I violently agree with Chip on this one. To me, high resolution absolute axis encoders are just the latest example of Astro-Bling.
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To reinforce his point on the cost issue here is a concrete example:
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Sky-Watcher makes a mount in the 100-lb class called the EQ8. The base model, without?tripod, is about $5.3K here in the USA today.
Who knows about the future? The same model with absolute axis encoders is $9.475K. The encoders are from Renishaw, as very
well respected industrial supplier. Good, so they advertise, to 0.1 arc seconds.
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That's a price difference of $4.175K for the encoder feature, to what end?
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Plus, to this old man absolute encoders, USB hubs, or GPS modules integrated into a mount are just something else that can break.
As the sage said "Someday everything will need to be maintained".
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If I want to know the coordinates of an object precisely I'll use?the Blind Astronomy Solver.
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Mark Christensen
