SW 150PL/EQ5. Set-up and First Light

[ChrisThePuma]

Hi All

Well my first ever scope arrived at work yesterday so of course last night was spent setting it all up and gently stroking it whilst purring softly to myself.

Building the tripod and attaching everything to it and the mount was surprisingly easy despite the instructions supplied! There were a few differences in these instructions but everything fitted in the relevant places easily enough.

I attached the tube to the mount, added the finder and an eyepiece and balanced it all up (i only needed one of the 1 ton weights supplied!). I then opened up the garage side door and peered out into the rainy/windy/cloudy gloom.

Staying in the warm/dry garage i looked at what i could use for aligning the finder to the scope - just an aerial on the neighbors roof, so - still in the dry garage - i pointed the scope at the top left aerial prong, got it centered and then did the same on the finder - all sorted and ready to go.

I went back indoors as the cloud/wind/rain continued and watched an episode of the big bang theory i had recorded - interspersed with occasional glimpses through the back window to check on the weather - no joy - and it stayed like this till bed time

Rising at 5am for my run, i went off into the wind and while running i could see gaps in the scudding cloud. I got back after an hour and could see Saturn popping in and out of the clouds, so rushing back into the garage i hauled the tripod over to near the side door and mounted the scope on top.

I turned off the lights and opened the door and pointed it in the right direction. The clouds cleared again and i tweaked the alignment - and there he was - Saturn in all his glory! I swapped to the more powerful (10mm) eyepiece and he was even bigger (not like those Hubble pictures we have all seen) but still with the rings around him. The clouds rolled in all too soon and breakfast was calling so in i went.

Cant wait for a still cloudless evening/morning now so i can get the scope out proper and have a good look round, although viewing from the cozy garage was quite pleasant - shame about the limited field of view though

Cheers

Chris

[Tinker1947]

Well if you spend a year looking out from your garage it will all go full circle..