Last week I saw a demonstration by David Ratledge at the Bolton Astronomical Society of the
GuideDog software operating on an old (DC motor-driven) EQ-5 type mount fitted with your
GPUSB interface adaptor.

I was particularly interested in this, since I use an EQ-5 myself, but I've been wondering if the system could be extended to provide a primitive "go-to" capability to help locate faint objects? I currently use the manual "star-hopping" technique, where the the telescope is first pointed at a known nearby star, and then iteratively slewed toward the target, but I wonder if this process could be automated under computer control, where the "deltas" in RA and dec could be calculated, and then the telescope driven straight to the object? It would certainly help on occasions like last night, when my attempts to locate comet
Garradd were hampered by intermittent cloud cover (I did find it in the end

)
I already use the
Cartes du Ciel program, which I believe includes an
ASCOM control interface: could this be used in the manner suggested? If not, perhaps the additional capability could be added in a software plug-in? I think that many other EQ-5 owners may be interested in this possibility too.
Ross
Bolton, England