First Scope has arrived, help appreciated.

[Dann]

Hey

The Explorer 150P and EQ5 Pro Synscan arrived today.

I'm quite enjoying just assembling it but I have a question (I'm sure more will follow)

The instructions say 'Using bolts provided, fasten tube rings to the mount'

Which fixing should I use? Should I be removing the black bar already attached to the rings in the picture and then fasten the rings to the white mounting plate in the second picture?

Is so what is the purpose of the black bar?

Sorry silly questions I suppose, I just want to make sure of what I'm doing.

Thanks

[Parus major]

The one that came with the telescope is the one you use, the white one just remove and put it in a drawer somewhere.

[brantuk]

Yup - use the black dovetail bar to attach the rings to. Then the black dovetail goes where the white one is sitting (in your picture) to attach to the mount. The small white one that you take out is useful for smaller scopes - I have an ST80 on one of those.

When you attach the rings to the black dovetail - leave the fastening bolts just loose enough so the rings can move a little against friction. Put the assembled rings/dovetail on the mount and put the tube in. When you tighten the rings up around the tube they will automatically line up parallel to the tube.

Then you can tighten the bolts underneath the black dovetail bar so they're allways in the correct position to receive the tube

[Dann]

Great, thanks for the detailed explanation.

Thank goodness you guys are around :-)