Starting off with Basics Setting Up Mount

[NeutrinoWave]

Hi all, having taken the plunge to move away from Binoculars to a proper setup, I am now ploughing very slowly through the process of setting up.

I do not want to rush it as I want to get it right. My NEQ6 came through the other day, and I have now just about managed to get the Alt bolts adjusted to reference a Latitude of 52 degrees, those bolts were a nightmare, and I fear adjusting further in the future should I ever need.

Anyway the mount is levelled, with the bubble smack in the middle, and I have managed to use a level to horizontally set the RA calibration at 18hrs, so that when I release the lock and let it settle under the influence of gravity at 90 degrees, it aligns perfectly at 12h.

I have also managed to use the same principle for the Dec, so that the dovetail plate is levelled and locked at 90 degs, and when released the Dec reading of 0 deg, aligns with the line marker for the 12h on the mount.

I am now attempting polar alignment manually through the polar view by adjusting the Dec to 90 degs. So far so good,as I forgot to order the DC power adaptor that is compatible for my mount. I was under the assumption that it would come with my kit ...

Just thought I'd let all know and would welcome feedback, if I have done anything wrong so far, as it's a first time, but really worried about these Alt-Az bolts. Should I be configuring them much on an ongoing basis?

Next steps using Polar Finder,software, I was prompted for my longitude and I used 2deg 8.5 minutes West, and I get Polaris Last Transit values. Do I offset the delta from the Polar Last Transit reading for my longitude input from one hour and use that to offset the RA calibration?

Lots of questions I know, but I'd rather ask, than introduce any errors.

[brantuk]

The Alt bolts are made of soft steel and have been known to bend - a lot of folks upgrade them with these:

Telescope Mounts @ Modern Astronomy

You should have the power lead that comes with the scope which has a ciggy lighter plug at the power end. Maplins do a 17ah powerpack that I find works fine.

It sounds like you are being very exact with seting up which is admirable and necessary for imaging. You won't need to be quite so precise for observing - it will however need to be done each time you move the scope location (eg to go to a dark site). So a "reasonably" accurate polar alignment is all that's required.

If you are using an observatory permanent setup then your method will only need to be done once - so it's worth getting it spot on