting the extra money you would spend to get a digitally setting circle equipped telescope into getting a bigger mirror. Remember, the bigger the mirror, the more you can see. Besides, learning the constellations is fun! In fact, the second section of this book (called Learning Your Way Around the Sky) will tell you what you need to gain this ability. Most of the really spectacular objects are really easy to find with just a little knowledge. To be honest, I eventually added digital setting circles to my large Dobsonian, but I mainly use them only to find the most faint and less visually appealing objects that most people aren't even interested in seeing.

But even without a alt-azimuth drive or digital setting circles added, a 16 inch light bucket will allow you to see much more than you could with an eight inch Schmidt-Cassegrainian of approximately the same price. On-the-other-hand, the large Dobsonian would not be as easy to transport as the smaller scope. Which one is better for you depends on what you want to do!